Group Expectations by Role

Below are the specific responsibilities and expectations for different roles within the group.

 

PI Responsibilities

As the group leader, Róisín has a unique and challenging range of responsibilities.

  1. Define the Overall Research Directions for the Group: Identifying the important problems is one of the hardest and most crucial aspects of scientific research. It requires an awareness of the overall state of knowledge in the field, plus creativity and plenty of luck.
  2. Obtain Funding: Scientific research is expensive! A single Ph.D. student at Columbia costs nearly $90K on a Federal grant and a postdoc costs over $125K per year. A central role of the PI is to obtain grant funding to support our work, without which no research could happen. It should be noted that graduate students will always get a stipend for their five years of graduate school! So you shouldn’t worry about where it comes from. The source of that stipend is Róisín's job to deal with, but the sources of funding will influence the direction of the research within the group.
  3. Effort Reporting: Róisín will need to confirm the effort committed by each group member to each funded project to satisfy federal requirements. For these legal reasons, you must inform Róisín if you are not working on agreed-upon projects.
  4. Provide Scientific Mentoring: It is the PI's responsibility to help the junior members in the group develop into mature, independent scientists, capable of defining and executing their own research programs. Sometimes this process can be challenging but is intended to get the best from everyone.
  5. Provide Feedback: The PI is expected to provide feedback on all aspects of research, including defining hypotheses and formulating questions; identifying specific methods and technical approaches; identifying relevant datasets; writing and debugging scientific code; producing figures and visualizations; managing data; and writing and editing papers. Feedback is also available on course selection, overall career goals, and long-term strategy. Again, Róisín will challenge everyone (herself included) to think about the big picture and why we are doing the research.
  6. Oversee the Publication Process: Published papers are the main output of our team. The PI can help identify when results are ready to publish, select which journals to target, and help manage the ups and downs of the revision process. Róisín will also cover ALL publication charges for any publications resulting from research within the group.
  7. Define the Technical Approach: Instrumentation, sensors, and software for data analysis are very important to our group. The PI is working hard to provide a software and hardware environment that enables everyone else to be as productive as possible.
  8. Provide Moral Support: Graduate school, and research in general, can be an emotional roller coaster. Róisín has not been through grad school in the US and so will often have to ask for advice from friends and colleagues. But she has been through many research challenges and is always available to listen and provide advice on both aspects. 
  9. Provide Recommendation Letters: You need them for almost every career move.
  10. Sign Stuff: There are lots of signatures needed to navigate the bureaucracy.
  11. Departmental Service: The PI has lots of responsibilities to the department, including attending department meetings, participating in committees, and serving on student masters meetings / qualifying exams / thesis proposals / thesis defenses. Most of these commitments are in the group calendar so you can tell when Róisín will be available (and where).
  12. Community Service: The PI is expected to participate in professional organizations (e.g. AGU, AMS) and review papers and proposals on an ongoing basis.
  13. Teach Classes: The PI's main job is to teach at least one course for semester, which occupies a large fraction of available time and effort.
  14. Do Personal Research: On top of the above, believe it or not, the PI still has has her own personal research projects which she occasionally attempts to find time to work on. This is becoming rarer and always takes a back-seat to research within the group.

One point of enumerating these responsibilities is to emphasize that the PI has a great many demands on her time, which must be managed carefully. Please allow a week for comments on papers or other non-time sensitive documents, even longer for letters of recommendation. Róisín will always strive to make deadlines for proposals, report submission, etc. but will not usually email (nor does she EVER expect a response to emails!) over the weekend. She will make liberal use of the gmail “schedule send” function to deliver emails at 8am on a Monday morning. Apologies in advance for multiple emails all arriving at the same time.

     

    Postdoc Responsibilities

    Postdocs have less responsibilities than the PI and have the experience to function independently. On the other hand, they have to face the uncertainty of the job market...

    1. Produce Research: As a postdoc, you are a research machine. Your number-one job is to crank out new scientific discoveries!
    2. Write Papers: You are expected to take the lead on writing the papers that describe your research. This can also include time spent on PhD work, but only after agreement with the PI.
    3. Attend Conferences: This is a key part of getting the word out about your research. Róisín will strive to inform you of known workshops, conferences, etc. but it's your responsibility to identify conferences of interest and submit your work to them after discussion with the PI. Limited funding for conferences is available on most of our federal grants so other sources of travel funds may need to be found.
    4. Produce Reusable Data / Software: Research is more than just papers. You are expected to share the outputs of your research (data and software) in a way that makes them reusable by the rest of the group and the rest of the field.
    5. Share your Expertise: By this stage of your career, you have accrued substantial expertise in several areas. Share your knowledge by letting us know about new papers, giving feedback on others' work at group meetings, etc.
    6. Mentor Others: The more junior members of the group will benefit immensely from your mentorship, and you will gain valuable experience along the way. Take the initiative to develop these relationships. Any help you can give to both graduate and undergraduate students in the group is encouraged. If you feel that help is taking more time than you are happy with, please discuss with Róisín.
    7. Communicate with the Group and attend group meetings. (See Communication section)
    8. Plan for the Future: A postdoc is a temporary position; yours will end before you know it. Think about your career goals and make a concrete plan for obtaining your next job; we will do everything we can to support you.
      1. Róisín will support you submitting proposals (including working with the Postdoc on the proposal text) but the work must be lead by the postdoc.
      2. If you would like teaching experience, discuss this with Róisín during early meetings as this can take time to organize.
      3. Discuss your current skills and identify the skills you want to develop as part of your postdoc.

     

      Grad Student Responsibilities

      Grad students have a complex range of responsibilities to manage. Learning to deal with it all is part of the journey of graduate school.

      1. Stay in Good Standing: it is YOUR responsibility to understand all of the formal requirements of the graduate school and the department, and to stay ahead of all deadlines regarding registration, paperwork, qualifying exams, committee meetings, etc. The DEES Guide to the PhD Program is an essential reference in this regard. A copy is available in the group Google Drive folder: ~/Google Drive/Commane_Group/DEES_LDEO_Admin/fall_2018_guide_to_the_phd_program.pdf Any questions beyond the DEES guide should be addressed to Kaleigh Matthews and the PI.
      2. Be Professional and Organized: Develop a system that works for your for managing your responsibilities, coursework, and research. This is one of the biggest challenges of graduate school. Unfortunately there is no formula that works for everyone.
      3. Develop Independence: Your goal is to become an independent scientist. This means you should not hesitate to pursue your own ideas as they arise. Go to as many talks as you can to learn new things! Read (and re-read) papers in your field and outside it. Download that dataset and analyze it! Run that new model! Don't wait to be told to do things. Take the initiative.
      4. Focus on your Research: Your research is the most important part of your grad school experience. It should be your main priority, and you should approach it with the seriousness and professionalism you would a full-time job.
      5. Develop a Research Plan: In consultation with your advisor, you should come up with a long-term plan for your research, with clearly defined milestones and goals. Each week, you should have a short term plan for exactly what to work on to move towards those goals. If a project has been outlined/funded, the timing of any fieldwork should be taken into account. If a project has not yet been developed, then the student and PI will work together to develop it.
      6. Write Papers: As part of your research, you will aim to write a number of peer reviewed publications. You will work with the PI on this process, which will involve many drafts before submission. You will aim to submit 2-3 first author publications over the course of your graduate work, with additional (but lower priority) co-authored publications depending on the field projects you are involved with.
      7. Attend Seminars and Conferences: Students should attend seminars relevant to their research. When projects are developed and research goals have been achieved, students should also attend conferences. Limited funding for conferences is available on most of our federal grants but other sources of travel funds may need to be found if a research area is not currently funded.
      8. Produce Reusable Data / Software: Research is more than just papers. You are expected to share the outputs of your research (data and software) in a way that makes them reusable by the rest of the group and the rest of the field.
      9. Stay on Top of your Coursework: The beginning of grad school is dominated by classes. You should strive to get as much as possible out of your coursework and connect it to your research wherever possible.
      10. Ask Questions! If something is unclear to you--either a science question or a procedural / administrative issue--it is your responsibility to speak up.
      11. Communicate with the Group and attend group meetings. (See Communication section). Any help you can give to undergraduate students in the group is encouraged. If you feel that help is taking more time than you are happy with, please discuss with Róisín.
      12. Communicate with the PI: Through each of these steps, the student should communicate with the PI. If, for any reason, the student feels that they must switch advisors, they should inform the PI and directly contact Kaleigh Matthews.

       

        Undergraduate Student and Research Assistant Responsibilities

        Undergraduate students join the group for summer projects, senior projects or research semesters. Research assistants join the group at any time.

        1. Develop a Research Plan: In consultation with your advisor, you should come up with a research proposal for your research before you begin. This short proposal should have clearly defined milestones and goals. Each week, you should have a short term plan for exactly what to work on to move towards those goals.
        2. Stay on Top of your Coursework: All undergraduate students will be taking classes while doing research in our group. Seniors and semester students will have their regular classes. REU/summer students will often have classes to attend as part of the REU program. The time you spend doing research in our group should not negatively impact your coursework. If you are finding it difficult to balance classes with research, please talk to Róisín asap.
        3. Attend seminars: Research Assistants are strongly encouraged to attend seminars of interest to their research.
        4. Produce Reusable Data / Software: Research is more than just papers. You are expected to share the outputs of your research (data and software) in a way that makes them reusable by the rest of the group and the rest of the field.
        5. Ask Questions! If something is unclear to you--either a science question or a procedural / administrative issue--it is your responsibility to speak up.
        6. Communicate with the Group and attend group meetings if possible. (See Communication section) Róisín is available to help you any time her door is open. And ask other group members for help when she is not available.