I have now been slightly dizzy on and off for 4 days, mostly on. This can stop any time now...
Today's guest post at Scientopia is a rehash of an earlier post here.
I have now officially found people willing to be on my committee! Now, to find a two hour block of time that at least 3 of the 4 can attend... Did I mentioned I'm one of four people in my group doing a preliminary proposal in the next month? This is why I was originally aiming for May or July. Thankfully, next week marks the end of the summer conference season for my lab group, so I can finally go back and figure out things that went wrong back in June instead of producing slides for my advisor's speculative abstracts.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Guest Posting at Scientopia!
In totally awesome news, I'm guest blogging over at Scientopia for the next two weeks. Some of it will be rehashing things I've posted on this blog, but some new content will sneak its way in too.
This week, my main focus is on piecing together my thesis proposal, and the last bits of data for my PI's talk in Korea next week. This weekend, though, I get to go see mountains! My mom is flying my sister and I out to Denver for a girls' weekend, so I should get some much needed stress relief and sunshine.
I've also been trying out Mendeley while putting together my proposal, as my PI's preferred software, Bookends, refuses to talk to Word on my computer, which more or less defeats the point of a reference manager. (I know, Microsoft is evil, but my advisor refuses to use anything else, so no LaTex for me) Mendeley has the advantage that if I go back to a PC or Linux machine, I don't have to rebuild my entire reference library. It's also a wonderful GUI to work with. Really, the only downside for me at this point is my advisor's general opposition to changing software and all things open source. If I can find some way to import existing Bookends databases to Mendeley, though, I might be able to convince him.
This week, my main focus is on piecing together my thesis proposal, and the last bits of data for my PI's talk in Korea next week. This weekend, though, I get to go see mountains! My mom is flying my sister and I out to Denver for a girls' weekend, so I should get some much needed stress relief and sunshine.
I've also been trying out Mendeley while putting together my proposal, as my PI's preferred software, Bookends, refuses to talk to Word on my computer, which more or less defeats the point of a reference manager. (I know, Microsoft is evil, but my advisor refuses to use anything else, so no LaTex for me) Mendeley has the advantage that if I go back to a PC or Linux machine, I don't have to rebuild my entire reference library. It's also a wonderful GUI to work with. Really, the only downside for me at this point is my advisor's general opposition to changing software and all things open source. If I can find some way to import existing Bookends databases to Mendeley, though, I might be able to convince him.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Demographic Results
Behold! Poll results! There's at least twice as many responses as I was expecting, which was the first surprise. I was also surprised by the even split between grad students and professors.
As I try and prepare for my proposal in the next month or so, I hope to do a series of blogs on the different components as I go. Possible future blogs include finding your committee, tips on literature searches, and the differences between the written and oral proposals.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
100 posts down...
Huzzah! I've made it to my 100th post! Only took me 6 months (exactly!). I'm still finding my "blogging voice", but I'm amazed I've made it this far.
There have been discussion of serious(ish) science. We've talked about wedding planning, alternative uses for cosmetic remover, stress, stress, STEMmoms and grandmothers, and occasionally, the perpetual internet favorite, kittens.
What's next?
I have no idea, I'm still making it up as I go.
There have been discussion of serious(ish) science. We've talked about wedding planning, alternative uses for cosmetic remover, stress, stress, STEMmoms and grandmothers, and occasionally, the perpetual internet favorite, kittens.
What's next?
I have no idea, I'm still making it up as I go.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Conference Lessons
Apparently will I was away, my blog got listed on Inside Higher Ed's Around the Web, which is totally awesome and unexpected. Hello to any new readers!
Last week's conference was my first time attending a specialty conference, instead of a more general mega-conference. It was wonderful to get to really know people, even if it's not in my thesis field. I learned a lot of science, but I also learned a lot about completely unrelated things, like fire trucks, nuclear waste managements, and the Episcopal church. This conference really encouraged spousal attendance of the social events, making it the first conference I've met a priest at.
Things I learned from the conference:
1) Talking to people socially at lunch and coffee break is a great way to get them to ask questions about your science later. Even if you know no one, just ask to join the table/circle, and listen for a while. Next time you see them, they may actually start a conversation with you.
2) Presenting a poster after your PI gives a talk brings more people to your poster, and gives you a chance to clarify those things your PI may be overselling. Unfortunately, my PI isn't very fond of this method, so I may not have many more opportunities for this type of thing.
3) Being visually distinctive can be a very good thing. I was wearing a rather unique hat for the outdoor portions of the conference (again, more social events than I'm used to), and people would start conversations with me about my hat which could then meander towards the science.
4) Lessons in how to effectively nag my advisor from his former student. Since my advisor tends to be cranky when his blood sugar is low and forgets to eat, bringing pastries to meetings can help, apparently.
5) Your thesis research doesn't define what you do by any means. I've heard this before, but talking to older professors, it was really good to hear that with specific examples. It also made me feel better about working on such unrelated projects, because it'll help open up a wider range of post-doc options later.
6) Networking is partly about being in the right place at the right time: by sitting near the right person, I was told about a faculty opening (if I were actually graduating) that I may otherwise not have found out about because it's a cross-department listing (i.e., an EE department looking for a materials person).
7) Lots of ways to simply expand on the PTWD and make the second pair of papers more substantial stand-alone papers, instead of merging them into one.
8) People are really nice about lending their cellphones when yours has tragically died. I was able to actually call my husband on his birthday briefly, and schedule a taxi courtesy of other people's phones.
9) Playing certain pieces as an instrumentalist ruins them for future listening. I still really dislike Beethoven's Violin Concerto, even though I last played it in 2003.
Last week's conference was my first time attending a specialty conference, instead of a more general mega-conference. It was wonderful to get to really know people, even if it's not in my thesis field. I learned a lot of science, but I also learned a lot about completely unrelated things, like fire trucks, nuclear waste managements, and the Episcopal church. This conference really encouraged spousal attendance of the social events, making it the first conference I've met a priest at.
Things I learned from the conference:
1) Talking to people socially at lunch and coffee break is a great way to get them to ask questions about your science later. Even if you know no one, just ask to join the table/circle, and listen for a while. Next time you see them, they may actually start a conversation with you.
2) Presenting a poster after your PI gives a talk brings more people to your poster, and gives you a chance to clarify those things your PI may be overselling. Unfortunately, my PI isn't very fond of this method, so I may not have many more opportunities for this type of thing.
3) Being visually distinctive can be a very good thing. I was wearing a rather unique hat for the outdoor portions of the conference (again, more social events than I'm used to), and people would start conversations with me about my hat which could then meander towards the science.
4) Lessons in how to effectively nag my advisor from his former student. Since my advisor tends to be cranky when his blood sugar is low and forgets to eat, bringing pastries to meetings can help, apparently.
5) Your thesis research doesn't define what you do by any means. I've heard this before, but talking to older professors, it was really good to hear that with specific examples. It also made me feel better about working on such unrelated projects, because it'll help open up a wider range of post-doc options later.
6) Networking is partly about being in the right place at the right time: by sitting near the right person, I was told about a faculty opening (if I were actually graduating) that I may otherwise not have found out about because it's a cross-department listing (i.e., an EE department looking for a materials person).
7) Lots of ways to simply expand on the PTWD and make the second pair of papers more substantial stand-alone papers, instead of merging them into one.
8) People are really nice about lending their cellphones when yours has tragically died. I was able to actually call my husband on his birthday briefly, and schedule a taxi courtesy of other people's phones.
9) Playing certain pieces as an instrumentalist ruins them for future listening. I still really dislike Beethoven's Violin Concerto, even though I last played it in 2003.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Back from ConferenceLand
The last few weeks have been a bit ridiculous, and I pretty much dropped off the face of the internet last week due to limited access (i.e., only at the hotel).
I have also been dragged kicking and screaming into the smartphone era, following the tragic death of my beloved WalkmanStupidPhone. Given my carrier, the non-smart phone options were hideously limited, and I now own yet another Apple product. Sigh. On the other hand, I won't have the internet-less issue quite as frequently in the future.
The poster went well, and my advisor didn't make too many ridiculous conjectures from my data in his talk, so on the whole, a pretty good conference. I met many very interesting people, and it really underlined that the Project That Won't Die could very easily be fleshed out to become a thesis, if only my advisor felt there were any money in it. Back to the Project My Thesis proposal is On, for another talk my advisor is giving in two weeks.
I have also been dragged kicking and screaming into the smartphone era, following the tragic death of my beloved WalkmanStupidPhone. Given my carrier, the non-smart phone options were hideously limited, and I now own yet another Apple product. Sigh. On the other hand, I won't have the internet-less issue quite as frequently in the future.
The poster went well, and my advisor didn't make too many ridiculous conjectures from my data in his talk, so on the whole, a pretty good conference. I met many very interesting people, and it really underlined that the Project That Won't Die could very easily be fleshed out to become a thesis, if only my advisor felt there were any money in it. Back to the Project My Thesis proposal is On, for another talk my advisor is giving in two weeks.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Apologetic Cat Pictures
Project A data frenzy is done, which means Project B data frenzy is now in full swing. Consequently, I'm out of brain power to post something meaningful, so I give you instead a slightly staged photo of my cats.
Staged in that the small cat (Rory) was placed next to the large cat (George) and the photo was taken before one of them bothered to wander off.
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