Haha Pryankar, means a lot to hear that. I hope my videos can continue to help researchers even I am no longer on the front end of academic research :) It's a pleasure to know it helps you!
There is so much destructive criticism than constructive... Everyone speaks about professionalism but no one tends to keep up. Am happy that you have outspoken it Vera. Great topics... ❤️
In fact, negative sentences makes a person seems 30% more intelligent. I think the true intelligence is our ability to make everyone work well together, and to complete a project on time and on budget. We all need a little reminder sometime :)
Agree Vera - the halls of academia are echoing with negative gossip - much of it a complete waste of time, effort, and productivity as you point out. One thing I've learnt over the years is you really create the messaging of what people say about you when you're not in the room. If you're going around saying that you hate your supervisor, you're sick of your project, and you want to move on, ask yourself what is the first piece of information that will come up when your name is mentioned in your absence? Presumably something along the lines of 'oh they're unhappy and they want to leave, but no idea what they should do.' This isn't positive and doesn't help you progress. Far better that you're known for an area of expertise or something you're good at. So next time you feel yourself about to bitch about your problems, ask yourself what projects or tasks would I like to get recommended for, or what handful of facts/ideas would I want this person to remember me by, the next time I'm mentioned in their conversations? Changing this one behaviour will have an enormous positive effect on your future success.
Glad you can relate! I think people could support each other more, simply realizing how rare of a chance it is to be working on a science project together!
Vera, your videos are always so helpful! I’ve learnt a lot throughout my PhD from your channel - you are definitely a rockstar to a lot of lost graduate students like me and to your cats as well :) What’s your opinion about gossip between students about their advisors? I feel like it sometimes helped blow off steam after a tough week but it was also helpful for new students looking for mentors to pick the right one (or stay away from the crappy ones at least lol) Nevertheless totally agree with your perspective - it’s always a downward spiral when we encourage gossip in the team and a massive drain on time and energy!!
I would stay away from speaking directly with the current students, but I think it is beneficial to have an informational interview with the Alumni before joining the team. Since these Alumni won't be interacting with you on a daily basis, and have less conflict of interest (e.g. competing for lab resources) and will not be a big energy and time drain in the future. I have made a few videos on how to effectively communicate with PI, and I am a strong believer that anything can be communicated directly in a nice way. Every difficult conversation is training for us to speak the truth without hurting people's feelings. I felt like that is really an important skill to master! Thank you for your support, means a lot to know my videos have helped your studies in some way! All the best to your research :)
Nice video :-) I would also add general rumours, like I had to do my comprehensive exam this summer and some students were telling me all kinds of rumours on how difficult it is, on this student that was sacked because she didn't pass, etc... I decided to not listen because some rumours were non-sensical. Turns out I pass it easily and with no (little) stress and it was an enriching experience. :)
Agree 100%. Rumours are intimidating, and it makes the anticipation even worse! Bravo on passing your comprehensive exam, I hope you have received some helpful input to your research project?
