A day in the life of a Postdoctoral fellow....
Imtiaz Siddiqui
Friday, 20 June 2008 20:55 UTC
Having read Ai-Lin’s experience as an journal editor, I am so tempted to post how I go through a day of my life. Before I do that I would like to see how others go through their day. So if you are a post-doc let us know about your day as one.
Hope I will see some entries soon…..
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Replies
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Hi Imtiaz,
Why don’t you share your day with everyone? I’m anxious to read it!
Looking forward to it…
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Ai Lin: I will post it very soon. Just a little busy IN SOME WORK I DON’T DO ON DAILY BASIS…
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I am also looking forward to read the experience of Imtiaz as a postdoc.
I reckon, it would be interesting to note, how the day-to-day responsiblities of a postdoc dramatically change, if (s)he has recently joined at a tenure track position.. Just to provide a bit of background here, I received my PhD 1.5 years back, worked as a postdoc for 1 year, and currently working at a tenure track position for last 6 months…
Will post my experience after Imtiaz…
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Hi everyone:
After a long time and many requests i finally decided to post my experiences…. I am sorry everyone for being late; I had to finish writing a manuscript (well at least the first draft is ready and i happy for it….)Well;
My day begins at 6:30 in the morning when i get up after getting done with everything at home and having some breakfast I leave my house around 8 AM. I have to drop my little angel (7 months at this time) to her daycare. I keep on talking to her while I am driving (might seem weird to you; but believe me my daughter likes it and she wants me to talk). I reach the lab usually between 8:30 and 8:45, check my inbox for any mails i have got. At this point some of my collegues have arrived and we go to have some coffee (and before i leave I make sure that I have turned the UV on in the cell culture hood). While having coffee most of the time we talk about any project we are doing and any difficulty we are having or discuss some paper.
When I am back (around 9:15), the clock starts…….. I get inside the cell culture room and begin by having a look at my incubator to see what I have to do that day in culture room and work accordingly. After that I reach my bench and start my experiments. If I get time in between I usually rush back to my computer to reply to any emails I might have got that day otherwise keep working on the bench. Sometimes I have to help other people in the lab with any difficlulties they are having in their experiments. I have two very sweet and hard working undergrad students and I have to guide them with their experiments, teach them anything they might not have done before. Before this slips my mind….. I get unlucky sometimes if any instument is not working right, and since everyone thinks that I am good at fixing things, I have to go try and fix things for them…
Lunch is usually (if I am not busy in an experiment) at 1:00 and since everyone brings their lunches we sit togather and eat, sharing one another’s…
Follow up of the experiments is after lunch and then I have to go meet my little friends at the animal house, checking the colonies and making sure everything is in a good condition. After I kiss them good bye I come back and try and finish my work.
I have to pick my daughter from her day care so I leave my lab by 5:15 (exhausted) walking to my parking lot (about 1/2 mile). This is the only excercise I do at this time!!! Reach home.. Give my baby her bath and feed her. Try to put her to sleep… And when she sleeps I try and read some articles (still holding her; she does not want to get down!). By 7:30 my wife is home (and my dughter is up) so we chat for a while and watch some TV while having dinner aroung 8:30. I again watch TV until 10:00 PM while playing with my daughter. Then I try to put my daughter to sleep (somehow I have to do it because she does not want to sleep with her Mom.
I come back out and start working on any writing or reading I have to do.
My day usually ends at about midnight (except sometimes, usually on friday and saturday nights when I watch some movies until 2 AM)……….
My day might look monotonous but I like it the way it is… Rather I enjoy going through my day and above that when I am with my daughter everything works for good and i forget all my problems and I get my energy back.
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Hi Imtiaz,
Thanks for sharing your day. Sounds like a very busy day! Must be hard juggling a post-doc and a baby daughter…You should give yourself a pat on the shoulder.
When do you plan your experiments? It sounds like you’re at the bench most of the time. How much planning do you do before doing the experiments and how much input does your supervisor provide?
Is your wife a researcher as well?
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HI Ai Lin: I am thrilled to let everyone know about my day. I do not think that I am the only one who goes through the day like this. I think most of the postdoctoral fellows work in similar fashion. I am hoping to see other posts in here so that I can compare with others.
It is indeed a little hard to juggle between job and home but I think it is quite manageble. About planning the experiments, I mostly do it when I am at home at night or talking with my supervisor. My mentor is quite supportive in my work. He is open to ideas and I am allowed to work according to my wish and plannings but if he thinks that something is missing or something extra (or different) is needed he will let me know about it. I also get support from some of my collegues who help me design my experiments, that happens during the coffee time.
About my wife… No she is not into research, she is into banking industry and works for a bank as an assistant manager.
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Wow Imtiaz, you sound so organized and put-together. Good luck with the research, and its so nice to see someone who is managing a family and lab work so well.
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Hey Niranjana: I guess you are in the same shoes as me! Why don’t you tell us about your day… We might have some things in comman. I am sure every postdoc works in similar fashion… If not i am gonna sk my supervisor for a BIG RAISE…………
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Hi Imtiaz,
Can you share with us your strategies/steps for planning an experiment?
For example, how do ideas come about and are implemented into an experiment?
This might be useful to some younger graduate students…
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