Summing Up, Part 2

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I have been trying desperately to finish up lab work before I need to return, like Cincinnatus to the farm.

Today I will as promised comment on the good parts of my sabbatical experience.

Working in the lab space of a long time friend and faculty member at an R01 research university has allowed me to work with graduate students and postdocs and on high end instruments that I do not have to upkeep and repair. It has also provided time to reflect on my career and on what I value. (On the topic of evaluating values, readers might check out this week's ACS Careers Blog post on Evaluating Your Values.)

I have not worked with PhD candidates or postdocs since I was one back in the dark ages. I had forgotten the excitement about the science these folks bring to a research program. Their spirit and youthful exuberance certainly made my own lab work more enjoyable. For my part, other than offering a careers worth of anecdotes of lab experience, I was able to give some perspective from a faculty members point of view and some hopefully helpful advice about building a career.

In the lab I have made some not insignificant discoveries about the chemistry I have pursued for several years. These unanticipated results provide the questions that will support a new research grant, which will hopefully be funded. The data for the papers is not yet complete, hence my low level of blogging. Even as I did not get to the chemistry I intended, the new direction has been challenging and intellectually rewarding. I have gained a new set of colleagues and intellectual resources. Between the folks on my sabbatical campus and these future faculty I should be able to find instrument resources when I need them.

One of my fears in returning to my home campus is my ability to maintain research momentum after this focused lab time. In this aspect, the opportunity for reflection a sabbatical provides has become a positive. My R01 colleague recently pointed out that I have become a research perfectionist in an unhealthy way. Not submitting small studies because there are still unanswered questions. Being in the type of program viewed as "the minor leagues" and "inferior" to "real" research programs can make us desperate to prove ourselves with a big and beautiful paper or grant. If we are so obsessed with proving ourselves, our research becomes desperate and more subject to the hindrances those of us at PUI and MCU programs must deal with. My friend points out that I have good science hidden in files of work I don't feel is complete. So as I return to my own lab I will be focused on good small science that periodically is tied together in a nice big picture full paper.

Lastly, for now, walking away from my campus has allowed me to recognize that there are some things that I don't want to go back to. I can't do everything and trying to dilutes my resources to the point of my not moving forward the things I value most. My research will take a higher priority and some of the service work will have to be shared with others. I have become a believer that those faculty who are inclined to service should be supported to provide that service to move the teaching and research components of the department forward.

TS Hall