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

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

Tribute to Kankan Sir

Prof. Kankan Bhattacharyya was an eminent scientist and I'm sure his students will tell you about all the ways he trained them to become scientists. However, my interactions with him and memories of him are more of  a personal nature. I first met him in February 2019 right after I joined IISER Bhopal to begin my independent research career. In the dining hall of the Visitors Hostel at IISER Bhopal, there was one person who was the loudest, constantly cracking jokes, teasing people and taking the conversation forward. I was introduced to him, i.e, Kankan Sir, by one of my colleagues there and he immediately involved me too in the ongoing conversation. He was that person who instantly made you feel at home. Every day following this first interaction was a joy as he was constantly the life of the dining hall. Everyone  used to be clustered around him. He was such an enthusiastic person and so full of life that it was infectious. He also, in his own way, constantly tried to motivate us
Post a Comment
Read more

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: A book review

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee My rating: 4 of 5 stars Pachinko is a story spanning four generations of a Korean family living in Japan during the tumultuous 20th century that saw the annexation of Korea by Japan and the two world wars. The story of the family is pretty tragic. They deal with poverty, discrimination, suicide, forced imprisonment, all consequences of war and hatred from Japanese. What I liked about this book is that it tells you a lot about what happens when people are displaced and try to make a new place their home in the time of war and chaos. I admit my ignorance in that I had never heard of the term "Zainichi" which literally means foreigners living in Japan. The Zainichi even though born and raised in Japan are not considered Japanese citizens. They were made to choose between North and South Korea after the Korean war of the 1950s even though they have not known any country other than Japan. These people have faced a lot of discrimination and negativ
Post a Comment
Read more