Well, term has finally reared its ugly head and I am desperately trying to finish writing lecture notes, exam questions and case studies ready for next week. Suddenly M&S, all the pubs and the whole of Newcastle city centre will be jammed packed full of excitable 18 year olds. Apparently Princess Eugenie will be joining us but I doubt I will have the opportunity to teach her thermodynamics.
Last week I made a conscious decision to back down in all of the disagreements/conflicts I was having with other academic staff (related to teaching loads e.t.c.) and admin staff (related to well… I can’t really go in to that!). True, the backing down wasn’t the most rewarding experience, victory could be spotted by a sudden horrific intensity in their eyes, however life has become much easier, tension has dissipated, and I can move on with important things,even though I have agreed to to things I have no time to do.
One of my groups aims is to investigate the origins of life on Earth, in the hope of gaining useful information for the creating of an artificial cell, well an entity which has the minimal characteristics of life, a protocell. Our approach is rather bottom up, as we have to assume that complex biological molecules were not available…we really are looking for that “moment” when their was a transition from non living to non living matter. My plan is to put some more time into this project. It involves me working nights, something that I used to thrive on. However these days I’m dosing of by 9pm.
My other project is starting right now. It is a synthetic biology project which involves making half biological, half machine robots. Its such an exciting project because it pushes the limits of genetic engineering, electronics and robotics. However I do feel quite a lot of pressure to deliver as I am the only Brit on this project, the other 3 investigators being American, and big name Americans at that!!!
How do academics balance work with family life (and social life if this is possible)? Answers on a postcard as I am having a real difficulty in this respect.
Bye for now
Daniel
How do academics balance work with family life (and social life if this is possible)?
Short answer: we don’t. My experience is repeated cycles of try and fail, sustained by encounters with other scientists going through the same thing and the underlying knowledge that — at the end of the day — my family is far more important to me than any of my scientific output. Hard to keep sight of that at times though.
Starting out is especially tough (have you seen the recent thread on Jenny Rohn’s blog?), but the challenge is always going to be there.
Your piece certainly stirred memories of the stress of getting a lab established – you have my sympathy Daniel.
But maybe others have figured out a better way – an healthier perspective on the important things in life. If so, I’d certainly like to hear about them. It has struck me that there is a need (depth unmeasured) for a more professional support network between scientists.
Scurrylous++
How do academics balance work with family life (and social life if this is possible)
Think of it as a self-organized criticality, edge of chaos kinda thing.