Overview

This repository provides guidelines for new research assistants and research managers working with professors. It covers the administrative aspects of the role. Coding, programming, and data analysis aspects are covered in my R Guide, Stata Guide, and Python Guide.

To be successful in this role, a key thing to understand is that professors are super busy. We are dividing our time between

• Teaching (preparing, teaching, meeting with students, grading)
• Traveling the country and world to present our research at universities and conferences (or presenting on Zoom during COVID times)
• Traveling to other countries to access data, manage existing projects, and develop new projects
• Meeting with potential data providers, funders, and implementing partners
• Meeting with coauthors
• Attending the seminars and research lunches our departments host and meeting with visiting speakers
• Doing service for the department
• Applying for grants
• Managing the administration of existing grants
• Advising and mentoring PhD students
• Overseeing and mentoring research assistants
• Recruiting new faculty, PhD students, and RAs
• Reading research papers
• Refereeing papers for journals
• Serving as discussant of papers at conferences
• Reviewing papers submitted to conferences and serving on conference program committees
• Reviewing and scoring grant proposals
• Brainstorming research projects
• Analyzing data
• Writing and revising papers

What this means for you as a research assistant/research manager

• When you send emails, highlight the important things for me to read in bold.
• If there is an important email I have not responded to, don't let it sit for more than a week -- send it again (and again and again), until I respond and/or confirm that I have received it.
• If there is something you know I need to do for the project (e.g., send questions to a partner organization), remind me repeatedly by email and in the weekly call. If possible, include a draft in the email for me to send (see next section for more details). This is more efficient and will guarantee that no important details are left out. Include this pending item in the agenda for the weekly call so I can confirm I have sent it.
• Never assume I've taken action based on an email you sent until I confirm taking action. If there are things that I tell you are top priority or time sensitive, once you send them to me continue to follow up and put this item at the top of the weekly call agenda to ensure that after receiving it from you I've taken the necessary action (e.g. submit it; forward it; etc.)
• If it's not on my calendar, it does not exist. Ensure all project calls are on my calendar, with a zoom link if applicable and with the invitation to everyone who needs to be on the call. These calendar invites should be sent as early as possible to ensure that I know about these events on my calendar when scheduling other calls. (Note that I am not the only one who looks at my calendar to schedule calls, so me knowing about the call is not enough -- it has to be on my calendar.)
• Whenever you attach a file to an email, that file must also be saved in our shared GitHub/Dropbox/Box, and you should write out the path to where the file is saved in the body of the email.
• You will be the person most familiar with the details of the project and the items pending on a daily basis. Therefore, please do not hesitate to remind me of project status details during weekly calls or by email and, whenever applicable, bring any deadlines or project needs that may not be on the top of my mind to my attention.
• Your fellow research assistants are also very valuable sources of information. Feel free to ask them any questions or doubts that you may have, as they have often encountered similar problems

Organization

• Before our weekly calls, send an agenda.
  • Ideally you should send this agenda at least an hour before the call, as it will serve as a reminder of the call for everyone and will give them time to think about whether anything they want to discuss is missing from the agenda.
• After our weekly calls, send a call recap with to-do items.
  • Ideally you should send this later on the same day of the call so that it is still fresh in everyone's minds when they check if there is anything missing in the recap.
• Send a weekly email that includes your timesheet (and applicable GitHub/Dropbox/Box path), bullet points of the main things you did during the past week, and bullet points of your priorities for the next week.
  • This helps ensure that we are on the same page regarding your priorities for the upcoming week, and that we are optimizing the time you spend across tasks.
• For emails that I need to send, send me a concise draft including all relevant information, as well as:
  • The email addresses of everyone who should receive or be copied on the email
  • The email subject line
  • The file path for any documents that should be attached to the email
  • Any other details you consider important