general advice to undergraduates who are interested in science

http://blog.ketyov.com/2011/08/career-advice.html

Here is a blog article, listed some advice to undergraduates.

It took me a while to respond for several reasons, not the least of which is that I'm super busy. And also because it felt kind of weird to answer. I mean, I didn't study neuroscience as an undergrad. And I didn't do well as an undergrad. So I certainly shouldn't be doling out advice!

(1) It's important to me that other people know how hard this life, science, and career stuff really is. People should know that often, success doesn't come easy.

(2) The second piece of non-specific advice: learn to network. Talk to other researchers. Email people about their work when you have questions. Don't be shy. Or rather, go ahead and be shy but recognize that lots of people are shy and the only way to learn from them is to overcome your mutual shyness. Plus, researchers love to know that someone read their work and are interested.

This advice isn't meant as a machiavellian ploy or anything. Networking lets you meet smart people, which gives you new ideas and new collaborations. This, in turn, lets you do science faster and better.

Networking is sharing, not manipulating.

(3) Third: learn how to do your own data analysis. Know statistics well. Know at least some basic programming/scripting in Python, R, Matlab, etc. This will be of immense value in helping you get your research done efficiently and correctly, without needing to rely on other people's code (and time and commitment). This will become more important as our field becomes more data driven.