The real job

My last couple of posts have been about administrative responsibilities at N1 and how they leave me with mixed feelings.  Although I may occasionally complain about how these responsibilities take away from my "real" jobs of teaching/research, the truth is that these activities give me a strong sense of belonging and contributing to N1.  They make me feel that N1 is my own institute.
In other words, serving the institute is also a "real" job and an integral part of my professional life.  

So, recently I did a careful and candid rethink about why I have been getting so stressed out about activities which I consider fun and important.  I came up with the following reasons:

1) Lack of clear demarcation between admin work time and research time.  In theory, I spend the mornings doing research work/teaching and take up administrative work after lunch.  But, my habit of frequently checking emails as soon as I step into office distracts my focus because I feel the urge to reply to emails which can wait till afternoon.  Some self discipline and prioritization is therefore required.  I notice that on the days when my mornings are spent productively, I am also able to focus well during committee meetings and even enjoy them.

2) Although our administration is very supportive, certain matters do take time to be resolved, especially those related to the student complaints I routinely receive.
When a student brings up a problem and I am not able to resolve it immediately, I myself feel helpless and impatient.  Perhaps, this is is the reason why I get more annoyed when students accost me repeatedly about that issue.  This attitude is self-defeating.  I believe that the right thing to do is to pro-actively forward the complaints to those who have the authority to address them and also to keep reminding them till they look into it, but to be inwardly detached, as it were!

3) There's too much on my plate.  I certainly don't want to shy away from serving the institute in any way possible.  But, while it's great to be enthusiastic about institute matters, it is equally important to understand one's abilities and limitations and take up only as much work as one can perform properly (of course, this capacity increases with time).  It is also important to focus on one duty at a time.
The other day, I was in an important meeting, but had to keep coming out of the room to take phone calls about another administrative matter.  Because of this, I missed some key points that were discussed in the meeting about which I had a lot to say.

I welcome feedback from readers about how they balance their time between research, teaching and admin work.  If you faced issues similar to those above or other issues which might have affected your efficiency, especially at the early career stage, please share your stories and tell us how you resolved them.

Meanwhile,  I would like to conclude this post by a very thoughtful comment that Vijay left on my previous post and which has lots of useful advice about one's involvement with administration:

 I emphasize with your time management jugglery. It can be tough. There are many good ways to manage in a way that we still end up having time for science. Some shun all administration and isolate themselves. They need to be protected, not envied or deprecated by others who put in their effort in science administration (which is important if the place is to be ours). How do we, in the latter category deal with our day? My personal take ( and as I said, there are many ways to skin this fish) is that much of the stress we face at meetings is because we feel its something that detracts from our main interests... Being stressed about being in meetings makes us less efficient at meetings, resulting in more meetings and more stress. Going prepared with clear goals and getting out of a meeting and then switching off is much better: Easier said than done, and I wish I followed my advice. As with meetings, so with students and colleagues. If you are visible and accessible, assume you are fair game for being accosted for a discussion. When in such a discussion, its better to be involved than feel that your time is being taken. Much of our bonding and the culture of an institution come from such interactions. When you want to be left alone, hide. Others should sense when you have to be left alone, of course, but in general I prefer to be accessible in error rather than people keeping away in excessive caution.

Roller coaster

Last month has been a roller coaster ride for me, both personally and professionally.  It started with incidents which made me seriously evaluate my professional needs and personal well being at N1 vis a vis what N1 expects from its employees.  There were also some episodes,  specific to an expanding new institute, which were sometimes exciting, occasionally frustrating and sometimes, just confusing.

This post is going to be about a lot of things because I am not focused enough to just write about one issue right now!

Immediately before Dussehra, I found myself spending a lot of time in committee meetings. Now, in principle, I have nothing against committee meetings - a lot of them are about framing or revising rules and regulations about various aspects of N1, for example, our academic programmes, disciplinary code of conduct, various issues that come up as an institute moves from a transit campus to a permanent campus, faculty welfare etc.  I have gained valuable experience by being actively involved in these committees and like my other colleagues, have been able to bring up many important points which I feel strongly about.  The only thing that I don't like about these meetings is that they take precious time away which could have been spent in research work or preparing for a class.  But, I don't think it is reasonable to complain about this because there are other members who have many more responsibilities than I do.

I also get routinely inundated with a lot of complaints from students about various problems.  I sympathize very much with students and bring up their genuine problems at the appropriate forums as soon as they are brought to my notice.
However, sometimes there is a delay in the resolution of the problem partly, because administrative procedures take their own time and partly because the authorities concerned may not take the problems as seriously as one would want them to.  Students, on the other hand, become impatient and want quick fixes!   Recently, I have had to be very firm with some of these students, asking them explicitly not to interrupt me when I am on my way to a class and also not to call me up at night unless there is an emergency.  Then, they are quick to jump to the conclusion that faculty members do not care for them.  This is very annoying.

The Dussehra holidays were very eventful for me, personally.  My brother got married and it's great to have a new member in the family.  It was also a lot of fun to meet many family members and cousins who I meet only during weddings!
During the wedding, I was given the responsibility of co-ordinating with the guest house where all our relatives were staying and also arranging for pick up and drop off of all guests.  According to my father, I was most suited to do this task because of my experience with organizing conferences and hosting seminar speakers at N1!

After I returned to N1 after the wedding,   I got some great news from the department.  We have been given a lot of money by the institute and will now be able to spend comfortably on a lot of things that we wanted, for example, our own library and new high-end computers for the department!  I am particularly excited about having the freedom to invite lots of rock star seminar speakers from all over India.
We will also host another winter school in December.

In a few minutes, I will leave for my home town to celebrate Diwali with my family.  I was initially planning to stay back at N1, but last night, I realized that I have not spent Diwali with my family since 1999 and it just doesn't make sense to be in the same country as my family and still spend it alone.  So, I made last minute flight bookings and surprisingly, got a really good deal!  I am looking forward to all the fun we will have at home,  to spending time with my sister-in-law and also, to possibly catching Ra.One (that is, if it manages a Diwali release).

Here's wishing all my readers a very happy and auspicious Diwali !!

Prince Calming

Prince Calming refers to a senior faculty member at N1, who is one of my mentors here.  As his pseudonym suggests, he is a calm and quiet person, not much given to display of emotions or making authoritative statements/judgements about anything or anyone at N1.  He pretty much keeps to himself and is rarely seen at our tea shop/faculty mess - the two famous hotspots for N1 gossip.

At the same time, however, he is very well informed about institute affairs and does not shy away from expressing his opinion and taking a stand on important matters.

He does so, without making a big noise and more often than not, accomplishes his objective.  Then, he moves on to other things.

One of his most endearing qualities is that he keeps an eye out for the well being of his younger colleagues.  Many of us freely approach him if we have any questions or concerns about professional matters and receive useful and effective advice from him.  

In the last fortnight, I faced some difficult situations at N1 and was a frequent visitor to his office.  It also happened that one day, we both had to travel together to a nearby city (about two hours drive away) for some important institute work.  I learnt a lot of things while conversing with him and I am sure he won't mind if I shared some of them on this blog (although I am equally sure that he does not know about the existence of this blog.)

For starters, just a day before our trip, I had had a bit of a showdown with another colleague in PC's presence about an institute matter.  We had a difference of opinion about something and since this other colleague has a habit of continuously talking without giving others a chance, I ended up raising my voice and sharply contradicting him.  I believed then (and still do) that my point was valid, but I could have certainly put it across in a softer voice :)

During the drive to the nearby city, I asked PC how he manages to remain calm in the face of extreme provocation.  With a smile he answered, "it comes with age."

"Can you please elaborate on that," I asked, not content with his cryptic reply.  He obliged me by telling me some stories from his first few years in his faculty position, when his reaction to certain events at his former institution were similar to mine above.  However, unlike me, after some of his outbursts, he got into trouble.  I found it very difficult to relate PC's current personality to the stories he was telling me and thought, "wow, there's hope for me!"

One day, I was feeling very overwhelmed about some problems and asked PC for advice.  Instead of encouraging my ranting, however,  PC immediately pointed out that the trait that could be most harmful to one's career is negativity.  N1 is not perfect - no place is.  But, as a responsible member of this institute, if someone feels that something is amiss or needs to be corrected, one should take initiative and bring it up confidently with the concerned people/committee.  This is much more useful than gossiping about the problem.  He then gave some more examples of some issues that he had faced and how he resolved them.  "But, Dr PC, " I asked, "in your position and at your stage of career, you can bring up issues fearlessly and people will listen to you, where as, if I bring them up, I will be immediately branded a trouble maker."  

He again corrected me and said that as a member of N1 community, I have every right to raise an issue and should do so.  However, he also warned against expecting results overnight.  The gist of his advice seemed to be to take up the matter and pursue it patiently. 

This was a timely wake-up call to me before I drifted into complacence and negativity.

Yet another occasion on which PC gave me some useful advice was after a meeting.  I was extremely annoyed at an administrative official who, I felt, had made a disparaging and factually wrong statement about our department.  I asked PC if I should confront this person.  PC said that if I really felt so strongly about it, I should do so, but that I should wait for 24 hours before writing or talking to this person.  As it turned out, those 24 hours were enough for me to calm down and realize that (a) I had misunderstood the context in which this statement was made and (b) I was not the right person to bring this up, anyways.  Incidentally, this reminds me of my PhD supervisor, who once said that the "reply" tab in the email inbox should be renamed "reflect".

I am now out of "the blues" [even literally so as the monsoons seem to be ending] and learning to do my job, calmly and effectively, thanks to interesting experiences and mentors like PC.

I would love to hear back from readers who have learnt important socio-administrative lessons from other mentors.  From the more senior readers, of course, I would truly appreciate more advice and tips :)

Course work: How much/little is too much/little

In the comments thread of the previous post, Hary raised an important point, namely coursework for PhD students.  Hary's perception is that PhD students at new institutes do not have enough course work before starting their research work, since faculty are too busy teaching the undergraduate courses.

Some people are of the opinion that new institutes should have started their PhD programmes after becoming well established and after their permanent campuses are fully ready and equipped.  There is much to be said for this viewpoint.
However, I feel that waiting so long before starting a doctoral program would have been detrimental to their primary objective of combining strong undergraduate teaching along with conducting research activities.  I am not sure how wise it is for any NIIX to restrict its research activities to undergraduate theses and summer research programs for the next 5 to 10 years.  NIIXs are also hiring people who are expected to do research and for many of these people, having students is essential for progress in their research programs.  So, having a well structured PhD program is one of the top priorities of these institutes.  The training of their first few students and what these students do with their PhDs will go a long way in determining the future of these institutes.

Course work, we all agree, is an important component of a PhD programme.
However, not all agree about how much course work a student needs before embarking on research.  For example, the course work that my departmental colleagues and I did as PhD students was more intensive than what PhD students in our department at N1 do. However, whenever my colleagues and I raise the issue of increasing the course requirements for our students, colleagues at other departments disagree with us because they feel that their students do not need as much course work.  So, at the moment, we have balanced all view points by asking students to do some minimal number of foundational courses, upon which all departments agree.  I don't think that determining the course requirements has anything to do with a shortage of faculty: the departments who insist most on less mandatory course work are in fact the departments which have a very high number of faculty members.

After this requirement is fulfilled, the student's advisor will direct the student to sit in for more courses which the advisor considers important for the student.  The student can also voluntarily attend classes that he or she is interested in.  For example, next semester, I will be teaching a course for final year undergrads at N1.
I have asked my PhD student to take this course because he cannot possibly start working on his thesis problem before taking this course.  He will take this course not just informally, but also do all the work required from those who credit this course, that is, do the assignments and write the exams.  Since he is a little senior to the other students in the course, the expectations from him will also be higher.
Likewise, he will be encouraged to take more courses in the future if they are relevant to his training.

For some part of this semester, he is visiting an older institute, which is running a special program in my area of research.  He will be attending some lectures given by an expert on a topic which is very important for his future project.  So, to answer Hary's question, like me, many supervisors encourage their students to spend time in Ox type institutes and do some course work, although there is no formal exchange programme.  Many of us are aware of the exposure that our students need and encourage students to make good use of opportunities available outside N1.  At the same time, however, we also don't want students to lose their focus on their research project by traveling too much, at least in the initial stages of their training.

Another resource which I hope we can utilize is our recent connection to the National Knowledge Network, which now gives us access to very high speed internet.  This month,  a senior professor in North America will be giving a series of lectures on a weekly basis which both my student and I will attend.  All that we need is to connect via gmail webchat and have the professor's webcam facing the board on which he will write (or the screen on which he will project his slides).  This way, if Mohammed cannot go to the mountain, the mountain can come to Mohammad.

With more technology, of course, one can have virtual classrooms on a larger scale in which we get instructors from all over India and the world.  This could be one more way of giving more exposure to students who would like to attend more seminars or lectures and interact with research groups in other institutes.

I would like to ask readers the following questions:

If you are a supervisor, how much course work would you like your student to do before s/he starts working on the thesis topic? Do you encourage your student to attend more courses in the later stages of his/her training or would you prefer that the student focus entirely on their research project?

If you are a student, how much importance do you give to course work as part of your PhD training?  Do you consider the course requirements at your institute or university as too much or too little or just right?

Naysayers

A few days ago, a colleague C invited a senior collaborator to visit N1 for a few days to discuss their research project.  C had hoped that since the collaborator is a well known and senior researcher in their field, his presence would have a positive effect on their department and that the senior visitor would give them some input about department activities like their graduate program, which is being built from scratch.

The senior researcher, let's call him SR, agreed to visit N1 for two days.  However, his visit totally belied C's expectations.  All that SR had to offer was criticism and disdain.  Some of his comments, at their best, could be interpreted as impatience with the newness of N1 and at their worst, as showing no faith in the future of N1.
After SR left, C was depressed for some time and doubted his decision to join N1.
But, he got over it soon and decided not to take SR's comments too seriously.

Perhaps, SR meant to offer constructive criticism, but it just came out the wrong way.  Perhaps, this was SR's way of showing concern for C, for whom he wanted the very best.  Or perhaps, SR is a jerk with an inflated opinion of himself, who could not appreciate the hospitality of a department which had invited him with a lot of goodwill.  I do not know him well enough to decide.

SR is not unique in writing off N1 and I have met others with similar views about N1-type institutes.  If I am in a good mood, I think, "Oh well.  These people have got used to working in a certain environment and cannot imagine that people can adjust to and stay happy in environments different from theirs." If I am in a bad mood,  I deplore their prejudice and lack of vision.[1]

Nonetheless, what concerns me is that by making disparaging comments, scientists like SR are possibly discouraging their PhD students and postdocs from applying to new institutes.  This is not good for my department (and similar departments in other new institutes), who are trying very hard to hire and retain good people.  This is also not good for those students and postdocs, who might only apply to limited institutes and restrict their options.

Perhaps, this is not as serious as I have made it out to be.  I welcome feedback from readers.

For those of you who are planning to enter the job market or who already have a job(anywhere in the world), how important is/has been your supervisor/mentor's opinion about your potential employer to you?[2]

For my senior readers, did you or would you discourage your PhD student or postdoc from applying to a new institute?

If my PhD student ever approaches me for advice about choosing a job, I would say something along the lines of a comment made by Vijay, while answering a question raised in a previous post:

"Today, I would focus on joining a research institution or university, young or old, that is fun to be in and wants me. The two criteria, fun to be and one which wants you, appear simple but are not. If you manage such a place, you have it made and the equipment will take care of itself."




[1] I do so mentally, of course - I cannot imagine the consequences if I were to say that aloud.  
[2] I consulted my PhD advisor before taking my final decision.  I think I would have made this choice even if he did not have a great opinion of N1.  However, his positive views were certainly very encouraging and meant a lot to me.

The office story

The temporary campus of N1 has very limited office space and we all have to share offices.  As a postdoc, I had always dreamt vividly of the day when I would be an independent faculty member and have my own office.  My second dream still remains a dream, but the joy at the realization of the first dream far exceeds the disappointment about not realizing the second.

I share an office with a really nice and easy-going office mate[1], let's call him OM.
We have co-ordinated our activities in such a way that we do not drive each other up the wall.

Firstly, while I am a morning person, OM is a night bird.  Therefore, my most serious research-related work gets done in the morning before OM arrives or while he is away teaching.  Similarly, his research work gets done in the evening or at night after I leave.

The timing that overlaps is late morning and afternoon, when we do teaching related work and/or have office hours for our students.  I am a little sensitive to noise, but OM manages to hold discussions with his students in a not-too-loud voice, and mostly over his desk.  By contrast, I like to discuss things with my students on the blackboard.  Moreover, since I have spent long years teaching really big classes in North America, despite my best efforts, my voice does get a little loud at times!  Therefore, my style of teaching is more disruptive.  It is rather convenient that OM is not bothered by noise (or at least does not complain about it).  Our office hours for students also do not coincide and therefore we have managed not to suffocate ourselves by an inflow of too many students at the same time.  As it happens, our office does not receive good cell-phone signal.  If either of us receives or makes a call, he or she is forced to go out of the office.  So, there is no disturbance on this account.

We also have an unwritten understanding that whatever we say to each other about N1 does not go out of the office.  Therefore, we often share our concerns and frustrations about troublesome matters.  He is one of the very few people here with whom I can converse freely without worrying about the consequences.

To cut a long story short, if one cannot have one's own office, having an office mate like OM is decidedly the next best option[2,3].

Recently, our office-sharing fairy tale almost came to an end, when the powers in charge of office space decided to shift OM out of our office to make way for a new female colleague (NFC), who joined us this semester.  It was perceived by the well-meaning authorities that two women would be more comfortable in the same office than a man and a woman.  (Is this policy common in other institutes in India?)

OM accepted this new turn of affairs with a stoic silence.  I believe in the fundamental premise that any resources that N1 is providing to us right now should be considered a luxury and not a right.  So, I did not want to complain about this new arrangement[4].  But one day, at the conclusion of a very pleasant and successful meeting, I took some risk and approached the senior person responsible for office allocation and requested him to let OM continue in the office.  To my relief, he happily agreed and mentioned that he was only acting on the assumption that I would prefer to share an office with a female colleague.  I thanked him for his concern and assured him that the previous arrangement with OM worked well for both of us.  So, OM and I continue to be office mates.

There's a small twist to our story.

NFC has been allocated office space in a different building which is currently under renovation.  This building is not yet ready and while she waits for her real office to be ready, an extra desk and chair has been arranged for her in our office.  NFC went through a short-lived trauma of her dream of her own office not materializing, but has adjusted well to the status quo.  For now, we three seem to be doing very well with each other, although, we sure hope that the status quo does not last too long.








[1] He reminds me of the happy-go-lucky Dev Anand in this song in Nau Do Gyarah
[2] To me,  sharing a spacious office with windows is much better than having a cubicle to oneself.
[3] Of course, we do have some points of conflict.  While OM prefers to open windows and let in fresh air, I am more of an AC person! I also like to set the temperature at 26 C, which he finds too cold!
[4] I was also afraid of being branded a trouble maker.

Winter school - conclusion

Our winter school was very successful.  Dr Rock-Star, the primary speaker, was absolutely delighted to see a large number of enthusiastic students for his lectures.
The topic on which he was lecturing is a very important topic in my field, and the available literature on this subject follows a certain approach.  However, he chose to convey the subject matter using a very different approach, which is elegant and more easily comprehensible to students.  He had not previously communicated much to me about his lectures and I realized on the first day that the problem sets that had been previously prepared (following the traditional approach) for tutorials would not match his lectures.  So, every morning before his lectures, Dr R-S and I would sit together and prepare new problem sets.  I have to admit- he was the brain behind the problems while I mostly typed them out and solved them.  I think I enjoyed this part of the winter school the most.  This new approach to the topic has also generated some interesting research problems and has been a valuable addition to my research programme.
The tutors played a very important role in the whole school.  They have not had any previous experience in teaching and took on this responsibility with a very positive attitude.  The material presented in the lectures was also very new to them.  They would take the problem sets from me just after Dr R-S's lecture everyday, work on them during the lunch hour and tutor the students in the afternoon.  According to the feedback forms that we later received,  the students highly appreciated the effort put in by these tutors.  I wish them a successful academic career ahead!
Our participants, as I mentioned before, were a healthy mix of students from IIX institutes as well as colleges and universities.  From the feedback received from them, it seems that most IIX students saw this winter school as yet another opportunity to do something exciting in the winter vacation.  Many of them applied to it because they were encouraged by the faculty at their institutes who were aware of Dr R-S's contribution to this field.  On the other hand, most of our university student participants had not heard of Dr R-S before and their primary motivation in applying was simply to experience the scientific atmosphere at a research institute.  The students unanimously felt that they got much more out of the lectures than they had anticipated.  This is possibly because instead of just attending lectures, they worked out the material in the lectures by themselves in the tutorials.  Another interesting feedback we received was that university students found faculty at N1 much more friendly and easy-going than those at their universities.  They probably would have had the same impression at most IIX and research institutes.
Dr R-S's visit and the winter school has been a great boost to our baby department.
Many students from N1, who attended these lectures, have now decided to major in my STEM field.  Even those students who have not done so have benefited from these lectures and have now become regular visitors to our department seminar.
Dr R-S enjoyed the visit very much and will be visiting us again in the coming winter.
Last, but not the least, my colleague from the last post, has now overcome his health problems.  Although his primary research interests are different from mine or Dr R-S's, he attended the lectures and enjoyed them.  He is very excited about the positive impact of such visits to N1 by senior scientists and we are both planning more workshops/winter schools in the coming years with external funding.  I hope that more colleagues will catch on to the spirit and join our efforts to make our department at N1 active and vibrant.