In a nutshell I am a new academic at a British University, Newcastle University to be precise. I would like to describe my experience of setting up a laboratory and hopefuly discuss some science as well. It’s taken me three years to start this blog
I will start as of today…in the process of lab birth I have lost plenty of potential academic friends here and made a bucket load of enemies. This is despite the fact that I am a pretty easy going person with no delusions of granduer, just a basic desire to carry out science in a suitable lab under normal conditions. This isnt a big ask..some would say the norm….In terms of stress its been a rough ride and it seems that I have aged 10 years. Sometimes I dream of those days when I was a postdoc where my only concern was the one project I was on. There were no colleagues out to stab me in the back, there was no funding related stress there was no ADMIN! Still all the time I was a postdoc I was dreaming of a faculty position. My only consolation is that it seems MUCH HARDER in the US with the tenure track process. Now I finally understand why so many academics are social misfits with severe personality disorders not to mention alcoholics.
Sorry to hear your climb to the ivory tower has been less than enjoyable. Maybe blogging will help you to avoid becoming one of the social misfits with severe personality disorders not to mention alcoholics
Welcome to NN Daniel – lucky for you there are no misfits here! Your remark about longing to being a postdoc once again struck a chord…
Welcome to NN! I did my undergrad degree (genetics) at Newcastle University, so I look forward to hearing about your progress! Just don’t mention the football…
Welcome to NN, Daniel – sounds like you haven’t had a great experience so far, but hopefully it will get better. Either way, I look forward to reading!
Welcome to Nature Network! September 1st seems to be a good day to start a blog about starting a job in academia (it being the start of the new academic year in most of the Northern hemisphere).
I look forward to reading!
.bq lucky for you there are no misfits here!
Eh? I thought we were all mis-fits. That’s why we’re here: NN is a scientific Hotel California.
But welcome, Daniel. I’m sure you’ll fit right in here. I’ll be looking forward to what you write: I’ll have to go through a similar process soon.
When I joined Nature, the then Editor – the late, great John Maddox – gave me a few pithy items of advice. One I remember particularly – ‘In this job, you will make enemies’.
WELCOME!. Looking forward reading you!
;-)
Now I finally understand why so many academics are social misfits with severe personality disorders not to mention alcoholics.
One could argue that the problem with academia is that there isn’t enough of ’em.
Look forward to reading tales from one of my favourite cities.
None of you lot are misfits. You’re mere amateurs at misfitting.
You’re mere amateurs at misfitting.
Spoken like a True Master™.
Welcome to NN blogland, Daniel. My first scientific supervisor once told me she felt that three years was the longest you could stay in one insitution before becoming overwhelmed and jaded by departmental politics. She’d been there for, oh, seven years or so at that point.
Good luck with starting up!
Elizabeth – You’re right setting up wasn’t a pleasant process but I’m in a relatively happy place now;
Hi Steven – I’m a big fan of reciprocal space, the crystallographic visualisation concept based on the Ewald Sphere and I look forward to reading your blog;
Hi Cath-one of my PhD students did his undergrad in genetics, maybe you know him;
Hi Alyssa-I’m gradually learning a bit about planetary science as my interest in Origins of Life on Earth inevitably has led to astrobiology;
Eva – it is the right time to start blogging, the challenge for me is to stick to blogging. I’ve never been able to keep a diary for more than a couple of weeks;
Hi Bob, I think we are all misfits but as the cliche goes it depends how you define normal;
Henry- I guess enemies are to be made in every work place environment. In my experience its just that we are competing with colleagues for the same space, students and money that makes the university department a special case;
Maria – I wish I wasn’t scared of blood and guts, otherwise I would have tried to be a vet;
Hi Lee- no matter how stressful the job I can always be happy to be in Newcastle and I dont think there are many other places in the UK I would prefer;
Richard-Unfortunately I am a misfit;
Richard-I am always looking to move as I always have the urge to start again and try something new;
Late to the party, but welcome anyway! You didn’t mention HR in your post.
Sometimes I think that all this “stuff” over the years that supposedly makes your life more efficient and allows you to do your job more quickly….is in fact the opposite, and what I really need is to be back to writing out things by hand for someone else to type up and mail out (in an envelope with a stamp) so I get a bit of time before receiving the response, etc.