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DrugMonkey is an NIH-funded researcher who blogs about careerism in science. And occasionally about the science of drug use.
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- GAO report shows the continued NIH grant funding disparity for underrepresented PIs
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- "But you are doing fine, what are you complaining about?"
- When NIH uses affirmative action to fix a bias
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So..congrats..but..I gotta ask...
Did you generate the data, or your underling? How much more overjoyed do you think the underling must be, if you're this excited? Do you ever resent your dependency on others for your data fix? Why don't PIs do benchwork anymore?
Sometimes I feel like it is easier for PIs to get excited about data. I'm frequently criticized for not being enthusiastic enough when I present my results. I think that's because I know all the caveats, while all the PIs see is the abstract of their next RPG.
Other people.
That's up to them.
No.
Some do.
!
I feel the same way and have received the same criticism.
"while all the PIs see is the abstract of their next RPG."
First, of course a PI should get excited at the potential for funding (trainees and staff should begin to appreciate that too). Second, the PI might also see the caveats, but that can bum you down. The key is seeing beyond the caveats. Also, consider the alternative: a PI that only sees the caveats and doesn't get excited. I bet that would be a lot worse.
I have always felt sad for the people that never get truly enthusiastic about their data. It must be so difficult to stay in this rat race without the excitement.
"Also, consider the alternative: a PI that only sees the caveats and doesn't get excited. I bet that would be a lot worse."
-True, part of being a PI is seeing the big picture and getting excited about it, and being a motivator. That's why I want to be there and not where I am. In the trenches, it's easy to get bummed out about the one control of a triplicate that didn't work, so you have to go back and redo essentially all the work to get the figure quality draft.
Also, at least part of it (with preliminary results) is tempering my enthusiasm until all the replicates are in (in my field the standard is three standalone experiments processed separately). And there's probably at least a tiny superstitious part of my brain that doesn't want to "jinx" it.
"It must be so difficult to stay in this rat race without the excitement."
Eh, I like the big pictures and concepts. I get excited planning the experiments, and writing up the manuscripts, or even grant applications. Also interpreting the occasional truly novel and interesting results. Like any other work though, there is a fair amount of drudgery. I imagine the drudgery of benchwork gets replaced by something equally tedious as a PI.