[kamiyu]

Hi
Recently I have an issue. I am a PhD student and my work is largely synthetic which takes a lot of time and effort (>5 steps per project and I am doing three projects at the same time). Another PhD student in my group work less than I do but is writing two papers…..
One of them involves easy synthesis (just one new complex with little change in structure from previous work) and some basic measurements which take him 7 months to complete. Another paper is even easier---he just did some basic measurements, even the samples were not prepared by him.
I feel a bit uneasy about this, thinking that why he can publish faster than I do when I work much harder than him….
Any comments?
Thanks

[kriggy]

Hi
I think that saying that the synthesis of complexes is easy is bit off from my experience. It seems easy but its not, there is many degrees of freedom which can alter the result (ie. different salts of same metals give you different complexes), it depends a lot on conditions and there arent that many general guidelines to follow.What measurements he did? Some of them arent that easy as they seems to be...?
I can understand your frustration, even when Im not PhD student. But hey, I think that the quality is what matters. I would rather have 1 good article which is being cited than 5 average which none cares about.
And btw, you are working on three projects, that means 3 possible articles right? Could be even more if you get some interesting results

[kamiyu]

Yes, I am carrying out 3 different synthetic routes at the same time. One of them finished. Others largely finished. Each routes require >5 steps and is typically organic.

The measurements are absorption, emission and cyclic voltammetry.

[Dan]

This is not an uncommon situation. Publication success depends on skill and, unfortunately, luck.

I've seen highly talented students struggling to publish while less skilled students seem to get handed projects on a plate and fire out papers regularly. It's frustrating, but remember that you may have been given tougher projects because your supervisor trusts your ability to complete them. Sometimes you just have to be patient - some projects take 6 months, others might take a couple of years, and some will never go anywhere. That's the nature of research. Take pride in your own work, keep the quality high and avoid the temptation to measure yourself against others at such an early stage of your career. Stay motivated and discuss your chemistry with your colleagues as much as possible - the papers will come.