I cannot help you, but I can judge you

Mar 26, 2015 • Marios Isaakidis

The final part of my undergraduate program was to work on a research project under the supervision of one of the professors of the department. We got along very well, he is a person I admire and respect, and since the beginning he was open to proposals for the direction of the project.

For a long time the project was, falsely, not among my priorities and I kept myself busy with other activities, until the very last couple of months, when I started working on a new concept in the lab. Having no prior research experience, it was difficult to define the scientific questions by myself, as well as the deliverables and the methodology of working. The day we had arranged to discuss the progress, he told me that he didn’t have the time or the knowledge to help me, but he had the knowledge to do peer review on the results. At the same time, he was very supportive to students who were working on topics that would help him with funded projects.

It would have been very useful if the professor could have assisted me at least with the parts with which I was less experienced, or if he had assigned this task to another postgraduate student or professor.