In February I became a lecturer,
with all that it entails. I have a permanent contract, I have responsibilities,
I have my own office, and I have undergraduates to teach. In short, things have
changed. Given I am approaching the six month mark in my new job, I thought I
would write a post reflecting on what I have done and what I have learnt. The
short answer to both being: (subjectively) not very much.
First, what have I done? Or
perhaps the more informative question should be: what should I have done? I am
in the fortunate position that I have minimal teaching responsibilities until
January 2017. I realise I am lucky in this regard. As such, I have been given
the opportunity to set up my lab and get my research up and running
unencumbered by the responsibilities associated with teaching.
I think my job at present broadly
falls into three categories: (1) finish up postdoc work, (2) get new projects
up and running and (3) apply for grants for future projects. As such, I have to
balance demands from the past, present and future. Which one is more important?
The simple answer is none. I have to try to make progress on all fronts in the
long-run, but concentrate on one of these aspects in the short term to actually
make some form of progress. I have tried to not make too many long-term
“deadlines”, instead I simply try to come in everyday and get something
meaningful done. If I’m feeling less inspired, I tackle easier jobs but still
make sure I tackle them. If I’m feeling more inspired, I tackle harder jobs.
It’s amazing how much you can achieve by simply getting stuck in. This approach
has potentially worked. I have managed to resubmit a postdoc paper (now fully
published), write and submit a short grant proposal, and collect some
preliminary data on a more short-term research project. My hope is I can
continue with this policy until the postdoc work tapers off over the next year.
One difficulty I found initially was actually getting started on a job. This was largely driven by the
inevitable feeling of being alone relative to when I was a postdoc. I was
accustomed to sharing an office with other postdocs and constantly discussing
science. I was accustomed to having regular discussions with my PI about what I
had done and what I was going to do. Despite the fact that I had relative freedom in my postdoc, the continual everyday input from other scientists
shaped what I did on a day-to-day basis. I didn’t fully realise this at the
time. Although my PI never directly told me what to do, I did not appreciate
how much he steered me in the appropriate direction. I now have very supportive
colleagues who I speak to regularly, but the onus is definitely on me to do
what I think is best. Essentially I now have to fully rely on my frontal lobes
to makes day-to-day decisions.
Although I am yet to fully
immerse myself, the other stark contrast is the amount of administration involved
in a faculty position. Again, as a postdoc I was relatively sheltered from the bureaucratic
side of academia. Now, the small jobs, and associated paper work, are already
starting to affect my day-to-day work schedule. No longer can I rely on my
brain to remember all the small administrative jobs I am required to do and
when I need to do them. This is before I have even been given a ‘proper’ administrative
role in the department, such as contributing to a departmental committee. At
present it feels a bit like the calm before the storm. I have the ominous
feeling that things will only get worse. As such, I am trying to be much more organised,
using Google Calendar to dictate what I need to do and when.
I sum, it’s been fascinating,
overwhelming, scary, fun, boring, lonely, engaging, and many other adjectives.
A bit like any other day in the life of an academic. Would I do anything
differently? Probably not. It’s too early to tell whether I’ve made the most of
my first 6 months, or whether I should have done things differently. Here’s a
few thoughts that might prove useful to some though:
- Get stuff done. As academics we are prone to thinking things over and questioning ourselves. Don’t let this get in the way of doing something. Start a small experiment, analyse some old data. Just do something.
- Talk to others. Starting a faculty position can be lonely. Talk to as many colleagues as you can. Go for lunch, go for coffee, ask for feedback on a grant, discuss new experimental ideas. They went through the same process once, and know how difficult it can be. Ultimately, they want you to succeed just as much as you do.
- Act in the short-term but plan for the long-term. Think about big projects and grants. Mull over how different experimental ideas might fit into a larger question. Push ideas further than you have before. Thank bigger and longer-term than you did as a postdoc. But don’t wait around for grant money to start these projects. Don’t let (3) get in the way of (1).
- Don’t listen to me, I’ve only been in the job for less than six months.
