i highly recommend using the ombudsman for any issue you'd like to discuss. i talked with the university ombudsman when i was a postdoc after i started doing a side consulting job (at the firm i now work at). i wanted to know if i could get in serious trouble if my PI found out and the ombudsman gave me some great advice. and as far as I know, the meeting was kept strictly confidential.
My PI would always show up late to group meetings- 20-30 minutes- and never give an excuse or apology. It was incredibly frustrating given *he* was the one who scheduled the meetings in the first place!
that's the tough part about basic research- it's often too far removed from what the average non-scientist cares about for them to see the importance. as @scwai put it- you've got about 10 seconds to drop a few words that interest people- family included- or they're gone.
if this horrifying day ever actually became a reality, i think i'd seriously consider finding a new job.
toolbar installed! now trying to trim my list of needs to 100 words...
you seem to have forgotten to include "a raise" on the list...
dan is smart to ask the hard questions early on. science is a great career, but it can be a tough road. if you're just going through the motions without a plan, you may end up spending the better part of a decade working towards something you're not truly interested in.
exactly. you should always have one very high-level sentence about what you work on that you could tell anyone. the idea is not to blow them away with every detail right away- just to get the conversation started. if it's an interesting sentence, they'll want to ask more and you can slowly move into the details at a pace they're comfortable. took me many failed conversations to figure that one out...
card downloaded and printed. total holiday shopping time - 41 seconds... sweet.
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Thingamajig