Eleven questions for self-assessment

You might be curious as to whether you are on the right track from a professional standpoint. You can ask Anubhav to give you feedback periodically, and you should do this at least every 6 months or so. Here is a cheat sheet of things he considers when thinking about your progress.

  1. How self-driven is your work?

    • I am far ahead of my supervisor in understanding and guiding my project, so it’s necessary that I conceive/design/imagine/build most of what I do. i.e., I am given a vague topic to work on by my supervisor and it’s my job to determine both the important problems and design the solutions.

    • I originate maybe 50% of the ideas that I work on; the\ other 50% are from my supervisor. Or, given a good description of the problem by my supervisor, I figure out the solution largely independently.

    • Almost all of what I do was sketched out by my advisor, including the problem and the rough solution; my job is to implement those ideas.

  2. When I am assigned a task, I usually complete it:

    • To an even higher quality standard than asked for and/or much quicker than expected

    • approximately on time and well-tested and robust so that I know that my solution works under diverse situations. I can declare “mission accomplished successfully” the vast majority of the time.

    • To minimally achieve the original goal, thus often requiring future revision; OR very late; OR usually by getting someone else to solve most of the hard parts for me

  3. Compared to others in the group, I:

    • help them more than they help me

    • help them about the same as they help me

    • help them less than they help me

  4. Regarding the relevant scientific literature for my project, I:

    • regularly impress my supervisor by integrating new and important papers into my research that were not on my supervisor’s radar

    • have about an equal share of papers I receive from my supervisor versus papers I have discovered on my own (and subsequently adapted my research to account for those papers, i.e., have read and understood them)

    • typically am the recipient of interesting papers to read from my supervisor

  5. In the last year, I have attended (if first year in group) or presented a talk or poster (if in group longer than one year) at at:

    • More than 2 international conferences (not project workshops / meetings)

    • 2 international conferences

    • One or zero international conferences

  6. In the last 9 months, I have submitted to a journal:

    • Multiple first-author papers, or one stellar (e.g., quality level of Nature, Science, etc.) first-author paper

    • One first-author paper, or significant co-author on a stellar (e.g., quality level of Nature, Science, etc.) paper

    • No first-author papers

  7. When I present a draft of a paper and/or presentation to my supervisor, usually I get back:

    • Minor revisions

    • Medium level of revision

    • Major revisions

  8. Will my main work serve as a lasting contribution that others will use and refer to in 5-10 years time?

    • There is a good chance my work will remain important

      even after 10 years

    • Probably 5 years, 10 years is a stretch

    • Honestly, probably not

  9. When my supervisor assigns tasks (e.g., at in-person meetings, etc.), I:

    • complete tasks quickly and efficiently and provide my supervisor with an update

    • get around to doing almost all tasks eventually

    • often forget to complete tasks (e.g., forgot to write it down, etc.) and often need to be asked a second time

  10. Have you received any external awards or recognition for your work?

    • yes, in the last year

    • yes, in the last 3 years OR my work was featured in a news story (LBNL news, DOE news, etc.) in the past year

    • not in the last 3 years

  11. How is your passion and enthusiasm level?

    • I feel extremely excited and happy about work

    • About normal

    • I feel burnt out or demotivated

If your answers are mainly (c), the questionnaire is probably telling you something that you already know -that you should take some time to reflect on your situation. You might also schedule a meeting with Anubhav to discuss things. If you are answering mainly (b), then you are likely doing fine but it may be worth brainstorming if it’s possible to move into category (a) for one or more of your responses. Otherwise, continue the great work!

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