One of the cool things about being in a large research lab is the abundance of researchers at all levels in their careers. One is likely to find examples of what one wants to be 5 or 10 years from now, as well as the people that did the research now considered to be the "classics" in the field.
Recently I had a chance to interact with one of the very influential people in my sub-discipline. His most known papers may be older than me, but I have certainly read them with interest in my early grad school years. So it was especially cool when after my short elevator speech, the guy said that he would very much like to talk to me more about my research in more detail later.
I lingered around till the group dissipated, contemplating saying something along the lines "It was great to meet you, I'll email you to set up time to talk later" to the guy. Instead, he walked right over to me and asked if I had some time to chat. But of course!
We proceeded to have a very informative conversation for both sides. It turns out that this researcher had tried to do similar research to what I am doing now, and was happy to tell me what pitfalls he found and why his ideas didn't work out. He was interested to hear what has changed in this particular problem since, and what approach I am taking. It was very much the type of meeting I thought grad students had with their advisors when I was considering grad school (naive, I know): open, inquisitive, no egos involved, all about ideas and how they could be evaluated and improved. In the end, we agreed to try to have an occasional chat about my progress and setbacks, and I actually think the guy will make the time to meet with me every so often.
I am still impressed with this seasoned researcher's openness about the setbacks he experienced with the research questions I am exploring, as people don't usually talk about the things that failed. And having made such a connection with someone who pioneered one of the most influential ideas in my sub-discipline is simply amazing.
The perverse incentives of academia
6 years ago
8 comments:
that is so awesome!
That's really great! And how he's behaving is how a mentor should behave. At least that's what I think.
What a great interaction. I wonder, if only now, after being a famous researcher is he able to be open about past failures. You must have been very motivated to keep working after that interaction.
How cool!!
Very cool. I think that being at a place with fewer students makes people more like that. It's a whole different dynamic than a university. Plus, people who aren't around that many students seem to like the freshness and excitement students bring.
SM - I definitely thought so!
Amanda - I bet PIs that mentor their students in this way have much more successful students. I certainly appreciated his approach.
Jennie - that's a good point, I wonder if this is the kind of interaction he had with his students back in the day. And yes, the conversation has motivated me a lot, although I tend to worry about tackling a problem all these brilliant people weren't able to solve (I think I have a way to remedy at least one of their stumbling blocks, which hopefully should let me get further...)
Jane - nice to see you around! I am not heading to GH this year - are you?
EGF - this researcher used to be a professor, so I wonder if he misses those interactions. I too have noticed that people here like to interact with wide-eyed students; what a change from not being able to get the time of day!
That's really cool! If only more people could leave their egos behind. I've realized that it's equally important to pick good people to work with as to pick a good topic. Keep him in mind as a potential future collaborator after you graduate.
Rebecca - thanks, I've definitely been on the lookout for good people, and try to not loose track of the ones I find!
Post a Comment