Email is like democracy: the worst form of communication, except for all the others. With over sixty thousand unread messages in my various inboxes, I set up an Out of Office automated reply to incoming emails. Feel free to copy the idea if it would help you (preferably with attribution, as per the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence).
Frequent email queries: your answer may be here.
This is an automated message from Lídia. I don’t have the capacity to answer every email I receive individually. If your message is covered by one of the topics below, the answer is here; else I will try to reply to you within a week. For better results, please include a deadline for my reply and your default action if you don’t hear back from me within that window. Thank you for understanding!
— Following up on previous discussions & ETH internal matters —
“We tentatively agreed to meet on a given date, is this still ok for you?”
Yes, unless I explicitly let you know otherwise today.
“We agreed to meet, when is good for you?”
Please propose a time slot and a place. Tuesdays and Fridays are the best days for me.
“I am an ETH student/staff member and need something from you.”
If this is urgent, send me a Zoom message, come to my office hours on Thursdays 2-3pm, or text me if you have my number. Else I will get back to you within a week.
“This is a gentle reminder to send me The Thing you promised.”
Thank you for the reminder! I will try to get back to you within a week. If I don’t manage to, please try to reach me through other channels. If that doesn’t work either, something is wrong: assume that it will take me much longer than expected.
— Requests and invitations —
“Can you review this paper for a journal?”
No, I’m sorry. At the moment I have very limited time for volunteer work, and it’s all being funnelled into running Quantum Journal. Alternative referees: you can try to ask one of my co-authors in the relevant topic. If you can, please mark me as unavailable as a referee throughout 2022 and 2023.
“I am a student, can you be my supervisor?”
No, I’m not taking new students in 2022 or 2023. If you want to do a project at ETH, try to reach out to other group members and keep an eye on www.qit.ethz.ch for announcements.
“Can you be in the PhD committee of my student?”
Not in 2022 or 2023, I’m afraid.
“Can you attend my conference/school/event?”
Thank you for the invitation! If it’s before November 2022, I cannot attend. If we never met or discussed science before, assume that the answer is no, unless I reply to you within a week. If I know you and the event is in November 2022 or later, maybe! Please let me know: if the event is in person, do you cover childcare arrangements; if you can’t, is online participation an option?
“Do you want to join the programme committee for this conference?”
Thank you for the invitation! If I don’t reply within a week, assume that the answer is no.
“Do you want to join this special issue of my journal?”
If I don’t reply within a week, assume that the answer is no. Please don’t send me reminders unless we discussed this before.
“Do you want to join this initiative?”
If we know each other, maybe! If I don’t get back to you within a week, try to reach me through other channels.
— Questions about specific topics that can be forwarded elsewhere —
“I have a question about your lecture.”
If you are an ETH student and this is not confidential, ask on Moodle. Else, write to the teaching assistants if I don’t get back to you within two days.
“I have a question about an event you’re organising.”
Please email info[at]squids.ch .
“I have a question about Quantum Journal.”
Email info[at]quantum-journal.org . If it’s confidential for my eyes only, email ldelrio[at]quantum-journal.org .
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