NEWSFLASH: Research isn't my calling

It gives headaches and ulcers, but no satisfaction

Grievance of the day: Supervisors

The honeymoon period has been over for a while, but in the absence of any extreme discomfort in my new job I simply thought that it was the sign of a perfect fit.

Until my supervisor returned from her nth holiday to take over my paper and tell me that my discussion (not entirely written by me) is wrong.

Let me offer you a word of advice. Never, ever listen to anything that a researcher says about their work. Research data is the most easily manipulable thing in the world. It relies on the interpretation of the individual analysing the data, and believe me, the opinions can be strikingly different.

Not that I don't like my supervisor, I do, she's a lovely woman. There is just one area that I don't entirely agree on, especially in light of the fact that she had no involvement in the development of the study, the methodology or the data collection, and now she wants to change the paper. The only reason it irks me is because she KNEW that we had a deadline of TODAY to get it into a conference, and she went off for two weeks and now wants some say in it. I can't help but feel that if she wanted input, she should have been here for one of those weeks. She seems to carefully select her holidays to intersect with important events in my project

Forgive my whining. I just can't seem to get over it. The comfort is that after this year I will never have to work with her again (I plan to move divisions if I stay on the research path). That's what prevents me from speaking to her about her cavalier attitude to my work.

Don't get me wrong, I don't require constant supervision, nor do I expect to be her top priority. I do expect to be treated with the same professional respect as the rest of her underlings though. The next project that I run will be very different.

That's a threat AND a promise.

All work gripes are welcome here

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While I'm still disappointed that she wasn't involved in the crucial parts of my experiment, my ire has abated. In fact, I'm rather embarrassed now...

However, I have been told that she may not come to the conference, leaving me to field questions alone... feeling a little sad and lonely now...

But the next project will, indeed, be different.

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