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lyra211 asked here: How about your what-to-do/what-not-to-do for new chairs? (I am becoming chair next summer and therefore it’s on my mind a lot.) I’m going to be of very limited help here, since I haven’t been chair, but I know for a fact that several of the regular readers have been or currently are
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So I might be exiting a collaboration to protect my postdoc and my own peace of mind. It’s a collaboration of about ten people across several institutions. It came together based on joint interests, but the postdoc and I will quit as soon as the current paper is accepted. I have my own funding (thank
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Remember months (years?) ago when Pete Davidson dated Ariana Grande (Why do I even know about this? Social media, that’s why), which popularized the term “big dick energy” (BDE) to denote a person who is quietly confident (because they know they’re packin’) and doesn’t have to rub their qualities (ahem) in everyone’s face. Apparently, BDE
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Saturday is usually the day I take to myself, in the sense that I don’t do anything work-related. Sunday is a mix of chores and catching up on work, but Saturday is for me and my frivolous pursuits. Eldest is coming to dinner today, so I have to go shopping for that and cook, but
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Nicoleandmaggie asked this question: How do you deal with funding gaps (or potential funding gaps) if you have to support PhD students with grant money? This is always unpleasant to think about, but very important. The short answer, in my experience, is one or more of the following: a) discretionary money (from an endowed professorship
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What is Academaze? Academaze is a book of essays and cartoons on academic life at a major research institution. I wrote it under the pen name Sydney Phlox and it was published on June 20, 2016 by Annorlunda Books. The book title is a combination of “academic” and “maze,” hinting at the labyrinthian nature of academia. You can think of Academaze
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Profdirector asked here: What is the best advice for more senior folk to support the junior faculty as they start? I am going to focus here on what one particular faculty member can do on their own, and not the systemic issues of department culture or tenure process that can indeed make or break a
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Graduate-student recruitment season is upon us, and the inboxes of faculty who work at institutions with graduate programs are again filling with emails containing “prospective student” in the subject. I will be bringing on several people this year, so I started interviewing early. I have pretty much decided whom I want to recruit already based
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Original post here. This was a busy weekend, with student paperwork emergencies, grading the midterm, helping out kids with some schoolwork, and also DH’s birthday, for which I did some extra special cooking (no guests, just us, but it’s nice to mark the occasion). I’m feeling a bit 😩😩😩😩😩 and there’s still grading to do,
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Recently, I attended a workshop that discussed faculty transitioning into administrative roles. It was very well run, with engaging and, honestly, very impressive panelists. I did not think I’d ever be able to appreciate one of these event, but it was probably the double whammy of me being amenable and the workshop being well run