New faculty share their experiences on their transition in the first of a new series on being part of the academic elite.

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Being a member of a faculty means being a lot of things all at once, according to assistant professor Mike Lee, who became a member of the team at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Boston in late 2013. “It encompasses lab vision, grant writing, and the organisational tasks of your lab. You’re also your lab’s head postdoc, lab manager, technician and the EHS [Environmental Health and Safety] adviser. And you teach.”

Clearly, science has moved on from single-minded lab work: being university faculty today certainly doesn’t mean burying yourself in research and not having to worry about anything or anyone else. What really struck Brian Kelch, assistant professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, also at UMass, when he started his faculty position in 2012, was how quickly he needed to adapt to the more personal side of the job. Continue reading →