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Imposter syndrome is hitting hard this morning. I recently found out that graduate students have been told by more established PIs that I am a “red flag” because I have not yet secured external funding and because I haven’t recruited other graduate students. 1/
First- I arrived to Davis one year ago and 6 months of this time was pandemic. I wasn’t recruiting students last year because we didn’t even have a lab yet, and I don’t believe it’s the job of a grad student to set up a lab. Also, someone has to be “the first”. 2/
Second- I arrived at UC Davis after having a thriving lab at CSUN for 3.5 years. I am not new to mentoring although I have not yet had a PhD student. Also- I am a champion for my students. It is my goal to ensure success and opportunity in a supportive environment. 3/
Third- instead of suggesting that the research in a Junior PI’s lab may not be “impactful” enough to get a grant, please offer to read their grants and coach them on grantsmanship. Maybe we had different resources than you and only learned to write grants as a faculty member. 4/
Overall- if you are trying to retain committed, talented, passionate junior faculty- some of whom have added service tax as URM or women- maybe think- would you have phrased your comments that way if you were talking about a white male junior faculty member? Not OK. 5/
Happy Thanksgiving. I will be working all week and weekend to ensure that my papers and grants are written, animals are cared for, figures are made, and my trainees’ are ok. 6/
