Here is my advice to students considering pursuing science:
—Learn how to learn (science is progressing so rapidly that whatever field you are focused on today will inevitably be different 10 years from now)
—Learn how to develop focused attention (i.e. avoid modern day distractions like Twitter)
—Master multiple science disciplines—If you can bridge disciplines you will become invaluable.
—Develop a fundamental understanding of scientific principles versus learning the latest scientific tool.
—Learn how to articulate science to all different types of stakeholders—this will be essential to getting the funding you need to pursue your discoveries.
—Science is an apprenticeship business, so find mentors early—even though science is based on rational thought it is conducted in an irrational environment.
—Learn how to embrace serendipity—most of the important discoveries don’t come from linear thought
—Grasp an early intuitive feel and understanding for extremely large or small numbers (10^ -20 and 10^ 20) and probabilistic phenomenon—Science exploration occurs at these extremes so it is just as important to understand these numbers as it is to understand what a 10 Trillion dollar debt is.
—Learn the history of science—All great new things come from combinations of old things.
—Future scientist needs to also be engineers—The best scientist will need to be able to engineer their own tools.
—Attend the 2022 USA Science & Engineering Festival!
(Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital also contributed to this post)
Author: Larry Bock
In Memoriam: Our friend and Xconomist Larry Bock passed away on July 6, 2016. We at Xconomy are deeply saddened by his loss.
Larry Bock is the founder and organizer of the USA Science & Engineering Festival, and a former founder of the San Diego Science Festival. Mr. Bock is a Special Limited Partner to Lux Capital, a $100M nanotechnology-focused venture capital fund. He is a member of the Board of Directors of FEI Corporation (NASDAQ: FEIC), the leading supplier of tools for nanotechnology research. He is a General Partner of CW Ventures, a $100M life sciences venture capital fund.
Mr. Bock was the founder and former executive chairman and initial CEO of Nanosys and the founder and initial CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX), Pharmacopeia (NASDAQ: PCOP), GenPharm International, which was acquired by Medarex for $100 million; Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ: CALP); Illumina Technologies (NASDAQ: ILMN), among numerous other firms.
He was also a seed or early-stage investor in variety of firms, including Acceleron Pharma, Aurora Biosciences, Biosym Technologies, ekoVenture. Gen-Probe, Gensia Pharmaceuticals, Genocea Biosciences, IDEC Pharmaceuticals Magen Biosciences, Oclassen Pharmaceuticals Plexikon Pharmaceuticals, Poland Partners, Sequana Therapeutics, Sapphire Energy, Siluria, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Software Transformation, and Viagene.
Mr. Bock started his career as a researcher in the early days at Genentech, the field of infectious diseases, where he was on the team that received the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for demonstrating the world’s first recombinant DNA vaccine. He was a Venture Capital Associate with Fairfield Ventures (now Oxford Bioventures).
Larry and his wife, Diane, established the Larry and Diane Bock Chair in Nanotechnology at the University of California, Berkeley. They also founded Community Cousins, a non-profit foundation focused on breaking down racial barriers, that was selected by former Vice President Al Gore as one of 10 outstanding grass root efforts nationally. Larry is organizing the San Diego Science Festival with BioBridge of UCSD. He works extensively with the Sudanese and Burmese refugee’s networks in San Diego and is a tutor in math and sciences for Sudanese refugee children in St. Lukes Sudanese Refugee Network and a Mentor for Burmese refugee families through Jewish Family Services. Larry received his B.A. in Biochemistry (summa cum laude) from Bowdoin College and his M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.
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