Another Difference

I was taking about proposal ideas with one of my RO1 friends when he put forward a plan to explore a bit of chemistry.  The project would require developing a library of data to demonstrate a trend, which would then be explored more deeply and exploited in synthesis.  I made the comment that it sounded like an ideal undergraduate project, since generating the library was something that mainly required a good pair of hands.

My friend looked at me like I am insane (I have seen this look before, so I know.).  He expressed that he might consider having an undergraduate work with a grad student or postdoc, but he was not interested in saddling himself with the intellectual work of taking the undergraduates results and working through the trends and doing the daily direction of the work.  And thus, I have another blog topic.

In the subsequent conversation, I explained that doing the intellectual work is pretty much my job in my MCU type group.  The research students are at the beginnings of their careers and need to be trained in connecting the intellect to the hands, since many course labs are only designed to be accomplished by a literate chimp.  The research students who demonstrates an ability to do the intellectual work by the time they finish get the best recommendations for graduate school or jobs, but they don't generally come in that way.  This disconnect between the intellect and the labor contributes to the slow progress of our work and explains why when in the summer I am in the lab with my students, they more get done since they can talk to me about the work and I can point out things they are doing wrong in the hood.

Some readers might find fault with my friend's attitude, but I don't.  Yes, he is not training his undergraduates himself, but at an RO1, his job is to bring in grant money and send out cutting edge research results.  Being the intellect in the room would occupy so much time and energy he would not be able to do his job.  In my friend's case, he carefully matches the undergraduates with a graduate student or postdoc and does watch over their progress and results, just not in a day-to-day fashion.  I think he does an excellent job with his undergraduate students who consistently impress me at group meetings.

For those considering careers at PUI's or MCUs where they are involved in research, keep in mind that you need to be the intellect until the student's is developed.  For you PUI and MCU administrators who want more research grants and scholarly activity output, recognize that the faculty need to be in the lab working with the students, so that 1/10th of a unit you give per undergraduate is meaningless.  For you granting agencies, funding for teaching postdocs would help the PUI and MCU faculty be more productive and would help train the next generation of PUI and MCU faculty who need to develop their students in the future.

T.S. Hall