Does your lab e-share?
I'd put a fancy poll on here, but I'm too lazy.
I have this pet peeve about people who read email, but don't respond, and then later mention the subject of the original email to you in person (sometimes months later).
What is up with that?
I've worked with some people who always respond to email, immediately, and some people who never respond.
Is this a lab culture thing? Does it all depend on whether the PI uses and requires everyone else to use email a lot, or is it just a personal choice that can't be influenced by culture?
Labels: academic lifestyle, administrivia
posted by Ms.PhD @ 11:28 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I think its personal choice. I've e-mailed some random people and most have been really happy to offer advice, data, ect. I had one guy in Germany and another in Illinois mail me all his publications and a professor in Texas offered to run my samples and then let me come use their lab and mass spectrometer. I had no connection to these scientist at all.
But I have one scientist in Rhode Island who won't respond to e-mail even though I've spoken with her collaboartor and dropped his name in my last e-mail.
I doubt it has anything to do with the PI . I find it varies with the individual. As you said, some people respond immediately (those people are often the ones who are not busy/bored with their work), others never do. I think a happy medium is someone who responds within the same day to a reasonable request. Ignoring email entirely is rude, although I can understand if people are incredibly busy and get a lot of email, they might not have time to respond to everything.
My PI hates email, and is also PI on ten grants, so it's a difficult situation - he's hard to catch to ask questions of in person. I've worked out a compromise with him by making my email subject lines very specific, as well as letting his secretary know that there's something that needs immediate attention.
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