Acid test
Tuukka Petäjä describes his experiences
as a Principal Investigator. To create
a scientific career, one has to instigate
international projects.
It is not your publications list nor your
first appointment as a university researcher
— it is the initiatives concerning
global projects that make the difference.
Physicist Tuukka Petäjä knows that
the leadership of such a multinational
undertaking may turn out to be a real
acid test of a scientist — no matter how
experienced or competent one otherwise
might be.
Petäjä works as a Professor in the Department of
Physics, University of Helsinki. He has specialized in
atmospheric physics, and since his student times, he
has participated numerous projects, not to mention
the articles he has coauthored.
But this time is different. At the moment Petäjä,
39, leads a research project called BAECC. This is his
first time as a Principal Investigator and as the one
who had the initiative and launched the project.
The acronym BAECC means “Biogenic Aerosols Effect on Clouds and Climate.” The abbreviation is
revealing; Petäjä and his colleagues unravel the microphysical
processes of the atmosphere that are connected
to global climate.
— In order to understand macro phenomena like
weather and climate we have to find out how molecules
behave, explains Petäjä.
— There are tiny particles suspended in the air,
aerosols. We want to know profoundly how they are
formed, and how they interact with each other as well
as with clouds.
Part of the aerosols have their origin in boreal forest
areas. This is why Petäjä and his colleagues spend
a lot of time in Hyytiälä, Finland, where one of the
observational stations of Helsinki University is located.
The station consists of laboratories, maintenance
buildings of the instruments and, of course, the residences
for the researchers.
The scale of Petäjä´s project can be seen during a
tour in Hyytiälä. An outsider might be awed by the
bulky experimental devices scattered in the woods:
radars, high resolution mass spectrometers and aerosol
characterization instruments with their associated
transformers, cord reels and inlets. All this in the middle
of rural landscape looks like a scene from a sciencefiction
film. No wonder Hyytiälä has drawn crowds
lately — both curious villagers and media people.
Petäjä has over 50 researchers in his project altogether.
They are mainly physicists and atmospheric
scientists from all over the world, some of them doing
remote work and some working on-site either in
Hyytiälä, or elsewhere in Finland.
The most important institutional participant of
BAECC is U.S. Department of Energy, which has provided
state-of-the-art laboratory instrumentation and measurement technology for the project. In addition
to this, from two to three technicians and site
managers flew over from U.S. to stay in Hyytiälä for a
total of 9 months.
The transportation of expensive and sensitive
instruments is not an easy task, and, what is more,
everything has to be put up and adapted to the local
conditions.
— Luckily the personnel has extensive expertise of
running their instruments all over the world, e.g. last
year in the South Pacific. Next year, the instruments
will be transported to Antarctica, Petäjä remarks.
— At the moment everything is fine. The data
flows in, and we hope to get some preliminary results
in the autumn.
“Share the workload, not the responsibility”
What should, then, a junior or mid-career scientist
remember in order to succeed with his or her first
initiative? What should they do to meet the requirements
of a Principal Investigator?
For Petäjä, the starting point for the whole project
was an e-mail he found nearly two years ago. The U.S. Department of Energy was calling for research proposals,
the best ones of which it would fund.
— I knew that many researchers and institutions
around the world would apply. But I knew as well that
it is, for sure, worth trying: even if you are do not get
the funding, the experience you get during the application
process is valuable.
— The process itself was rather exceptional. Usually,
you just construct an application and after a few months
you here the result: you either get the money or not.
— But in this case, the applicants were asked to
make pre-proposals, after which we got detailed
comments. For example, I had a long telephone conference
with the technical experts of the Department
of Energy. They made elaborated questions concerning
our own instruments, the way we are going to use
data, of the conditions we have on our field sites, and
how we are going to implement certain parts of our
research proposal. I found these conversations mutually
very fruitful.
— After the conversations and their comments
we had the opportunity of augmenting our plan, after
which the full proposals were sent in. A typical example:
our pre-proposal filled 8 pages, whereas the full
proposal after all those comments was 56 pages.
The application process took about six months.
After that, Petäjä has divided his time between his
BAECC-project, several other projects which he participates
in as a collaborator, and administrational
duties: he was appointed a professor only half a year
ago. He cannot work 24/7, however: he has two kids
waiting for dad to come home in the evening.
— I had luck because I have been supported by my
boss during this busy period, says Petäjä. He refers to
the director of the Division of Atmospheric Sciences,
Academy Professor Markku Kulmala.
Kulmala, in turn, is the most cited researcher in
the world in the area of geosciences. But a good boss
is not enough.
— During a big research project you have to rely
on your collaborators — otherwise you are not able to
share the workload. Finding a good team is one of the
most important qualities of the Principal Investigator.
— Simultaneously, it must be remembered that
tasks and duties can and should be delegated. But, on
the contrary, responsibility can never be delegated.
text Mai Allo
photo Veikko Somerpuro
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 29
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