‘In my experience, the two main things that make graduate school hard are the unstructured nature of the process, and the lack of information about what you should spend your time on,’ writes Marie desJardins in the pragmatic How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors. She’s right. Graduate students, for the most part, don’t get enough good advice, about how to succeed as a scientist. Now grad students can use the Web to get the information they need to launch their careers. Table 1Table 1URL table for Spider’s webHow to Succeed in Graduate Schoolhttp://info.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/advice1.htmlPhDs.orghttp://www.phds.orgScott Keoghhttp://online.anu.edu.au/BoZo/Scott.Studentresources.htmlUniversity of Western Ontariohttp:///www.physiology.uwo.ca/SurvivalWebV3/frame.htmOn being a Scientisthttp://books.nap.edu/html/obasReshaping the Graduate Education of Scientistshttp://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/grad/Graduate Education Reformhttp://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf00318/start.htmTrends in the Early Careers of Life Scientisthttp://books.nap.edu/catalog/6244.htmlGrants Nethttp://www.grantsnet.orgScience’s Next Wavehttp://nextwave.sciencemag.org Open table in a new tab If you have only one bookmark to spare on a graduate student resource, place it at PhDs.org, a well-organized site with information for grad students and postdocs in a wide array of fields. Each page of PhDs.org contains a list of annotated links covering a specific topic, such as teaching or career information. Readers can filter the links to see only those that relate to a specific field (e.g., chemistry or the life sciences) or try the Search function at the top of the home page. Some researchers have developed online versions of the advice they give to local graduate students. Scott Keogh has put together a collection of practical information at Resources and Advice for Students, including tips on giving a talk and writing a thesis or a grant. This Australian National University researcher has also included information of specific interest to Australian graduate students. Tutis Vilis of the University of Western Ontario developed Survival Skills for Graduate Students, a how-to manual for giving oral presentations, writing a manuscript, and getting the most out of scientific meetings. Before your next slide or poster presentation, you should look at his design tips. Among the National Academies’ many publications are three resources particularly suited for graduate students. On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research guides scientists, young and old, through the ethical dilemmas they may face. Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers covers trends in graduate education and the career prospects of PhDs in the United States. This 1995 report served as a wake-up call of sorts to graduate programs. It also discusses whether or not there’s an overabundance of PhDs. Graduate students outside of the U.S. may be interested in Graduate Education Reform in Europe, Asia, and the Americas and International Mobility of Scientists and Engineers, the proceedings from a 1998 National Science Foundation workshop which is packed full of data comparing graduate programs and trends in different nations. More trends are sketched out in a third National Academies’ report, Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists. Although the ‘Open Book’ format of this 1998 report is a little more difficult to navigate through than an HTML document, the information it contains is worthwhile: in 1995, only 34% of life science PhDs in the U.S. with nine to ten years of post-graduate experience were in tenure-track faculty positions. If that makes you wonder where your next paycheck might come from, take a look at GrantsNet, a joint venture of AAAS and HHMI. This site provides funding news and a database of funding opportunities for predoctoral through junior faculty scientists. Though most of the grants are U.S.-based, a search option allows visitors to look for those without U.S. citizenship requirements. Science’s Next Wave delivers career advice for the young scientist on either side of the Atlantic and beyond. This weekly publication has regular features on working in both academics and industry, alternative careers, science policy, and graduate education. Although you’ll need a subscription (US$19.95/year) to view all the information on Next Wave, quite a few institutions and some societies have subscribed, and some countries have set up free access for their scientists. Perhaps in response to the growing geographical diversity of its subscribers, Next Wave now publishes United Kingdom, Canadian, and German editions along with the United States version. Whether you’re working away at a lab bench in Toronto or Tübingen, it takes time, brains, and a lot of work to get a Ph.D. You need all the advice you can get. Use these sites to make your life a bit easier and your time in the lab more productive.