There is method in the madness

Hello,

in the past couple of days (years..) I have been trying to finalize some of the  methodology I intend to use to analyse my samples. It started all one morning, the sky was grey outside and the computer took its usual 20 minutes to boot up (all because of some UEA glitch), a pretty standard day if you ask me. Anyway I though..."let's analyse some of the samples I collected on the cruise!". 

I analysed my lab samples before for certain parameters, like Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) on filters. However because my latest samples came from open ocean, a new pre-analytical step has to be added to it.  The problem started when I had to decide on the length of time the filters need to be treated. I really think there aren't many scientists that agree on that and it's surprising how many papers aren't clear on the topic! Because of this I will have to find out on my own...by doing some more tests! And in the mist of everything else I need to do really I didn't need this for sure! In the end I cannot just pick a random method, I need to know that works. This is because when the time will come for me to discuss and defend my thesis (yeyyyy...I dream of the day...) I will have to justify all my choices. It wasn't just POC but POP (Particulate Organic Phosphorus) as well and various others.

That morning for a moment I thought...the known quote " there is method in the madness" must come from science...but actually after googling the phrase, it came out that dear old Shakespeare had his finger in it. (I often think that Shakespeare and Oscar Wild must have come up with at least 30% of the world quotes. joking). Anyway this particular phrase comes from Hamlet (1602):

Polonius:

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?"

and the madness continuous... till next time, Ciao.

Why a PhD?

Hello all,

Since I have decided to produce a  mixed science-diary blog I should start talking about PhDs I suppose.

Well first of all I want to say, there seems to be a widespread impression that people doing a PhD must be cleverer then others, or something along those lines. I personally don't share this view. Although I met some really clever people at university, I feel that some of us are just very committed characters. From what I have seen so far, the thing that all of us undertaking a PhD have in common, is really just a lot of motivation and commitment for the job and the topic we have chosen. I, for example, don't feel any brainier than any of my friends that are not researchers (except for Dave maybe, ha ha joking) or some of the other "non-scientist" people I have met.

One of the reasons that made me decide to be a researcher is the belief that, as much as you can try to convince yourself "we don't live to work, we work to live", I think overall we often spend more waking hours at work than in our homes. I mean; most of the day light hours we are at work! There are 168 hours in a week and in average, assuming 8 hours of sleep per day, we are awake 112 hours from Monday to Sunday. We spend about 8 hours per day "in the office" (5 days per week, if you are lucky...) leaving us a mere 72 hours including weekends to do whatever we want/have to do. And to be honest a lot of those hours are spent doing chores and life style maintenance...and thinking about work! Therefore my conclusion is...we must try and pick a job that we enjoy (if possible of course) in order to maximize our chances of happiness.

The duration of a PhD, here in the UK, is theoretically 3 years. Where the first year is technically all about reading and training, the second year focuses on data collection and collation and the third...well...that is meant to be the writing up year. To be honest, very rarely someone finishes within this time frame. Particularly if your project is experimental, you are bound to overstep the three year mark (unfortunately often funds run out at the end of year 3...eeek!).

Why research then? Well...because I find it challenging and every day is different, I never get bored. I am inquisitive by nature and only through investigation and research I feel fulfilled. No matter the very looong days and working at weekends (occasionally). I, sometimes, can feel tired and a little down but then nothing is perfect and of course everyone has bad days, it's life.

I have noticed how each and every one of us in my office has a different opinion about this. We all have very different backgrounds and come from all over the world. Some, like me, are mature students, others never had a job. Some enjoy their PhD while others feel exploited, some others get so incredibly stressed that it's heart breaking to watch. It's full of ups and downs.

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1420

and in the beginning.....

Ciao, this is my very first blog, ever! I am quite excited but I am also quite wary; I really don't think I have the gift of the word unfortunately so blogging will not come naturally to me.

Nevertheless I want to try and keep this sort of diary and corner for random thoughts. Mainly because I believe that there are thing that if you let go once you never see again (by I don't know whom)... not just thing but people and memories too. (And...My memory is particularly bad!).

The idea come to me after I received an old e-mail I sent to myself  (from the past) through http://futureme.org/?redirect=1 I then thought; "wouldn't it be cool to read about the things that I did during my PhD? the tears, the laughter and all that comes with that?" And also...science needs to be more interesting for people, I want to try to be an ambassador for science and do my little for the world.

A few friends of mine are keeping blogs and I think they are great! Check Emma's one: http://sowhataboutseaweed.wordpress.com/ she is very expressive and interesting.

I have some plans for this blog which involve getting my friends to introduce themselves and talk about what they do. I also would like to add a section on my research topic for whoever is interested in plankton (I am...ha ha). I intend to add bits about my hobbies too if I get the chance, so hopefully I'll end up with a little about everything.

Introducing myself, well what can I say without being boring. I suppose my profile will tell you all you need to know. What I can add is that at present I am going trough a very intense period of my life. I am in my second year of my PhD and although a PhD is stressful throughout I believe that there is nothing as stressful as when you are planning and carrying out your experiments and data collection. They will determine the success of the whole enterprise and pretty much your happiness for the next 2 years... more later!

Ciao