Dear Labby - Love in the Lab?

From flatworldknowledge. Because, you know, the enzyme-substrate complex is the same as l'amour.

Welcome to your weekend agony-column for confused (post)grad students--Dear Labby!  This week's post involves a potential love-in-the-lab situation which can do some mean matter-phase shifts.

Dear Labby,
My Master student came in this morning for the first time. He is a very smart and likeable guy from Frankfurt. We seemed to complement well with skills as he's well-trained in molecular biology while I am more into physics and chemistry. While doing some work on the bench, I noticed him standing really close to me. I didn't think of it as anything, but during our  break time he seemed to sit really close and our knees were hitting all the time. As he was about to leave, he gave me a quick hug. I am getting freaked out. Germans are supposed to be prim, proper, distant and all professional. What should I do?  

Distressed Biophysicist 

PS. I do admit that he's quite a hottie too!

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Hooboy, DB, we're in hot-potato land! Did you get his number, and are you folks doing anything on Saturday night?

No, dear DB, don't get too freaked out with the student's behavior.  There are a number of reasons why he's acting this way towards you, and being German isn't one of them:

• He finds you cute and adorably huggable.
• He is way younger than you (ergo, he thinks younger).
• He's doing the reverse side of Morrissey's This Charming Man.

Now, if you think about it, physical proximity isn't the end-all, be-all factor for a successful enzyme-substrate complex.  Is the activation energy of yours high or low enough for it to happen (and will it be an exothermic reaction)?  It's up to you to control it--are his actions (and invasion of personal boundaries) welcome to you?  If not, then halt the reaction before it spins out of control.  Lab accidents of this sort are tricky to recover.

In other words, DB, it's all in the head. You can choose to respond to it by being playfully affectionate, but caveat emptor since he's way younger than you. Be the super-cool big sis or bro towards him, just like me to you. *bats eyelashes*

Hugs and kisses,
Labby

PS. Here's a video for y'all!

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"Dear Labby" is a collaborative effort by this blogger and her fellow PhD students in different fields of research.  Got a social (lab office) head-scratcher to share? Use the comment box below, or tell us here!