Working hard means applying consistent, focused effort to your research in a serious, professional way. It means working with a sense of urgency appropriate to the intellectual challenges posed by the Earth system. It does not mean putting in unreasonable, unsustainable hours, leading to unhappiness / burn-out.
Vacation and Expectations for "Being Present"
One of the great advantages of working in academia is the flexible schedule. But this flexibility can also be a curse. There is a reason why businesses used to require their employees to show up every day at nine: this is how work gets done. Our situation was also additionally complicated by the fact that we split time between the Lamont Campus and the Columbia Morningside Campus. But with the new work-from-home reality in 2020, we have to adapt further.
Here are some general guidelines to help define what it means to be "at work":
- Aim for a 40 hour work-week on average. Academic work often occurs in bursts. Sometimes you are happy and excited to work an 80 hour week as you are on the cusp of a major breakthrough or taking data on fieldwork. You can balance these periods of intensity with slower-paced weeks at another time.
- Generally plan to be accessible 9am-5pm in your local time zone (but ideally Eastern time). Roisin will usually be accessible 9am-5pm Eastern Time. As being present in the office is important for building relationships with you colleagues and for the spontaneous generation of new ideas, we will now have to try and do the same online.
- Be available on communication channels all business days (Monday - Friday) during business hours (9am - 5pm) when not in seminars/classes (See Communications below).
- Be clear about when you are really on vacation, as opposed to working part-time. (See Self-care) Róisín will expect you to be working and available on our communication channels if you don’t take vacation days.
- Postdocs are entitled to 23 days vacation per year. The official university GSAS policy stipulates 10 days for grad students, but this is not enough, so students in my group should also take the same 23 days as the postdocs. These days do not include official holidays or any days of medical leave/sickness. If you are sick, please work from home and don’t get anyone else sick.
- Usually our group also does a lot of fieldwork that can require working long hours over weekends when necessary. If you work weekends on a field project, these days can be used as additional vacation days but they must be discussed with Roisin first.
- Travel dates for vacation (and non-vacation remote work) must be approved by Prof. Commane. These requests should be made via email at least two weeks before any planned travel.
Common Group Expectations
Expectations for each individual role are explained here. Common expectations for all group members include:
- Research Goals: If you are successful, the group is successful and Róisín really wants you to succeed! She will do her best to advise you to be successful in research. Approaches will rarely work as expected the first time. Perseverance through occasional roadblocks is key to a successful research career.
- Set Goals and Timelines: The PI can help give structure to your project by defining specific milestones and timelines for their completion. Some people prefer to be closely managed in this way, while others may prefer a more hands-off approach. Each member of the group will work with Róisín to decide on an approach that works for both of you. Róisín will never hound anyone on their research: the onus is on the group member to lead their research and come to Róisín with their research. All agreed upon goals must be completed, with Róisín informed of progress if not completed over the first agreed-upon timeline.
- Material Support: You are never expected to spend any of your personal finances on anything related to research. All conference travel, computer supplies, books, etc. etc. can be paid for with grant support when budgeted for. These expenses should be coordinated via the PI.
- Computers purchased though the group are the property of Columbia/Lamont. When leaving the group, talk to Roisin about purchasing the computer at a depreciated value.
- Student with green money funds should use those funds for their computer (so that you own it). Note that those green funds accumulate if you want to save for a more expensive computer.
- Safety training: All group members should attend lab/Lamont safety training sessions as they are offered. They should also discuss compressed gas cylinder safety with Róisín before working in the lab.
Attending Conferences
The general rule for supporting conference travel out of research grants is that it has to be for presentation of mature work, with a manuscript draft circulated to co-authors by the time of the conference. A major reason for this is that you cannot present the same work in two successive years, and I want to make sure that we have a solid story before airing it out in a formal conference setting (very different from say a Science Team meeting, where presenting work in progress is fine). You can however give the same talk at different conferences (e.g. AGU and AMS). If your work is not mature yet it’s best to postpone until it is ready. The exception to this rule is the AGU virtual poster presentation, in which ongoing research can be submitted before a manuscript is ready. Please discuss your interest in attending conferences early with Roisin so we can decide on the most appropriate session to submit your abstract to and where the funding for the travel will come from. Róisín will often be able to pay for flights, registration, etc ahead of time so please coordinate before purchasing.