Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It is the first one where I didn't have some sort of party with drinking and a bunch of friends, except for some cheesecake and red wine with my grandma. It was also the end of my second week at my new job (PhD etc.) and I have to say that I am not enjoying it very much. It's that sort of thing where you have so high expectations that you have to be disappointed. My disappointment comes from my boss. My first impression was that he is a fair guy that does good research and listens to the suggestions of his students. He does listen to his students, but still decides to do things his way because "we have always done it this way" (aka the worst thing you could ever say in science). Then I found out that he doesn't send his students to conferences. He thinks that they are a waste of time and is afraid to be scooped. Then I also found out that he keeps details to experiments we do secret, so that no one could get such nice results (a method to cut nerves nicely so you can stain them). This comes in addition to the unsocial colleagues I have (never had so much trouble to connect to other people, ever). All that and a bunch of other things (the fact that I am not really doing research) puts me into a position to make a decision again. Should I stay or should I go? I was hoping that it will turn out good :( And not knowing anyone in this city (because of no time during the week...) doesn't make it better. /whine
You are two weeks younger than I am, precisely. What are your options? If you went, where would you go to? Conferences are really important in grad school. It's very unfortunate your boss doesn't see their value. There are some problems you are likely to face anywhere - unsocial colleagues, for example. There are others, like the conferences, that you really shouldn't face in your type of job typically. In short, I wouldn't encourage you to leave a job just because your colleagues aren't very talkative or similar to you, (since you'd just trade the devil you knew for the devil you didn't in such a move) but I would encourage you to leave if you aren't being given the opportunities & respect you both deserve and should generally receive elsewhere.
If I left, I could go anywhere, really. Apply for PhD-positions around Germany or Europe. This conference thing is really bugging me. Specially because we don't have any contact to other researchers. And I don't see anyone of the students take any of the classes provided by the graduate school...
I've heard of poisonous grad school programs. I certainly would say to keep your eyes open and be aware of the situation as it progresses. I want to ask if this guy who's against you guys going to conferences appears to be leading any sort of cult of personality at the school. I don't think it's conducive to a good education to close off from others in your field - in fact, the opposite, really. He seems like he might be a bit egotistical (keeping his techniques to himself so others can't do as well) and wants your unswerving attention (afraid others will 'steal' away 'his' students/assistants/what-have-you). By keeping you from conferences, etc, he's also potentially preventing you from developing a name and reputation for yourself which you could do via networking, presentations, etc, at such venues. He is establishing himself as your only/main educational resource, and denying you the ability to pursue others.