Officially a PhD!

Sunday was graduation, and it was a fun experience to walk. My Mom loves to take pictures and since I paid almost $200 to rent my regalia, I didn't have a problem doing lots of posing. Of course, now that I'm no longer a graduate student, the realities of my situation weigh more heavily on me. Getting my access card revoked 4 days after graduation also helped. ha!

Yesterday I made trip #2 to my postdoc suitor to observe an experiment. It was a long day in the lab, just watching. But, I got to see some very cool stuff and got a good feel for the dynamic of the lab. Granted I'm losing interest in my potential research here at my PhD institution (perhaps because of my need for a real vacation), but the things I saw there felt way cooler than my PhD work or what I am writing in a grant.

I know I should be making a decision soon. I think today I'll finally get a chance to have a serious discussion with my current advisor on my role in the lab, etc, if I continue as a postdoc. Although we had a general agreement that I'd be here through the year, the other position was too good to not at least seriously consider. Which makes me ask questions of this current position. One problem is that I doubt my advisor has direct funding for me/my work any more - thus his stronger push to get me on a fellowship and me to get grants in. That is fine, but I have felt more marginalized in the lab as he has turned his focus to his two funded research directions. So, the lack of input and being out of the loop on things is frustrating. I need to learn new skills and collaborate with new people to have the best chance at a tenure track position in a few years. To his credit, my advisor is directing me towards side collaborations with other researchers in our large consortium. One looks like it'll pan out, assuming some funding comes through this summer. It will allow me to work with a different PI here and researchers at another institution. I'll get new skills and collaborations, but I doubt I'd get any preliminary data I could eventually take with myself and it would be a minor side project to my planned work continuing my doctoral research. So, a benefit, but perhaps a minor one. At postdoc suiter lab, I'd learn new skills, collaborate with new people, get to explore a new field, and probably be a lot more involved in the lab...but wouldn't have the large center like here (but would be at a much bigger insitution) and would have to move all my stuff (but would be in a more interesting city) and would have to figure out other factors. We'll see.

Before I lose the tab, I wanted to track this great posting about balancing research and teaching.