"While doing my PhD in geotechnical engineering at a small, slow-paced university in Italy, I spent years working in near silence, unravelling the mechanics of tiny clay particles in a laboratory where I was the only student. My first postdoctoral position, in China, presented a sharp contrast, immersing me in one of the world's busiest research centres, where I studied some of the mechanics behind geohazards."
"When I joined Charles University in Prague in 2018 for my second postdoc, I thought I had found the right middle ground. The university was large enough to inspire and assist me in my work, yet small enough to give me space and feel like a comfortable place to work. With a few easy-going senior colleagues and friendly young workmates, my new department quickly felt like an extended family."
"When my principal investigator (PI) grant was approved, I expected some form of onboarding, or at least to be given a checklist of procedures I ought to follow. Instead, I felt like the founder of a start-up. I had to work out how to manage project finances, buy equipment, hire students, organize lab space and handle bureaucracy - all while beginning to supervise theses and writing more grant applications."
PhD work involved prolonged solitary laboratory research on clay-particle mechanics at a small, slow-paced Italian university. A first postdoctoral position in China offered immersion in a large, busy research centre studying mechanics behind geohazards. A second postdoc at Charles University in Prague provided a middle ground with supportive colleagues and manageable scale. Winning a PI grant in 2020 enabled starting an independent lab but removed the previous comfort zone. The new role demanded rapid learning of project finance, procurement, hiring, lab organization, bureaucracy, thesis supervision, grant writing and immediate course development and teaching responsibilities. Competition in larger centres raised concerns about mental-health impacts.
Read at Nature
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]