sci.research.careers

My working time is now spread between several projects (each headed by
a different project manager from different departments). Recently I
was made a technical leader of a subproject in one of the projects.
Surprisingly, the project manager (who appointed me a technical leader
into his project) was from another department. The management of my
current department (where I got the permanent position not long ago)
still keeps me largely unengaged into any of their projects. In fact,
my departmental head shared his vision of "making me grow" by putting
through several technical roles of no responsibility. He also shared
his vision (at the departmental meeting) in the name of efficiency to
put me into a worst cubicle in the area where the low-level
technicians reside (at the moment, I am occupying arguably one of the
best cubicles in the building, which is the same place I was occupying
when I was a "postdoc" in here).

Meanwhile, the manager of the other department came into my office and
invited me to participate in his project. This project is "core" for
them and they have to deliver urgently. I believe they invited me only
because I did this work during my "postdoc", and they have nobody in
their team who has practical experience with this topic. Still, my
colleague (younger than me) was charged formally with the leadership
of the project, and my role is just to provide the information (I know
what works and what does not work, in this experiment). The manager is
carefully trying to avoid to define what is my exact role and what is
my responsibility within the project. I guess they will use me and
then throw me away :-(

Anyway, I was at the meeting of the technical leaders of
earliermentioned research program. I saw what I perceived as an Enron-
like accounting made by our management. They have many projects to do
(and lots of commercial funding), but not enough of permanent staff to
do those jobs. So, I perceived that they introduced "creative
accounting".

All this makes me think that I am probably growing along the managment
and responsibility line, but this professional growth is (a) anaemic,
(b) misdirected and (c) unsustainable.