• Question: Do you work in teams? Or is your job very isolating?

    Asked by Roz to Colin, John, Kevin, Shikha, Triona on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by damien, amy.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi Roz,

      Research work is generally a team work. So one person can be the initiator of the whole research project but it’s generally completed by a team. There are more than 10 PhD scholars, 4 post doctorate including myself and my supervisor in my research group which indicates no isolation. 🙂 It has been my very good fortune to have been supervised by several good supervisors.

      I think it is always better to work in team as you have the opportunity to learn from each other. Generally, a team environment boosts the confidence of individuals, allowing them to do their best work. The best thing about working in a team is you have support for difficult tasks and situations. That’s why we have the phrase “two heads are better than one.” 🙂

    • Photo: John Wenger

      John Wenger answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi Roz,

      Nearly all of the scientists I know work in teams. There are over 15 people working in our research team and we work together a lot on various projects. In fact some of the large projects we have been involved in had more than 10 teams….around 70 scientists in total!
      I could not do my job If I was working alone!

      Cheers

      John

    • Photo: Colin Johnston

      Colin Johnston answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I usually work on my own but I have great colleagues who are there to help if I need it.

    • Photo: Tríona O'Connell

      Tríona O'Connell answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I work on my project, largely alone (I have the support of two bosses). I collaborate with others for some things, and I help others when they have problems. Until a new postgraduate joined the group last month, I was the only person based in my lab for nearly two years, but I was rarely alone (we supervise undergraduate and masters students for their research projects and also, people keep knocking in to my lab for advice or to say hi!).
      I wouldn’t say I find it isolating, as I work on parts of my project with others and apart from that I’m inclined to go for a walk around the deparment just to say hello to people and see what they’re up to. Also, I like working in a quiet space, when there’s others around I will chat with them and get less work done…

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