• Question: do you work for anyone or are you your own boss?

    Asked by bethjames to Alexandra, Dean, Jess, Luisa, Sian on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sian Foch-Gatrell

      Sian Foch-Gatrell answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I work for a lovely lady called Claire Halpin (you could probably Google her, and my supervisor is yet another fab person called Yvette Wilson… she is in the Genes zone)

    • Photo: Jessica Housden

      Jessica Housden answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I work for a very big company, actually the third largest Space company in the world. This is great for me as it means that we work on some of the biggest missions, although I do have to work very hard.

    • Photo: Dean Whittaker

      Dean Whittaker answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Kind of both. I have two supervisors at two different institutions. They make sure I’m on the right path and meeting the objectives of my projects (which are kind of controlled by the people above me). Most scientists collaborate and work together on projects but it’s quite a flat structure – i.e. everyone works together but is their own boss. If I come up with an idea and run with it then my supervisors don’t always necessarily have to be involved… Unless my idea works of course 🙂

    • Photo: Alexandra Kamins

      Alexandra Kamins answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      That’s an interesting question… I have an adviser and supervisor who make sure my work is up to standard, and contribute to the “judging” of whether I can earn my PhD. But my project is really my own, and I’m completely responsible for making sure it works out! I’m funding by the Gates Cambridge Trust, so my lab doesn’t really pay me either.

    • Photo: Luisa Ostertag

      Luisa Ostertag answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Because I am still a ‘student’ I have a supervisor (or to behonest, actually I have 3). And my supervisor isn’t her own boss either as there are heads of divisons, the director of the institute and then somewhere at the top the chancellor of Aberdeen uni.
      But forgetting all of those hierarchic structures within my project I am pretty much independent. Of course I have to make sure my supervisors are up-to-date with important results I get and they should know a little bit what I am working on at the moment. But in my every-day-work I decide what I want to do and how to schedule it into my day.

Comments