This New Year's Day is a special one, as it marks the beginning of my journey as an Assistant Professor @GTaerospace (1/5)

@DrChrisCombs And, after we get the funds, how much effort it takes to find and train the “right” people to deliver on the projects, which as a result produces not only the intended research outcomes but also future workforce that amplifies the impact of that initial investment.

@MichaelGLFlood I like to think of DEI (or IED, the order I prefer) as creating the conditions under which merit - which should continue to drive decisions - can be truly assessed, thus eliminating the impact of boundary/initial conditions and irrelevant factors. 1/2

@GT_Sankar This resonates!

@neubadah I haven’t heard anything formal on that yet. I’d imagine/hope this conversation is happening with those whose funding has been/will be affected.

@BrainsExplained “If you feel inspired to work on something, just do it.” This validated me a lot! I had trouble trying to stick to the plan and put the “random inspiration” aside initially but have tended to plan less rigidly over time. Nice to know that others have a similar approach.

@DrChrisCombs In my experience, SpaceX comes up as a place to intern or work for a limited time, never as a dream job.

@jpcorreabaena @BaenaLab @GeorgiaTech Congrats @jpcorreabaena!!! Well-deserved recognition!

@QuinaScience ^^ this. Also, how “personal” experiences are to someone’s interests as opposed to box checking is also important.

@JBudzien IMO, there’s a middle ground between no experiences out of classes and having the experience of a seasoned PhD student at admission. Knowing which experiences are “right” and how to pursue them also requires a level of mentoring and insider knowledge not everyone has access to.

@FelixSchistad Thanks for sharing. The initial post must be taken in the context of US PhDs, where students can apply after BS, BS degrees do not always involve a thesis, and even public higher ed is way less affordable than in EU (which limits student ability to pursue research experiences).

@BilfingaMax I did a MS thesis before PhD as it was a requirement in my country, but that’s not true everywhere. I agree independence and initiative are important traits. However, they don’t always correlate with formal past research experience.

@PracheeAC How people with a social identity that is underrepresented in a given work environment experience and should/should not navigate that environment (when the person feeling an expert doesn’t share that identity).

While the life of a junior faculty is a continuous roller coaster 🎢 it is nice to look back after one year and appreciate the net progress we made as a group. Looking forward to what 2025 will bring!