U.S. Campus Life

THE postdoc

By Masako Yamada

The Gene Stanley group is the largest research group in the Boston University Department of Physics, with the number of members always hovering around 30. Other graduate students and professors are generally surprised when they hear that Gene, my advisor, oversees so many people.

Naturally, in this type of group, one cannot expect to work closely with the boss every day. A good deal of the day-to-day research and leadership duties fall upon the postdocs. Not only do they have to plan and execute their own research, they are often responsible for guiding the academic progress of the graduate students.

I have been supported by many senior members in my lab over the past several years, but one of them has been especially dear to me. Stefano Mossa came to the Stanley group two years ago, at the height of the "Italian Renaissance" in our lab. Back then, there were about five Italian members in the lab and I enjoyed hanging out with this lively group of people. I was highly influenced by their sophisticated conversation, incredible scientific knowledge and sheer sense of humor. As the number of Italians decreased, one by one, Stefano became quieter, but also easier to approach because he wasn't part of a clan anymore. I began to observe him more and I came to think of him as my closest ally in the group.

Stefano saw that I had been struggling to find solid guidance in this group, with its perpetually shifting cast of characters. Some of the postdocs stay for only a year or two and others stay for over five years and I myself had switched projects several times over the years. I definitely couldn't blame the postdocs for this. Postdocs are on one- or two-year contracts, so they need to look after their own interests. They are always on the hunt for their next job. Sometimes they are so busy trying to figure out things for themselves that they don't have the time to train unseasoned graduate students.

Stefano was different. He took full responsibility to help me complete a project that I had started several years ago. Not only did Stefano give me suggestions and instruct me in what I needed to do, he did a lot of the basic work required to complete the project, such as write computer programs, analyze data and draw figures. As a result, our paper was accepted by the journal "Physical Review Letters." Even though the paper was technically "mine" and my name was on the top of it, I got a lot of help. I credit Gene for his overall vision, visiting professor Francesco Sciortino for leading the project and Stefano for actually getting it done.

Stefano isn't just my boss. Our routine has been to go to Starbucks every morning for coffee. We often go in a small group and chat for 15 or 20 minutes about the daily news. When we are in the lab, we sit by a large window and comment on the people passing by. He occasionally gives impassioned lectures on the sad state of Italian politics. At times, he claims that he looks like Russell Crowe, and I have to stretch my imagination to agree with him. He occasionally dreams of Indiana Jones and starts humming the theme song. I know he misses his family in his birthplace, Bari, very much, especially his grandmother.

A funny guy, he has been calling himself THE postdoc since he arrived. At the same time, he has always said I'm his best graduate student. It's entirely true, since I'm his only graduate student. Next week, my best and only postdoc, THE Postdoc, will be leaving for Paris. He will be pursuing a new postdoc closer to Italy. The group had a farewell party for him recently, and we decided to give him some things to remind him of Boston and some things to prepare him for Paris. I bought him some CDs by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, all with American themes. I also knitted him a beret so he would look proper on the streets of Paris. Everybody loved the beret, I think most of all, Stefano.

In a few months, I'll be leaving the Stanley group, as well. It'll be the end of my era. But there is a fresh new crop of Chinese students, Indian students and Latin American students in our group now. There will be more Renaissances and more teams that can claim to be the best student-postdoc combination.

Shukan ST: April 5, 2002

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