Skip to main content

Ten realizations while starting your own lab

I'm finally in the most exciting phase of my career. Things are looking up. I am largely my own boss (coz that's never entirely true :P) and can work on and design the problems that excite me. Every decision and every consequence of that decision, whether it bears fruit or goes on to be my undoing is completely mine. It is slightly scary but also the kind of challenge I really like. So here is a list of responsibilities, instances and circumstances which surprised and sometimes also frustrated me. Maybe, some years down the line, I'll be able to look at this list in amusement. So, hear goes.
  1. Measuring space: Right in the first week after I joined the Institute, I was told that I need to submit a floor plan of my lab. I borrowed a measuring tape from the Institute's civil works section and set about the task. It was amusing, to say the least. I felt like an architect. But, in the end, also futile, because that space is not going to be created any time soon. Instead, I was given another much smaller space which too I had to measure and design. Promises don't always materialize.
  2. Budget: The next task was making a budget for my lab for the next 2 to 3 years. As I started adding equipments and facilities to the lab plan, I realized that the entire budget for the lab was way more than any amount I've ever handled. And, even that wasn't going to be enough. At this point, I felt like I was an accountant or financial consultant.
  3. Human Resources or HR: Devising a strategy for selecting and hiring students to your lab. Motivating and helping them navigate their project. I realized that I started imbibing some aspects of my own advisors through this process.
  4. Public Relations (PR): Through my first couple of months, I realized that my online presence (a detailed well thought out website) and interaction with students matters a whole lot, much more than the opinions of other faculty of the Institute.
  5. Navigating the various funding agencies: This just means that I'm filling up various forms and looking at the different guidelines of the funding agencies, each one having different requirements for number of pages, section headings, highlights, format for CV, etc. What fun!! Huh!! :P 
  6. The above also means writing, writing and writing some more. Each proposal is sent into the void with an ardent prayer with sometimes no timeline in sight and no announcements of any kind. Every now and then, you remember your submitted proposals which compels you to check out the void, i.e. that submission website, but all in vain. All you see are "no updates". Will definitely update if that void ever produces anything at all. 
  7. Paperwork: In all this, how can I forget the amount of paperwork to be carried out for every submitted proposal and moreover for every single purchase. The rules and laws of the government are so mind boggling that it is a miracle that any research even gets done when one is buried in paperwork. 
  8. Vendors: All this budgeting, indenting and purchasing can obviously not be devoid of vendors. They work on commission and therefore sell hard and I work on a budget and try to bring down the prices. This tussle is really bad for me because I'm really bad at it. In fact, one of the vendors himself called me "naive". And, I couldn't deny it. :P
  9. Teaching:  That's a big one! I was really reluctant about this part of my job. In fact, I didn't want to do it at all. But, as I started preparing for it, it became evident to me that I was in fact going to enjoy it. It was an experience I looked forward to. And, after my first class today, I'm really pumped
  10. What else am I missing? Did research feature yet???? :P Looks like that is the last item on the agenda. :P It's not really ignored, but one can view it as a car and the rest of the stuff as the road. So, unless the roads are ready, the car cannot have a smooth ride. And, right now, I'm focussing on building the roads while my car is trying to course through a bumpy ride. 
But, all said and done, I am thoroughly enjoying this bumpy ride. In fact, it is only the ride that's keeping me excited, while the road building is a grind, which I somehow  will get through. Hope I can feel accomplished at how the road and the car turned out after a few years. 

xxRS
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking back on the last 5 years: Dedicated to my students

IISER Bhopal Campus I remember my first day at IISER Bhopal on 31st Jan. 2019. I had just arrived, all jet-lagged and groggy eyed. I filled up all the forms, met the HOD of my department and was taken to my new office. Thereafter, I was asked to go to the Chirayu Hospital for a medical check-up, was asked to fill up some more forms upon my return to campus and left to my own devices. However, I did not have a bank account, a phone number, a PAN card and most importantly, good internet (hah!). Procuring all these over the course of the next 10 days led to varying levels of frustration with the Indian system. It was a reverse cultural shock in some sense and made me question my decision of coming back to India. I think it is fair to say that my postdoctoral experience in the US had left me drained and this new life here was not helping in making me feel better. I was like a fish out of water, not able to find comfort anywhere. The next few months of my professional life were a struggle w...
11 comments
Read more

A letter to the "smart" students

To the students who think they're so smart that they can fool the instructor: Sorry to break this to you, but no, you're not fooling anybody! In fact, you are the fool if you think otherwise. So, let me tell you something that might shine a light on your otherwise dead brain. Learning is a two-way street. If you want to learn, I am willing to teach over and beyond what is expected of me. I will still teach even if you don't want to learn because that is my job. However, like they say, you can only bring the horse to the water, you cannot make it drink.  When you leave the class, I notice. When you talk, I notice. When you don't bring a notebook or a pen and pretend to be attentive, I notice. So, to reiterate, you're really not fooling anybody. I frankly don't care. I am happier teaching a small class of students who are sincere and want to learn. In fact, that's better for me. As then, we are in sync and I don't have to worry about the distractor...
8 comments
Read more

Phrases that must never be used when talking to your PhD Guide

There are some phrases that must never be uttered when talking to your PhD guide. 'Coz if you do, then you might have to endure a lecture from him/her that will leave you wondering what got into you, that you said that!! "You said so earlier..." : Never ever say this. If your Prof. asks you to remove something from your presentation that he himself had asked you to add, you're done for if you tell him, "But, you asked me to put this in earlier". The standard reply you may get will be something like this- "I may have said so many things." Or worse, you may get a scorn for a reply that will instantly shut you up. "I didn't get time to..." : You should definitely steer clear from saying anything of this sort. 'Coz if you do, then before you even finish your sentence, you're bound to get a look that says, "What? You didn't get time?!!." Then your Prof. will ask you, "So, what is it that you do that you don't...
11 comments
Read more