The recent case involving a research scholar and her research supervisor was just one of those things where I believed the media report. It was possible what the scholar was claiming till the scholar started demanding her data book and chemicals that she was working with. That is when my antennae stood up. Of course it is possible that the scholar was harassed but reading the rebuttal by the supervisor stuck a chord within me. Most of the PIs would identify with the supervisor because at some point or other we have faced it.
1. To whom does the chemicals and data books belong: They belong to the PI because it is the PI who writes the grants and gets the money. Ultimately, all this belongs to the funding agency which is why we have to always acknowledge them in our publications. Many scholars labour under this misunderstanding that since it is their work, the data and the databook belongs to them. Very often we have to chase the student and tell them please give back the databooks. My students have been very good at it but there are cases even in our department where the student has failed to turn in the book.
2. Stipend: In the report carried by ToI, the supervisor points out that to be eligible for the stipend the student has to present her work. He is right on this issue too. The JRF is given for two years. To go to the SRF, student has to present his or her work before a committee that then gives its approval for the change in status. After obtaining the SRF, the student has to submit his/her report after one year to CSIR/UGC. The SRF is also for a period of 4 years. So if the student wants an extension for another year, he/she has to present their work in front of a committee. Further, the UGC/CSIR also makes it very clear that the fellowship is tenable only if the student is working. That is why the databooks need to be written every day because that is the proof that the student has worked. Many labs also have a register to mark the attendance of the student. Further UGC/CSIR gives only one month of vacation time. If a student takes more than allotted vacation time, the PI does have the right to say that he/she will not sign the fellowship form. What happens, of course, is that if the PI exercises this right then they are accused of harassing the student.
3. Coming to the lab on time: My heart really went out to the supervisor when he wrote that the student had the habit of coming late all the time. Ask any PI, this is their main complaint. Most often the PI is in the lab by 9.00 am and the student saunters in around 11 am, 12 pm and in one case that I know, at 2.30 pm after calling the student up and asking whether he is coming to the lab (my fate for the past five years). This is not a problem peculiar only to India I was glad to note. Of course students do not often realize that at the level of Ph.D. or post-doc the time limit is no longer set by external agencies like the PI. You have to set your time remembering that unless you do the experiments you cannot get a Ph.D. So you can come late every day or spend days outside the lab and come occasionally to the lab or you can come to the lab every day on time, plan your experiments and execute them. The choice is the students. However, the time needed to obtain the Ph.D is directly proportional to the time spent in the lab. This does not mean that you have to be in the lab 24 X 7, which can be actually be very counter-productive. A healthy via media between the two extremes is what the students need to strive for.
All this does not imply that the students are always at fault. Some of the PIs are truly horrendous and in this particular case, I really do not know what has happened. However, when I read the report in the newspaper, I found myself nodding my head. Yep. Been there and handled it. To the best of my ability. I was not trained for it in my grad days but I am learning a big dose of humor helps because the student is always going to be the student. And the PI, unfortunately, the PI.
1. To whom does the chemicals and data books belong: They belong to the PI because it is the PI who writes the grants and gets the money. Ultimately, all this belongs to the funding agency which is why we have to always acknowledge them in our publications. Many scholars labour under this misunderstanding that since it is their work, the data and the databook belongs to them. Very often we have to chase the student and tell them please give back the databooks. My students have been very good at it but there are cases even in our department where the student has failed to turn in the book.
2. Stipend: In the report carried by ToI, the supervisor points out that to be eligible for the stipend the student has to present her work. He is right on this issue too. The JRF is given for two years. To go to the SRF, student has to present his or her work before a committee that then gives its approval for the change in status. After obtaining the SRF, the student has to submit his/her report after one year to CSIR/UGC. The SRF is also for a period of 4 years. So if the student wants an extension for another year, he/she has to present their work in front of a committee. Further, the UGC/CSIR also makes it very clear that the fellowship is tenable only if the student is working. That is why the databooks need to be written every day because that is the proof that the student has worked. Many labs also have a register to mark the attendance of the student. Further UGC/CSIR gives only one month of vacation time. If a student takes more than allotted vacation time, the PI does have the right to say that he/she will not sign the fellowship form. What happens, of course, is that if the PI exercises this right then they are accused of harassing the student.
3. Coming to the lab on time: My heart really went out to the supervisor when he wrote that the student had the habit of coming late all the time. Ask any PI, this is their main complaint. Most often the PI is in the lab by 9.00 am and the student saunters in around 11 am, 12 pm and in one case that I know, at 2.30 pm after calling the student up and asking whether he is coming to the lab (my fate for the past five years). This is not a problem peculiar only to India I was glad to note. Of course students do not often realize that at the level of Ph.D. or post-doc the time limit is no longer set by external agencies like the PI. You have to set your time remembering that unless you do the experiments you cannot get a Ph.D. So you can come late every day or spend days outside the lab and come occasionally to the lab or you can come to the lab every day on time, plan your experiments and execute them. The choice is the students. However, the time needed to obtain the Ph.D is directly proportional to the time spent in the lab. This does not mean that you have to be in the lab 24 X 7, which can be actually be very counter-productive. A healthy via media between the two extremes is what the students need to strive for.
All this does not imply that the students are always at fault. Some of the PIs are truly horrendous and in this particular case, I really do not know what has happened. However, when I read the report in the newspaper, I found myself nodding my head. Yep. Been there and handled it. To the best of my ability. I was not trained for it in my grad days but I am learning a big dose of humor helps because the student is always going to be the student. And the PI, unfortunately, the PI.
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