Divergence and parallelism

Well, it's Thursday, which means that I have two lab meetings today. Yes, I'm weird, and attend two lab meetings per week. I've recently returned from one of the meetings and am awaiting the start of the next one, so I thought that I'd quickly blog about some of my mid-day musings.

What's interesting to me is how differently these lab meetings run. In lab A, we first spend a lot of time gossiping (the advisor for lab A calls this "professional development" or "gleaning insights about the culture of science"...heehee). We then usually move onto discussing our research ideas. Emphasis on the word "idea." We talk in generalities, and this advisor wants us to always be discussing how our general idea is going to move the field forward. In lab B, we first spend some time discussing specific questions that we have about some recent paper, talk, or analysis. We then usually move onto discussing our research projects. Emphasis on the word "project." We talk in specifics, and this advisor wants us to always be discussing how our specific methodology is going to address our project's hypothesis.

It's also interesting to see how differently I react to these lab meetings. When I leave the meetings for lab A, I feel the need to zoom out of my own little research world and look at how my questions fit into the broader context of science. I also feel a desire to relate my work to other disciplines that are looking at some of my overarching questions from a very different setting/framework. Yay for interdisciplinary work. :) When I leave the meetings for lab B, I feel the need to bury myself in the literature that most closely resembles my area of interest and ask how my questions can best be addressed given what others have already done. I also feel a desire to gain a deeper knowledge of some really specific projects that were well-crafted and elegant.

I'm convinced that both approaches are helpful to my progress as a grad student, but in very different ways. And I have to admit that I'm thankful to have both at this stage in my career. Together, they provide a helpful approach to thinking about my own work. From lab A, I'm constantly encouraged to look at how my work fits into the big picture. From lab B, I'm constantly encouraged to focus on specifics that are real and important considerations in any project.

Things I've noted about myself, both in the grad school context and in the "life" context: I easily lose sight of the big picture goals when I'm concerned about nitty-gritty things. And I also easily lose sight of procedures and realistic steps towards progress when I'm focused on more broad and long-term goals or ideals. A balance exists somewhere...right?