tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30201356787671280252023-11-15T08:40:48.915-08:00(Female) Assistant Engineering ProfessorI'm an assistant Engineering Professor starting down the tenure track road this year (2008). And I'm female. As my life is becoming exponentially hectic, I thought that my experiences might be helpful to others, and other's advice might be helpful to me.AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-2124444821973160942009-06-21T14:39:00.000-07:002009-06-21T14:51:08.885-07:00All threeI was talking with an older professor the other day about I'm concerned for my student's lack of data. Not entirely true - lack of extremely compelling/exciting/novel data. But I'm getting off track.<br /><br />Anyway, he said that it is very rare to have all three: students, money and data. He said that usually it took two out of the three to get the third, and by the time you were close to getting the third, one of the other two was vanishing (ie, in my case, the student was graduating or the money was running out). He mentioned this was the most common reason that profs ended up keeping students longer than necessary or paid them far to low...<br /><br />This made me start thinking back over my graduate career - evaluate a couple cases, and I realized he was completely correct.<br /><br />However, this didn't really make me feel any better about my current situation. Basically, my only option to get data is to hire more students than I have funding for, essentially unbalance the students/money/data ratio. <br /><br />I'm not very happy about this. It seems very irresponsible. <br /><br />I'm going to try an experiment - supplement with undergrads. This may work or be an utter and complete failure. Undergrads do distract the graduate students from performing at 100%. But, managed properly, an undergrad can produce quality results. It really depends on the graduate student (and the undergraduate).AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-44003218094528270302009-06-04T10:02:00.000-07:002009-06-04T10:19:08.127-07:003rd year reviewThe third year review. Whose crappy idea was this. It seems like a good concept. The asst prof gets feedback in an official sort of way - a mock 6th yr review. Like a practice thesis defense.<br /><br />Except it really isn't. <br /><br />I have to prepare my "packet" for my third yr review at the end of my second yr. If I was a theorist or someone who did simulations, maybe this would be okay - maybe I would have a paper in review right now. Maybe my students would have produced something novel worth submitting to a decent journal.<br /><br />I'm an experimentalist. I work with theorists AFTER I (or my grad students) have data. Which means I (my grad students) have to have a working experiment or at least have preliminary data before we could even consider doing some kind of "quick and dirty" theory thing. This means that I have to have grad students who are completely functional. And experiments take time. Some never work. <br /><br />I could be one of those asst profs who just shoves the grad students out of the way, takes the data, writes the paper, and leaves the students completely clueless about a paper that has their name as the first author. I refuse to take this tactic. <br /><br />My students will understand every aspect of their PhD research. However, this takes time. There is a ramp-up period. I understand this. I will not be a bad advisor and inflict permanent mental trauma on my students simply to appease some completely asinine rule. <br /><br />I spoke with my mentor about this. His response was that he got tenure with no published papers or awarded grants. That would not happen now, so it really was a pointless conversation.<br /><br />Maybe, someday, this will change to a 4th or 5th year review which would really be better for everyone involved. I mean, I didn't practice my thesis defense or my job talk in my first year of grad school...AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-20733595575501625782009-05-30T09:50:00.000-07:002009-05-30T10:07:09.854-07:00Takes a villageI may have mentioned last summer that despite the fact that I was new, I had been assigned an equally new staff person to handle all of my stuff (grant applications, purchases, etc). At this point, I told my assigned mentor that this was probably not a good idea. The blind leading the blind concept. But it continued. Problems ensued - grants getting bounced because things were done wrong. POs not getting paid. Students (and me) not getting paid. Essentially, chaos.<br /><br />Obviously, I don't want any of these things to happen. And obviously, the staff person is not just assigned to me - she is assigned to a group of profs. While she has made some of these mistakes with the other professors, they have also caught many of the mistakes in time, and rectified them (grant-related mistakes). I haven't been as lucky.<br /><br />So, now it is May. This has gone on for almost one year. The other professors are looking for the person's head on a plate. I just want to be re-assigned to a more senior person - which may sound like the same thing, but it really isn't. I don't think the person is malicious, I think they just need more time. Granted, the job isn't that difficult and they do seem rather lazy, but at the same time...<br /><br />Anyway, the point was just to emphasize that your staff is crucial. Just as your grad students and post docs are crucial, your admins and budget analysts and grants and contracts people are just as important. I'm hoping that this whole situation is going to be rectified soon - the head of HR is now involved, so my chair and assigned mentor (who in reality is really powerless) have pretty much been taken out of the equation. <br /><br />The other profs have been really good about leaving me out of this. They have focused on their issues, which are more than sufficient to get a new person in, without dragging me into this. They are all full profs, so they don't have anything to lose by making a big stink. I obviously do.<br /><br />I think one reason why there has been such a delay moving forward, at least in the department, is that she was hired by the chair - not transferred into the dept from another dept. So, if she is proven to be ineffective, it falls on our chair. This would be a sign that he made a mistake. Who wants to admit that?AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-77046402563926802442009-05-29T10:25:00.000-07:002009-05-29T10:44:51.699-07:00To post doc or Not to post docI have lately been on numerous panels. Work life balance. How to get a faculty position. How to prepare a successful packet. How to succeed in a faculty position.<br /><br />(BTW: The last is my personal favorite - I've been doing this under 1 yr. What do I know about succeeding. I think I asked the other panel members as many questions as the audience asked. I had an advantage - I was sitting next to them.)<br /><br />However one panel which I haven't been on officially (because there isn't a panel dedicated to it), but which basically becomes a discussion at every other panel is: should you post doc or not. This is a complex question, which is really dependent on the individual. So, I've compiled a short list. This was compiled this morning during a phone conversation, but it was compiled none the less.<br /><br />Positives (+)/Negatives (-)<br />+ you need rec letters b/c: a) you didn't work with enough people during your PhD to get 3 "solid" letters for a faculty application, b) you and your thesis advisor hate each other (happens frequently)<br />+/- you need more publications: this isn't necessarily a good reason, the bar goes up the longer you work, and it necessarily guaranteed that you will get publications<br />+ need to expand your network<br />+ want to change fields: plan to do at least a 3yr post-doc<br />+ you need more skills: this is a valid reason, but don't screw your post doc advisor over - ie only post doc for 1 yr. You cost your post doc advisor a lot of money. Even if you have a fellowship.<br />+ you and your significant other need to match up (time line wise)<br />- everyone else post-docs: not true (except in bio/chem/physics/math)<br />- can't decide between industry and academia: post-doc'ing isn't really going to help in that decision<br /><br />So, in the end, I don't really have any advice - unless it has to do with rec letters or research field.<br /><br />But, just the same, everyone keeps asking me for my advice. No one asked me last year. It isn't as though the day I became a prof I was handed the magic book that had all of the secrets to the prof universe.AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-39475684890632041112009-05-27T16:36:00.000-07:002009-05-27T19:41:03.184-07:00MIAYep - I have been totally MIA for the past several months.<br /><br />I taught my first course - which was total chaos - but really enjoyed it. I haven't gotten my evaluations back yet, so here's hoping. I may not enjoy it so much in a couple months when they roll in.<br /><br />Other than that not too much to report - I've gotten a couple grants, which has been...<br />Awesome...Unexpected...Overwhelming...Thrilling...Exciting...Scary...<br /><br />Yes, all of the above. Even scary. No one mentions that once you get a grant, you actually have to do the work. This implies hiring more grad students/post docs. Which implies growing your research group. Everyone focuses so much on the difficulty of getting grants, no one warns you what happens post-grant getting.<br /><br />As such, my group is growing way faster than I had planned. I'm almost in double digits. Counting undergrads, I'm well in the double digits. I have to appear calm and confident to everyone, all of the time. Simultaneously, my mood is alternating between " oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" and "I'm so awesome". The swings are much, much worse than anything I have ever experienced. A some point it will all blur together into some nice balance of "I'm the shit", but that hasn't happened yet.<br /><br />Anyway, everyone, good luck.AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-40837246145704859162008-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:002008-12-22T10:25:55.395-08:00Number of Grants<span style="font-family: arial;">So, FSP wrote a post about the appropriate number of grants to file. And she put it as 5-6 a year. As I have had 5 grants denied in the last 2 months alone - and I'll get to this in a minute - I have to disagree. I'm going to go with the number of "as many as is humanly possible to file and still do a reasonably good job". This number will of course vary with your teaching load and how fast you can write.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, the number of relevant announcements ebbs and flows - in the summer/early fall, there were more announcements than there were in November, and right now I'm in an upswing again. But, again, I'm not about to not-submit just so I can get some sleep. But, I'm not going to waste my time submitting to a not-relevant announcement either.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, about the 5 rejections. 3 were for NSF grants. I've officially been rejected from NSF. I'm not really all that upset, which is kind of funny. I got a couple "goods" and a couple "excellents", but apparently, you have to get all "excellents" to get funded. As I was never a straight A student, except for one semester in second grade, I really don't see this happening. Maybe this is my being pessimistic, but it just seems like (probabilistically) it isn't going to happen - 5 reviewers all thinking "she's excellent!". Not likely. And I didn't really get any useful feedback saying what I could do next time. Maybe I won't be submitting to NSF again anytime soon...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The other two rejections - one was a Young Investigator and one was an NIH. NIH - they said what I could do next time - focus on a specific disease. And the YI - well, those are beauty contests, basically.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, right now, I'm working on three different ones, all due in January. I was working on two, which is a kind of comfortable number. But then a program manager called and asked me to submit. This normally wouldn't be a problem - adding one - but this one happens to be a group submission (me plus a couple other people). So I had to pull together a team. Again, normally not a big deal - but the holidays change things. Everything becomes choatic.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It isn't us (the PIs) who are the problem. It is the budget and admin people. We have to get budgets approved, which means we have to get our budgets approved. And apparently pulling together a budget is akin to balancing the federal budget. So, my other two have been put on hold (as I'm the only PI on those), and now I'm working on forcing this larger one through the budget people. And there is cost-sharing involved.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, Happy Holidays to everyone.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-7954198829506618462008-11-02T17:20:00.000-08:002008-11-02T17:54:55.880-08:00Roller Coaster...<span style="font-family: arial;">Friday was an incredible exhausting day. It started out in neutral, so to speak. I had to call a bunch of granting agencies/foundations and leave messages/speak with assistants to arrange phone calls with program managers for next week. I managed to successfully orchestrate that, so I was pretty proud of myself.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I was chairing a student symposium for the department which was from 10am-3pm, and there were industry judges and both an oral and poster session. So, at 9:30, I left my office and went over to the hall where it was. (Note, extensive planning had been done in the weeks leading up to this to enable me to just "show up"). I brought the judge's gifts with me (and they were awesome, by the way). So, from 10-3, I got to meet with undergraduate/graduate students, which I really enjoy, and learn about a lot of research going on in my department - which was also useful. And we had Halloween cupcakes. This was one of the admin assistant's ideas - which I strongly supported - and they were great.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Around 2:30, we announced the winners of the symposium (presentations and posters) and one of my students won the poster contest, which was awesome!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And, about 10 minutes later, I got an email from DARPA, saying that my grant (which I submitted in August) had been positively reviewed, and would now enter into contract negotiations - ie, I got a grant! I am planning a party for my group for next Friday.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">At this point, I think it was a good thing I had on heels (which I never wear and therefore, they make me virtually immobile), because they kept me from jumping up and down and screaming.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">After the whole symposium wound down, I went back to my office, and shot off a bunch of emails (namely to my post-doc advisors about the DARPA grant). Then my department chair called.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">As back story: When I arrived, I had one person filing my grants (who was awesome). Then the chair hired a new person - who knows less than I do, if that is possible. I asked to keep the first person. (Let's call this person AP - for awesome person. We can call the second person CP - for crappy person.) Apparently, CP's job was to file grants for everyone in my building to let AP file grants for everyone in the other building. AP couldn't handle both buildings - which I completely believe. Therefore, I had to use CP. <br /><br />AP has been doing this forever and would semi-proof read my grants - make sure I hadn't forgotten something obvious, like an equipment justification section, or make sure I wasn't asking for an obscene amount of money in comparison to other other grants recently awarded. This is stuff I didn't even think of (the latter) or know how to write (the former). Now that I know to do this, I will. But AP's experience is really helpful.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">AP thought this was unfair (a new professor working with a new grants manager - essentially the blind leading the blind), and continued to file my grants. My chair found out, and got pissed. I requested to meet with him (in person) to discuss this next week. He opted to call - conference with everyone - at 5pm on Friday. Not surprisingly, it turned nasty. I'll just stop here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then at 5:30, I had a meeting with a professor in another department to discuss teaching - this professor has won lots of awards in teaching and volunteered to meet with anyone who wanted advice. He asked how my experience was going so far. I said it was okay. He asked how I liked my department administration. It was like he read my mind - bizarre. I pseudo-lied, and said I liked my division - I love my dean. And, as this prof is smart, he said what I couldn't say - that my chair is a grumpy ass, but his term is also limited. So, as long as I get along with the dean (whose term isn't limited), then I should focus on that, and somewhat ignore the chair (obviously not ignore - but keep my eyes on what is really important). We are meeting again next week to actually talk about teaching.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, a lot of other stuff is also going on, which is probably obvious as my blogging is getting more and more sporatic. But I felt like I needed to at least give a feeling for the rapid emotional roller coaster that occurs in a single day. The ups are much much higher, and the downs are much more pronounced than when I was a grad student or post doc. So the total swing is just more exhausting. I'm sure I'll develop a coping mechanism of some sort, but I'm just not sure what it is going to be or when it is going to kick in.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-57419547468414450122008-10-27T15:58:00.000-07:002008-10-27T16:16:54.935-07:00Grant writing<span style="font-family: arial;">So, it is official. I suck at proposal writing. I got back my first set of "summary statements" from an NIH grant that I submitted. They basically said "go find a mentor - the science is solid, but your proposal is unintelligible, so we can't fund this piece of crap". Perhaps it was phrased a little better (in fact, the reviewers spent 5 pages reinforcing the concept of all the ways in which my proposal was unintelligible), but that was the gist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">They did give some helpful comments, which I will use in re-writing my proposal. And I knew that this one(s) was a piece of crap. I submitted three proposals in June to three different NIH sections on three different topics. I had never written an NIH proposal before, so I basically had no clue what I was doing. I wrote another one a month or so ago with another (much more senior) professor, and I learned a lot. However, based on the significant differences between that proposal and the ones I submitted in June, I could pretty much assume that none of those were going anywhere. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">All of that being said... Waiting for these rejections was almost like waiting to go to the dentist and have your wisdom teeth pulled. You know what's coming, but it still sucks when it actually happens. Especially reading the 5 pages of comments saying things like "if you had only written more background information, then I would have recommended this for funding" and "the PI clearly has a strong track record in this field, therefore, while I believe she can successfully perform the research, she can not write proposals and therefore I can not recommend this for funding" and so forth...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, the main thing I learned: put in as much background as humanly possible. This really showed in the reviews. Both with the specific comments about the lack of background information and the resulting confusion. Also make sure to use the phrase "As the PI has previously shown..." (or similar words) as many times as possible. And make sure the short paragraph in the grant itself about me (a semi-bio) is extremely flattering. These last two things I have problems with. I tend to have problems writing these types of things (especially the latter). I'm going to get my husband to do it. He has no problems. Also, it is easier to write complimentary statements about other people than it is about yourself. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And I wrote his resume last night.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-32401670690251394262008-10-24T14:11:00.000-07:002008-10-24T14:28:13.321-07:00Absent<span style="font-family: arial;">So, I have spent the last 10 days in multiple cities and time zones and being uber-social. While my husband claims I am an extrovert, I say I'm just a really good actress. Oscar-worthy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The first round was in DC with granting agencies and program managers trying to figure out what they really wanted. Their announcements say one thing, but what they really want to fund can be a little different. But finding out what they really want, can make a big difference. But it is a trip like any other: airplane, hotel, food, etc. All to get 30 minutes of face time with a program manager. After the first meeting, I've found that PM's are much more receptive to follow-up phone calls. But for initial contact, they really like meeting you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then I went onto a conference, gave a talk, got the typical "your talk was really impressive. I was really surprised." Um, not really sure how to take this. Now, I just say thanks, and walk away. I used to press the person to actually explain what they meant - try to make them feel uncomfortable and actually admit that they thought I was going to give a crappy talk because I'm short and female. Now, it just isn't worth the effort.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">After that, I want to a "school" retreat. School = everyone in my "division", not the whole university/college. This was fun and stressful. Everyone was there, even the dean, and there were a lot of people I had never met before, so many names came at me very fast. And I'm really, really bad with names.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then onto another conference. One more talk. Again, the "you gave a good talk and I'm surprised" comment. Yes, I know. I look like I'm 18. I'm not. One of these days, I'm just going to lose it. Let's just hope it is post-tenure.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But, now I'm back, and my students are extremely happy. I spent all of yesterday in the lab with them. And I'm hoping to spend part of this afternoon and all day tomorrow in the lab (if they are there tomorrow, it is their choice). But the lab is 99% done, and I want to have it completely done by Monday. I feel responsible for it not being done. If I had been here over the past 10 days or so, it would be done. So I feel really bad for delaying my student's research progress.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh, and I had three grants not go through and a young investigator award (YFA/YIA) not go through. Oh well. That's life. But I filed two more grants last week (they had the same due date), and next week I'll file at least one more, and another YFA/YIA.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-53108098230560932012008-10-08T07:52:00.000-07:002008-10-08T08:10:45.851-07:00Committees<span style="font-family: arial;">I have now had many people ask me what it is exactly that I do all day. I can fairly confidently say that I spend a significant portion of my time in meetings. I enjoy the ones with students. The ones with professors - not so much. Especially with groups of professors (ie committees). And there seem to be lots of those.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">These meetings appear to have no definitive end time. And sometimes no agenda is sent out (or formed) either. My parents always said a meeting must have an agenda - apparently that concept was lost on engineers. Without an agenda, the meeting meanders from topic to topic like a lost puppy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In my department meetings, I am extremely fortunate. The room we meet in has a class immediate after (1 hr after the start of the meeting); therefore this is a limiting factor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">However, as an example of the topics covered in the last meeting: status reports from several seminar sub-committees on invites to speakers (speakers invited, dates being arranged), status report on faculty search (reading over CVs), random discussion over assorted yet unrelated topics. The first topics could have easily been reported via email; the second part (random discussion) didn't really need to happen - or at least it didn't really need to involve everyone. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">One committee I'm on does everything 90% electronically. It is awesome. I can comment at midnight. And discussions end up being more focused.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The department seminar sub-committees (yes, I'm on these too) actually meet. Why, I have no idea. The meetings last for 45 minutes or so (again - what we talk about for this period of time, I really have yet to figure out - I tend to think of other things. But more importantly, the meetings have tended to take place in the middle of the afternoon, which completely disrupt an entire day. And they often are in a building far from mine. So a 45 minute meeting ends up lasting 1 hr, plus the additional disruption to my work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, one person commented on the 20% service requirement - this counts service. So, I easily am fulfilling my service requirement (committee work) - I also do other stuff. What is rather interesting is that as you do more research, you have to do more service (if you go by the percentage method). So you end up, in a sense, being penalized for doing research. But really, the percentages are guidelines anyway. The dept just wants to make sure you contribute.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-2822671770500761982008-09-30T08:13:00.000-07:002008-09-30T08:30:43.024-07:0040/40/20<span style="font-family: arial;">For those who are at or considering an R1 university, you already know what the 40/40/20 rule is. For those who don't, 40/40/20 refers to how an Assistant professor is supposed to split their time: 40% research, 40% teaching, 20% service. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This seems very well-defined. It seems straightforward. It seems like, given these parameters, why doesn't everyone get tenure - just follow the 40/40/20 rule and you're golden. Well, it really doesn't work out that way.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Just as in grad school, the percentages don't really count. </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >(in case you don't know to what I'm referring: if homework counts for 60% of the grade, and the final exam counts for 40%, it would appear that both homework and the final exam are important. However, since everyone gets 100% on all of the homeworks, really the only factor which plays a role in determining the final grade is the final exam, unless you completely blow off your homework.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Everyone follows the 40/40/20 successfully (unless they are just completely clueless), just like everyone got 100% on the homework. Therefore, in the end, what really matters are the letters. Reference letters of sort. Letters from complete strangers (because, they aren't going to ask people who have a vested interest in seeing you do well - ie your thesis advisor, your post-doc advisor, your collaborators, etc). And, apparently, there will be something like 6 of these letters.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And they need to say things like "she would get tenure at my institution" and "she is the top of her field" and "she is amazing, fantastic, glorious, god-like". </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >(Okay, maybe the last one was over the top).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Based upon my experience with strangers commenting on my work (ie journal referrees), I'm not too confident in this system. I have about a 50% track record of getting positive comments (and by positive, I mean good enough to get the manuscript published, not good enough to qualify in the "she is fantastic" column).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The one good thing about this system - my thesis advisor is automatically dis-allowed as a letter writer. Not really for the right reason (typically advisors would write an overly positive letter, when in reality he would write a negative one), but he is still excluded, which is the important thing.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-55155276324182852942008-09-26T09:51:00.001-07:002008-09-26T10:05:33.046-07:00My students are awesomer than yours...<span style="font-family: arial;">I know everyone thinks their kids are the best. But as I don't have any kids yet, I think my graduate students (and my undergrad) are the best. Whether or not this is true, I have no idea, but I think they are. I am fully aware that I am biased. However, I have gotten confirmation that my undergrad is indeed awesome - she got an award. And, today, I got confirmation that one of my grad students is awesome - he won a fellowship.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">His fellowship benefits both of us. I didn't fully appreciate this fact when I was a graduate student (by the way, I did not get a fellowship). I saw fellowships as mostly benefiting the student - after all, fellowship students make more than non-fellowship students. However, now that I am not paying my student 36k+overhead a year, I can buy more equipment, which is overhead free. So I basically get 60-ish% more for my money. (Yes, overhead is overly high).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And he is extremely happy with the extra money. He doesn't realize it yet, but he should be more happy with the title which will help him get a job in the future. And as he wants to go into academia, the more "honors and awards" one has, the better.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, this particular grad student is exceptionally awesome. Every assistant professor should have a graduate student like him. He works on weekends, is extremely independently motivated, and never complains that something is "not science". For example, I worked with grad students as a post-doc that complained that writing software to analyze data was "not science". Taking data was science, but building the testing set-up to take the data or writing the software to analyze the data was "not science". Essentially, if it couldn't be plotted, the grad student didn't want to do it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, my grad students are awesome. They have all dug in and helped build the fundamental backbone components of my lab. If only I could get them all fellowships.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-66073001943469612892008-09-25T08:59:00.000-07:002008-09-25T09:15:13.048-07:00Journals (pt 2)...<span style="font-family: arial;">This post is in reference/follow-up to my previous post "</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://femaleengineeringprof.blogspot.com/2008/09/journals.html">Journals</a><span style="font-family: arial;">".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I heard back from the editor (yes, it took awhile), and he agreed with my assessment of the reviews and has accepted my manuscript!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Interestingly, I have read numerous blogs/articles discussing that men are more likely to argue with editors than females, and that females will more likely accept a rejection and"fade into night". This follows the trend discussed in the book "Women don't ask", in which the authors say that women are less likely to ask for things than men, and as such (in the long run) end up with less. Women essentially expect to be rewarded for good deeds, while men ask to be rewarded. I agree with much of this and have seen it in many of my female colleagues, but I have come to discover that it doesn't really apply to me. I'm not trying to sound arrogant - I actually don't think it applies to most females who went to an all-girls high school.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I think this is because women who attend all-girls high school learn at an early age to accept leadership roles, and they become comfortable in them. It doesn't seem strange for a girl to be the president of a club or of the class, because, by default, it will be a girl. Therefore, when these women go to college, they continue to pursue these leadership roles that they have grown to enjoy. And in these roles, they have to negotiate for things like funding, they have organize events and run meetings. Often undergraduate clubs have annual budgets of 5k or more, and a single event, if it is school wide (like a Mardi Gras party or orientation week), can have a much larger budget.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, in graduate school or as a faculty member, the budgets and the responsibilities get larger. </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >Much, much larger. I just evaluated my annual burn rate.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">After being responsible for organizing a large event or for orchestrating the construction of a lab, asking an editor to re-evaluate a decision on a paper seems pretty easy. Especially, if the decision was clearly incorrect.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-34449309114430379892008-09-24T07:59:00.000-07:002008-09-24T08:09:52.560-07:00Committee assignment<span style="font-family: arial;">I have received my first committee assignment. And it came the same week that I have two grants due and that my lasers finally arrived. I would much rather be playing with my lasers. I have been waiting 4 months for them. Next on my list would be writing the grants - money will buy more lasers. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I downloaded the committee assignment last night - after glancing at it, I really don't want to do it now. The committee I'm on is the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or some such lengthy title. Essentially, every time any department wants to change their curriculum, they have to ask us. That is the reality. The description of the committee was a little different. It said that we discussed how to change the undergrad curriculum to modernize it. As an undergrad and a grad student, I was involved in such discussions, and I really enjoyed seeing them implemented. So, I thought I would enjoy being part of a committee that was "progressive". </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This committee - not progressive. It reads paperwork. The people who submit the paperwork - they are the progressive ones. The committee actually is anti-progressive. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, as I said, my first assignment came last night. I have to read about 100 pages of proposed changes that another department wants to make to their curriculum. Not minor changes either - additions of about 5 classes, deletions of about 3 classes, addition of a minor and addition of an interdisciplinary minor. They grouped the whole thing together into a single submission, so I (and another committee member) have to evaluate it as a package. We can approve sections, but still, if they had submitted it in parts, then the work could be split up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The entertaining part - until last night, I had never heard of this department or this major. I had to look up the discipline on the web to find out what the field was. I guess I have learned something already, though not exactly what I had intended to.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-23053018773011843302008-09-17T21:34:00.000-07:002008-09-17T21:47:27.660-07:00Undergraduate emails<span style="font-family: arial;">It is the second or third or fourth week of the semester (I'm not teaching this semester, so I've kind of lost track), and my department holds a freshman seminar class to orient the freshman to the department. There is homework, but it is "orienting" homework. Apparently, last week's homework was to interview a faculty member to find out why they chose to be in science/engineering, why they chose academia, what they do, etc. They get two weeks.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I got a lot of emails (based on the size of the class), and I have determined that I got a statistically large number of emails - more than half. I know I got all of the females. But I also got a significant portion of the guys as well. If I was egotistical at all, I would say it was for appearance reasons - but I think it is because of laziness - my name falls near the beginning of the alphabet. The male profs who fall before me, well, I wouldn't want to interview them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">As I'm not in town right now, I clearly can't do these interviews this week. So, next week will be spent being interviewed by undergrads. I'm viewing as a two way interview - I would like to have some undergrad researchers in my group, so now I have the perfect chance to pre-screen and recruit early.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The undergrad school I went to didn't do this type of freshman seminar and I think it is a really good idea. I never interacted with faculty - except in my courses where they were the teacher. And those interactions were less than positive. And when I started undergrad I didn't even consider grad school, until I met a grad student who encouraged me. So, now I have a chance to meet with a bunch of undergrads and plant the seed early. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I realize that not every undergrad should go to grad school - I'm not that type of professor - but I also realize that not every undergrad is given the kind of encouragement they should be either. So now I have this chance. At least for ~50% of the class. Maybe I should change my last name to Aardvark to seal the deal. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(Now if they would just stop emailing me as Mrs. X, everything would be great... Maybe I'll suggest that can be included in the seminar as well - etiquette in communication)</span></span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-5253463414399968272008-09-17T04:54:00.000-07:002008-09-17T05:16:16.319-07:00International Traveling<span style="font-family: arial;">I'm in Europe right now - I'm not calling Europe a single country, I'm just being vague.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I have been on this side of the Atlantic several times this year, every time in a different country. However, I always fly into the same airport first. This is simply because I have a favorite airline, which flies non-stop from where I live to one airport in Europe. It is my favorite for several reasons: 1) it gives me a 50% mileage bonus for free which is transferable to my FF club, so I get 150% of the miles (ie I don't have to join their FF club) , 2) they serve really good food, 3) the seats are all equipped with the mini-TVs which are uniquely controlled - ie the movies can be started and stopped whenever you choose. These may seem like small things, but they add up. Especially the movies - the only time I watch movies is when I am on planes - I view my airplane time as my time. It is really the only time I get alone without email interruption. Although right now I'm not getting many emails, as almost everyone I know is asleep.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And about the first point - I know many airlines have the joint membership programs, but very few give you the 50% mileage bonus. On ~20hrs of flying (roundtrip), it adds up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But that wasn't the point. My favorite part about being in Europe is the coffee and the sandwiches. I realize this seems strange (maybe not the coffee part), but I really love prosciutto and brie sandwiches. If you have never had one, you are truly missing out. And they are everywhere over here - even in airports. Or at least so I thought.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I spent this morning trying to find the sandwich - no such luck. I didn't want it for breakfast, but I wanted to figure out where I would go for lunch. I found coffee (it was everywhere, par normal). I found Subway (bizarre) - and they only had the standard American selection. I found a lot of food I really didn't want to smell, let alone eat, at 6am. But I didn't find any stores which even looked like sandwich stores or bakeries (except the Subway). And there were alot of people having subway for breakfast, which I could understand given the alternative.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm quite disappointed to be honest. It is really how I motivate myself to get on the plane and travel for typically 12+ hrs to get here (including the secondary leg which can be a plane/train/bus/taxi), and travel far away from my husband, my cat and my dog. I love all of them very much, and while I love going to conferences and giving talks at schools/universities, I love being with them too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I realize I came for the science not the food - and I'm sure the science will be great too. But I'm only here for 1 day. So, 1 day of science vs. 2 days of traveling... The prospect of getting the prosciutto really played a big role in my decision to come. And I know I can get prosciutto in the US (and in the airport), but I can't get the bread and the same quality Brie in the US. So, really, it just isn't the same.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But I'll stop now. I know there are much worse problems in the world - and even in the US. People in TX would love to have Subway for breakfast.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-60343985146988586812008-09-12T09:32:00.000-07:002008-09-12T09:50:50.653-07:00Ode to Campus Joy pt 2<span style="font-family: arial;">So I thought about posting a comment on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=29059245&postID=5197542173404694084&pli=1">FSP's post today</a>, but then I realized my comment would be far too long, so I decided I would just write the comment here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">When I started reading her post, I began thinking about my favorite aspect of my new campus, and it was, indeed, the marching band.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The past two schools I have attended have been without football teams - really sports programs - to speak of. Case in point - I played soccer in college. Not intramural. I had a school jersey and traveled and everything. I am not trying to convince you of my athletic prowess - I am not an athlete. I am far from an athlete. I am more saying how anyone could compete - I had friends (science friends) on the cross country team. Therefore, accompanying things, such as cheerleaders, marching bands, etc didn't exist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">On my current campus, athletics is big. Therefore, the marching band practices almost every day (from 6-8pm). In fact, my undergrad researcher is in the marching band. Everyday as I leave work, I hear the marching band practicing. I think it is awesome. It is almost like a pep rally everyday for the whole campus (and for me). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">At the end of a long day (and at this point, a day is ~10-12 hrs), there is really nothing better than walking by the marching band playing happy music. It really lifts your spirits - after all, the music they play is designed to do just that.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-23533762007860354242008-09-10T12:03:00.000-07:002008-09-10T12:34:30.962-07:00Student seeking position<span style="font-family: arial;">There have been many posts on many blogs about the correct way and the incorrect way to get into grad school, get a post-doc position and get an academic job. While I realize that the people who probably should be reading the present post, won't, maybe word will spread, and people will learn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Things not to do: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">don't send emails like:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Dear Prof. X,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I am a student at X university. I am interested in a research position in X field in your group this fall. My GRE/TOEFL scores are ###. Can I join your research group this fall?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Sincerely, </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Interested student</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe not all professors, but I explicitly say on my web-page when I have openings and when I don't (right now I don't). And even if I did - it is fall! If you haven't already been admitted to the school, you aren't going to be starting now! You kind of missed the cycle.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Second, I don't admit students, the school does. Only after a student applies to the school should they bother contacting me. Yes - profs can pull strings, but if an application doesn't exist in the "system" there are no strings to pull.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Don't address the email to the wrong professor. This may seem obvious - but I actually got an email from a person looking for a post-doc position which was addressed to a different prof at a different school. Clearly, the wrong cover letter. It just starts things out on the wrong foot. And don't address "Dear sir/madam". Also annoying. I have a picture on my webpage. I'm clearly not a sir.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">If you have applied to the school, and verified your application is in, then, yes, by all means, contact professors. In fact, I would encourage undergrads to contact profs in that tentative in between time after the app is submitted but before they have heard something. That is the crucial time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">If you get in, contact profs early (not once the school year has started), but in the spring, to inquire about openings for the next year. Especially if it is a prof with a popular group. I stopped taking new students in June, long before the start of the school year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But don't send fishing emails before you have even applied. It is very annoying. I still respond. I know many profs who don't (which I think it rather rude - but then I only get 2-3/day, I'm sure they get many more).</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-21555320999644620592008-09-09T12:03:00.000-07:002008-09-09T12:16:45.943-07:00Journals...<span style="font-family: arial;">There is significant background, so please bear with me. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">A friend (in a different lab) and I decided to try something (just for fun) once when I was in grad school - using my materials and his equipment. And it worked. My PhD advisor didn't believe/understand the results as he didn't understand the equipment, so he wouldn't let me publish. My friend's advisor thought it was awesome (and that my advisor was an idiot), but he let it go.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Fast forward two years. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Everyone has come to the realization that my advisor is an idiot (the other advisor was in a different department, so it took him some time, unlike my friend who was bombarded with daily stories). So, we decide to submit without my advisor. We choose Nature Materials - long shot, but if we haven't been scooped at this point, probably not going to happen.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Not surprisingly, we don't get in. Not really heart broken...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">We choose another, more realistic journal - the reviews come back "this is great work, but it would really be more appropriate for X journal, but that is the Editor's decision". The Editor chooses to bounce it. That I was slightly more peeved about - especially as that submission was 3 months.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, third submission at highly specialized journal: 90days after submission, we get response (3 reviewers): 2 are extremely positive - say things like: " this work deserves to be published in an international journal like X". Third reviewer is an idiot. Really. He/she completely missed the point of the paper, compares it to irrelevant papers which focused on completely different topics, etc. The Editor rejects the paper. Um, what?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, I email the journal directly (they didn't even give me a link to argue) with my "respectfully disagree" letter. That was a week ago - I still haven't heard anything.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Today, an article came out that is very, very similar. Not similar enough to keep ours from getting published (ie not the same). But it is similar enough to prove that we did submit to the right journal, our work is relevant to this community, etc. And it is also similar enough to make me think that one of the authors could have been one of the reviewers, either at this journal or the previous one. That would really make me peeved (and perhaps another word).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, sorry for the bitter post, but I'm just really frustrated... I know it won't be the last time, but did it have to be the first time (that I was submitting as the last author)?</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-15165782050855286832008-09-08T15:34:00.000-07:002008-09-08T15:48:27.903-07:00Faculty Meeting (pt 1)<span style="font-family: arial;">As I mentioned on Friday, I went to my first faculty meeting last week. Actually, it was double header - I went to both a dept faculty meeting and a university committee meeting, back to back. So, 4 hrs of "meeting", with a location change in between. I'll limit myself to the dept. faculty meeting for today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm the secretary this year. Apparently, the new professor is always the secretary. I checked; this isn't some evil joke. I really, really hope they hire someone else this year (there is an active search), so I can stop taking notes next year. I have never been good at taking notes. I like listening too much.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, when I was an undergrad, I always used to think that profs would hang out after work and talk about us. When I became a grad student/post-doc, I realized that profs were way too busy to hang out and talk about us. I now realize that it was a little of both. They don't hang out and talk about us after work, they do it during faculty meetings! Maybe not specific students, more general - like, "what do you think happened to the sophomore class? I gave them the same test as I gave to the juniors last year, and they all failed it." As I'm not teaching, I can't really join in, but I was kind of taken aback.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The majority of the meeting was actually spent going over the plans for the semester (seminars, hiring etc), with one small exception when we talked about the tenure/review process. A lot of people would like to see it standardized (numerically), and many people are quite happy with the personal touch (namely, the ones with friends in high places). As I'm new, and have neither friends in admin nor any idea what the proposed numeric system is, I asked for information but didn't really say much. But, this did lead to the discussion of the general review process - namely, how we (profs) get reviewed every year, and students get reviewed every semester, but who reviews the staff?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Apparently, our chair! And he feels they are doing a great job! (Doesn't everyone? he asked). Um, no. So, we all asked to be included or asked for input when the next round of reviews were due. I have a feeling that this years reviews are going to be significantly different than the last decade of reviews.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And maybe our chair will finally realize he gets preferential treatment...</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-63386208750280628402008-09-05T10:10:00.000-07:002008-09-05T11:32:44.133-07:00Benefits<span style="font-family: arial;">Unlike the title may imply, I'm not referring the benefits of being a professor, I'm referring to the Benefits Office, or the people who control things like health insurance. This is my least favorite part of changing jobs - dealing with changing health insurance. In fact, next to moving, I would have to say this is my next "least favorite task" - if I was asked to rank them - assuming major things like surgery, death, etc were taken out of the rankings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In fact, I hate dealing with these people so much, I almost missed the deadline to sign up. I made it by a day - and my transactions with them today have been equally, if not more, nightmarish than at my last three jobs. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The people in the office are extremely rude - irregardless of how nice you are to them. Okay, I shouldn't generalize. The person I spoke to last week was very nice. But, I guess she is out this week. The person I spoke to today verged on being obstinate just for fun. An example:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The school has very good health care, in part because there is a medical school/hospital on campus, and if you go there, you get very, very good prices (free with very low monthly payment). So, I wanted to sign both me and my husband up (me +1 adult). This meant I had to show I was married - ie bring proof of marriage to the office. So, I called the office to find out where they were located (I'm still working on figuring out where all of the buildings are) so I could bring it over. I was first berated for not attending orientation (which I did), then I was berated for not paying attention during orientation (which I did). It wasn't covered in my orientation - mine was 3hrs long, and Benefits simply handed out a book, said to do everything in it, and call with any questions. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, after talking to my dept's admin asst, apparently the staff orientation is given in three parts, each one is a day long, and in theirs, things like which building Benefits is in are covered. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, we (the Benefits guy and I) finally decided I would simply fax it to him. So I did. I called back to verify he got it and make sure he didn't need anything else and find out a timeframe. Apparently, things like timeframes were also covered in orientation - um, not mine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">At this point, I explained (calmly) that my orientation and his were different. Mine was 1 day, and his was longer. Mine did not involve a presentation from Benefits, and his clearly did. And that I would appreciate if he would simply answer my question, as I was told he would do, because this discussion was a waste of time. In the end he answered my question. But, seriously, why all of the drama?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I know, I shouldn't let this kind of stuff bother me (my husband just told me as much). But really, I know the reason he treated me like crap is that I sound like I'm 12 on the phone, so he thinks I'm 12 (or maybe 20), and a graduate student, and so he can treat me like crap. If I sounded like I was 50 and male, he probably wouldn't have treated me the same. I realize I sound like I'm viewing everything through the gender lens and all, but the person last week knew I was a professor, and the person this week didn't. And the person last week was extremely helpful. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Since I tend not to call and say "hi, I'm Prof X, can you please answer my question?", I can only assume that the difference is based on this knowledge - otherwise, all I can assume is that the person I spoke to today really enjoys making other people miserable. And I would really rather not jump to this conclusion.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-41293326288496177952008-09-03T10:26:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:33:41.459-07:00New Office Furniture<span style="font-family: arial;">I'm sitting on the floor right now waiting for my new office furniture to arrive. It was supposed to get here at 9am, so I rounded up a couple of my students at 8:30 to help me move out my old furniture (circa 1970) to make room for my new furniture. It is now 10:30 and some of the furniture has arrived (it is in boxes outside of my office door), but the people (and the rest of the furniture) who are going to put it together haven't arrived. They are one floor down putting someone else's furniture together.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Therefore, I'm sitting on the floor and waiting. I waited turn on my laptop until a few minutes because I kept hoping it would be just a few more minutes until they arrived, but a few minutes would go by, and they wouldn't arrive. So, now I turned it on. I'm betting they show up any minute now.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, it will be nice to have furniture because I can unpack and organize, finally. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I have felt like I have been living out of a box the past few months, both in the lab and in my office, and it has been taking a toll on my sanity. Hopefully by the end of today, my desk will be organized (assuming it actually gets unpacked), and then my office will be organized. Next, I'll tackle the labs. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I spent a large portion of yesterday in them (when I wasn't in two committee meetings), and part of this morning in them. I am fully planning on spending this weekend in them, and dragging my husband along for the ride... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, the desk hasn't shown up - so much for hoping that turning on my laptop would do the trick!</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-7181744340899692972008-09-02T10:16:00.000-07:002008-09-02T10:28:37.064-07:00Labs Done!!!!!<span style="font-family: arial;">In case you can't tell, my labs are done. Well, 99% done - and done to the point that I (and more importantly) my students can move in. Technically, I no longer get a desk in the lab, so they are really the ones moving in. We spent all day yesterday moving. Yes, we labored on Labor Day. My husband and I were going to do it irregardless of the day - we have had boxes and boxes of stuff in our apt for the last few months, so at the first sign of approval, it was getting re-located. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">My students volunteered to come. I didn't force or in any other way require them to come in and I tried to make it clear that if they didn't, I wouldn't hold it against them. But they came just the same. And, I have to say as much as I want to say it doesn't effect my opinion of them, it really does. Their enthusiasm does make me happy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, we spent the day moving stuff - both my textbooks and lab equipment - into the lab and my office. And, since a bunch of equipment arrived last Friday in crates, we also spent part of yesterday, uncrating equipment and setting it up. (In anticipation of moving stuff Monday, I went to a tool store on Saturday and bought a ton of tools, including a crowbar).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">As my undergrad said, it was like a very, very expensive Christmas. I don't think they quite understand just how expensive most of this equipment is, so I'm thinking this afternoon, we may just take a walk around the lab and do an inventory.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh, and the reason I had so much equipment in my apt - I bought a lot (all) of it used from start-up companies which were going under or consolidating (ie in stages of going under). So, they don't really ship. Therefore, I picked it up. And they were closer to my apt, than to my school, so I took it there. And, while I paid very little for most of it (when compared to retail), the replacement cost is very high.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, I'm extremely happy right now - even though one company forgot to put some adapter in the crate so I can't finish setting up the really expensive piece of equipment (that I did pay full price for). But I still have that feeling of someone who got everything she asked for.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-88255218645603247712008-08-29T08:25:00.000-07:002008-08-29T08:49:39.852-07:00Stubbornness<span style="font-family: arial;">When I started undergrad, I knew exactly what I wanted to major in. By the way - it was not engineering, it was a fundamental science. My drive resulted from everyone (except my parents who are the epitome of support in this respect) telling me that I couldn't do it. My high school teachers, most of my high school classmates, and many of my college professors all were very discouraging. But instead of being convinced out of pursuing this field, it actually convinced me even more. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">My mom refers to this as my stubborn streak. When I was child, she used to view this in a negative light. Now she agrees it is probably my best asset. Apparently, it is an inherited trait which runs deep in our family.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It definitely got me through undergrad - I was told I couldn't do things so many times I lost count. I could take three lab courses simultaneously. I couldn't take an MBA course. My senior thesis project - it couldn't be done (I did it - it was hard, but it got done). I just shouldn't even bother applying to grad school with my subject GRE score. You know what - I have yet to meet someone who does well on that stupid test!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, in grad school, the same cycle repeated. And as an experimentalist, I have to say stubbornness is definitely important. Especially if you think something can be done. I did many experiments that other students had dropped because they gave up. Giving up is lame. Trying the same approach for 1 yr is stupid - but giving up, especially on experiments which can lead to really interesting results, can lead to even more wasted time. It takes a lot of time to come up to speed in a research area, understand the purpose of project and begin experiments. Why not try 2, 5, 10 different approaches to reach the final goal? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Science is about thinking outside of the box and coming up with creative solutions to complex problems, and many of my male colleagues in grad school would stop when the first easy solution failed. If it was easy, it probably would have been done. It is only interesting because it is hard. And finding the solution is part of the fun.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, this only comes up now because I gave one of my students a project in May, which from my perspective sounded easy - everything is easy when you are the advisor. You get to sit in the office and state the beginning and the end, and wait for results. Maybe not that easy, but all of the details, like taking time-points every 2 hrs (I had friends in Biology - I felt so sorry for them), just happen, magically. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In any case, it sounded straight forward, but in June, he began to run into some problems. Reported them, then said he would fix them. Then in July, he had fixed them - he did a literature search, came up with a new solution based on a modification of a method found in literature (which was published in the 1970's), and it worked. Then he characterized his samples using like 10 different methods, and everything triangulated. I'm just so proud of him. Granted, it all worked out in a couple months - but he also works 6 days a week, 12 hrs a day. So for a normal grad student, it probably would have taken much longer.</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020135678767128025.post-45745819449116257432008-08-28T08:25:00.000-07:002008-08-28T08:42:43.771-07:00Engineering Ad Campaign<span style="font-family: arial;">As everyone knows by now, the numbers of US undergrads pursuing engineering degrees is extremely low. So, since I had a group of 18yr olds last week, I decided to ask them why they chose the major they did - it was a mixed batch of majors ranging from philosophy to graphic art to engineering and physics (which also made for an interesting teaching experience). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The answer - engineers don't make a lot of money. I found this very interesting, as engineers do make a lot of money, comparatively speaking. So I pressed to find out what "a lot" was. They ball-parked it at 35k-45k. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Before arguing, I decided to ask about grad school - if any of them had thought about grad school, the costs of grad school, how grad school could effect one's money making ability, etc. Some said yes, some said no, some said "grad school?". In any case, all of them had no idea that engineering grad school (PhD) is often free and you can often get a stipend on top of that (I explained the stipend concept). I also explained that this very rarely happens in fields like medicine or law, where you typically leave with loads of debt.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, I laid out the facts about starting salaries - how 35k was not average for a BS and it definitely was not average for a PhD - luckily I happened to have an issue of an engineering journal with me which had average numbers for all engineering fields for 2007. I do not have these memorized. And I explained that you don't have to worry about mal-practice or making partner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Their next big concern was the concept of "jobs being shipped overseas", which is understandable, as this has been in the news alot lately. So, I explained that there are lots of jobs which can't be shipped overseas - like military work and work at national labs. So for US citizens right now, finding a job isn't hard, it is "finding a job in the geographical location with the right mix of co-workers" that is hard. I don't think the 18yr olds had ever thought about the last two requirements on a job before. Money had always been the priority.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">They all pretty much said that if I told high school students these numbers more would go into engineering. So, basically, I need to walk into high schools, tell the students how much their earning potential will be as an engineer, and then they will all want to be engineers instead of doctors and lawyers. Interesting... I don't think that tactic will work, but it was an interesting perspective. Maybe an ad campaign showing engineers in massive houses with gold toilets and fast cars...</span>AsstFemaleProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470039357270029522noreply@blogger.com0