Timeline for My postdoc advisor wants me to work on a topic that I don't have a proper theoretical background in. How to proceed with this?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 4, 2019 at 18:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackAcademia/status/1146841102353350658 | ||
| Jul 3, 2019 at 13:14 | answer | added | Allure | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 13:04 | answer | added | Erwan | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 12:57 | answer | added | Martin Kochanski | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 12:55 | answer | added | Patricia Shanahan | timeline score: 7 | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 12:36 | comment | added | Jon Custer | Getting a PhD only shows that, the first time, it took you some number of years to become productive in a new field. The postdoc is to show that you can pick up a topic and become productive in a 3-6 month time frame. And, as a staff/professor, you will keep on doing that over the rest of your career... | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 10:22 | comment | added | Buffy | I don't know enough to make this an answer, but is there the possibility of working collaboratively with someone else in the lab? Someone who's skills complement yours. You could then make progress and learn at the same time. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 8:55 | comment | added | EigenDavid | If you never lied on your resume, you should'nt be ashamed of anything. Maybe there is a misunderstanding between you and your advisor about what your skills are? If you feel that it is really out of your capability to master those skills, better talk to him. On the other hand, can't you ask some colleague for help/ good reference books? "what every undergrad student in my current field know before their 3rd year" it is easy to over-estimate what people truly know about something just because they had a course in it, maybe you are not so far-off as someone "in the field" would be. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 8:35 | comment | added | Spark | I would say that your self-doubt is more a problem than anything else. I picked up a lot of skills during my postdoc that are "basic" for any undergraduate in the field. I now do research in this field! | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 7:21 | comment | added | Polliday | Yes, there are courses online. But, I fear that I am too old to actually be good in understanding this. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 7:20 | comment | added | Polliday | I guess it's more of guilt that's making me fear studying. These subjects are what every undergrad student in my current field know before their 3rd year. I am a Postdoc in the field. I should be an expert in this. But, here am I lacking the most basic of the skills. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 7:15 | comment | added | Patricia Shanahan | Any idea why you expect to fail at independent study? Time management? Difficulty reading and understanding the books? Imposter syndrome? Something else? The problem is probably solvable, if you know what it is. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 7:02 | history | edited | Polliday | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Changed the tone and question body
|
| Jul 3, 2019 at 2:38 | history | edited | Polliday | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
deleted 493 characters in body
|
| Jul 3, 2019 at 2:10 | comment | added | Spark | Courses are just ways to make material found in books/papers accessible. Can you find the relevant literature? There's also a lot of excellent courses online - Coursera, EdX, Udacity and more. Are these an option? | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 1:49 | comment | added | paul garrett | To have done what you have, you must be smart and capable. Now you need to apply that to get up to speed on these things. | |
| Jul 3, 2019 at 1:31 | history | asked | Polliday | CC BY-SA 4.0 |