My first thought on reading the column was that every mid-career PUI faculty member should read this insightful piece. Then I realized that for many it may be a bit late. It might be better if all you folks about to be or just tenured should read it too. The loss of research mojo for many of us happens little by little and Drs, Harvey and Thompson have written how it happens, so be forewarned.
For those looking to break the spiral of mojo loss I recommend the path I have taken in the sabbatical at an RO1 institution. It has helped me to refocus and regroup my research strategy and in the end it will have given me the time and resources to finish up a couple of papers, which might help me get back on the granting train.
I do need to offer a warning though. If waning expertise gives you pause when your back home at your PUI, it could crush your spirit when you are among the fresh faced grad students and postdocs. Every group meeting I go to and every seminar I attend and every time I talk to the labmates I am reminded that reading the literature is not enough. I have been kick to the ground a few times by the realization that while I was once considered a sharp young scientist, my physique is not the only thing time has taken a toll on. Thankfully I still have a few skills at the bench, a delight in learning, and a willingness to admit what I don't know even if it is embarrassing.
One thing I hope to do when I return to my home institution is work on the culture of scholarship within the department. I will seek out others who want their mojo back or who who want to keep what they have. At our Mojo Meetings we will talk about your research programs, helping each other get the papers and grants out. If two or three of us set a goal of getting one colleagues work published, talking about the data and the writing each week may start everyone's mojo flowing.
T. S. Hall
I thought research mojo was difficult to keep in grad school, but it looks more difficult as a tenured professor! I can't relate to everything in the article since I am not a professor. But I can vouch for many of the observations. Professors at PUIs are very isolated, especially in chemistry. At my RO1 it is easy to stay up to date, learn new things and generally stay stimulated by other researchers. I see that my professors are generally very on top of their stuff at the RO1 because of this also. At my PUI the best mentors were the ones that worked in labs outside of the university or that still took an interest in doing lab work themselves. They published much more and had a lot more graduate students than the ones who did not maintain their curiousity.
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