people around

For me science is always about people.

I got to this conclusion slowly... In the beginning I thought that  science is about research and ideas. But staying in academical science and making career there is all about your abilities to connect with people around you.

People that I’ve met during my studies are fascinating: intelligent, passionate, curious, charming, smart, convincing, unbelievable! Each and everyone I was meeting and keep meeting are extremely strong and interesting personalities. People around made me always to choose work in science over all other career possibilities.

However, concentration of strong personalities in institutes creates another problem.Thou I enjoy every minute with my colleagues, sometimes I hate them all! People are not always able to communicate to each other in a decent way. They are so overconfident, selfish and ignorant, that creates very difficult situation.

I think, that to be successful in the scientific field, you should really master art of the diplomacy. Practice of which should start from the nearest colleagues.

It is extremely necessary to keep good spirits in everybody. I do not say, that you should please everybody but it is very important to be kind to your colleagues every day. It doesn’t matter if they stand over or below you on career ladder. Both your boss and your students need to be supported and encouraged.

The easiest way to encourage is to show an interest in other people’s work. The interest do not need to be deep but it should be sincere. Five minutes of attention to a current project can cheer up students and take them away from desperation.

Have you ever lost a motivation and passion after hearing skepticism and critics about your idea? PI’s generate tons of ideas, it is their daily work. Yes, ideas can be crazy... but it is still important to be careful criticizing offers. We all need hope, that “it will work”... and “it may work” if you give it a chance.

Balance between being strong and caring is really important. We are all very fragile.