farewell presents from colleagues

farewell presents from colleagues. Thanks for the good time here, I will learn Taiwan again from different perspective ;-)

PhD graduation ceremony

Yeah! Officially completed PhD at Exeter Uni. Attended graduation ceremony last month. Unlike Malaysia, I like the fact that the flow of events here is simple as there is no so many speeches from VIPs and stalls that sell flowers and souvenirs. Come on, after all it’s our big day and not VIPs’. Too many stalls selling flowers and dolls make me feel like the graduation ceremony is sort of commercial event and seems to make the entire ceremony become a market place.

 

counting down

it's my last week working in Taiwan, counting down hard. I'm adept to take on another challenge awaiting me. ;-)

badminton game at sinica

Played here twice (academis sinica activity centre), nice sport complex, it has basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, gym, swimming pool etc facilities. For staff, only cost $50 per entrance.

farewell with colleague

A farewell with former post-doc in the lab, who is going to USA for his second post-doc. Very yummy burger.

We had burger at Forker http://www.forkers.tw/.

For set of meal (burger+2 sides+drink), cost ~ NTD 250 to 300

Then we had dessert at Yofroyo http://www.jaysuneatstaipei.com/yofroyo-frozen-yogurt-taipei.html, cost ~ NTD 150.

PhD viva-anticipated questions

Had a PhD viva last year. I did a lot of preparations, including making a list of anticipated FAQs. Some from workshops attended. Hope it’s useful for postgraduates. Happy viva and hope you get back a normal life soon….hahahaha, you know what I mean, :P

 

Anticipated viva questions

Can you provide a summary of your work?

What is the most important new finding in your work?

Does your work support/contradict previous work? Justify your answer.

What do you think are the strong & weak part of your thesis overall?

Why did you choose the particular research methods you used?

How could your work be extended by further research?

Very briefly, what does your research tell us?

Overall, what have you found out by undertaking this research project?

Can you summarise the key contribution that your work has made to furthering knowledge and understanding in this area?

What do you think are the strongest and weakest parts of your thesis overall?

Are there possible alternative interpretations?

What are the implications of your work?

What are the possible applications of your work?

What further would you have liked to research if you had more time?

What were your motivations for choosing this subject?

What are the key pieces of research from which your thesis has been developed?

Why is your research important to investigate?

How does your work link to the work of others in the same/related field?

What are the key references within your thesis?

What methods did you choose for this project?

Why did you choose this particular method over other methods?

What are the strength and limitation of your methods compared to others?

What weaknesses in the results might arise from the way in which you preferred your data analysis?

With hindsight, would you now choose a different way of presenting your results?

Where are your main findings/results?

How do your results compare/contrast/refute previous research?

How would you rationalise the differences between your results/conclusions and those of previous investigations?

Did you discover what would you thought you would?

How did you come to research this topic in this manner?

What are the main achievements of your research?

Which of the achievement is most important to you and why?

What has your thesis contributed to our knowledge in this field?

What are the major theoretical strands in this area: what are the crucial ideas and who are the main contributors?

What are the main issues (matter of debate or dispute) in this area?

Where is your thesis “placed” in term of existing theory and debate? How would the major researchers react to your idea?

Who in your opinion will be most interested in this work?

What published research is closest to your work? Who are your main competitors and how is your research distinguished from theirs?

Why did you choose the particular research methodology that you used?

Did you consider using any other research methodology?

What were the crucial research discoveries that you made?

If you were doing this research again, what would you do differently?

What do you see as the next steps in this research?

What was the most interesting findings in your results

Isn’t this all obvious?

Were you surprised by any of your results (if so, why and what was surprising)?

What advice would you give to a new student entering this area?

What is your plan for publication?

What haven’t I asked you that I should have done, and what would your answer have been?

If you were doing this PhD again, do you want to take this project? 

THE SEB WANTS YOU!

As a university contact for the Society of Experimental Biology (SEB), I received an email message regarding the “November Recruit One Member Month” campaign. See below. 

========================================

The Society for Experimental Biology is an international membership organization that promotes the study of Biology and supports biologists at every stage in their career. We currently have 2000 members from all over the world.

SEB runs scientific conferences for biologists and our next Annual Meeting will take place in Valencia, 3-6 July 2013. Our conferences cover sessions on cell, plant and animal biology , as well as a series of session on education and careers. Our conferences attract up to 1000 delegates from around the world. To find out more about our Valencia meeting and to see a list of sessions, click here.

Biology Students benefit of up to 80% discount on registration fees to our conference, and Full Members benefit of up to 50% discount on registration fees.

We also offer a multitude of other benefits, such as:

· Travel grants worth up to £500 (for students and early career scientist members only)

· Career advice and workshops

· Reduced subscriptions to our journals

· Networking opportunities (at our conferences; via the SEB members’ area; through our social media)

· Chance to present your research as a talk or poster at our conferences

• Recognition awards and cash prizes for presentations given at our conferences.
• Free colour printing in our Journals
• Financial support for organising satellite meetings

To find out more about us please visit our website www.sebiology.org . You can also get in touch with the SEB Membership Manager, Sabina Baba, on s.baba@sebiology.org for any questions you may have.

I do hope you will consider joining The SEB community of biologists and we look forward to hearing from you!

The below links to our membership benefits e-booklet, and membership application form.

· Membership benefits e-booklet: http://www.sebiology.org/membership/benefits-pdf/

· Membership form: http://goo.gl/iW3yV

 

With best wishes,

Ten simple rules for ...

a series of open access papers maybe of interest, I got it quite a while ago, read it and find it useful. You can refer to the paper below and references there in.

http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030213

Topics of interest are such as:-

Bourne PE (2005) Ten simple rules for getting published. PLoS Comp Biol 1: e57. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010057.

Bourne PE, Chalupa LM (2006) Ten simple rules for getting grants. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e12. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020012.

Bourne PE, Korngreen A (2006) Ten simple rules for reviewers. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e110. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020110.

Bourne PE, Friedberg I (2006) Ten simple rules for selecting a postdoctoral position. PLoS Comp Biol 2: e121. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020121.

Vicens Q, Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for a successful collaboration. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e44. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030044.

Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e77. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077.

Erren TC, Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for a good poster presentation. PLoS Comp Biol 3: e102. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102.

good luck, happy sunday

100 important questions in plant science research

I have opportunity to read a recent publication in the New Phytologist entitled "One hundred important questions facing plant science research", it is an open access paper (you can download freely from Internet without subscription) available at:

One hundred important questions facing plant science research - Grierson - 2011 - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library: http://bit.ly/o7VC1Z

These questions are grouped into 5 categories: society, environment & adaptation, species interaction, understanding & utilizing plant cells and diversity.

From my opinion, this is a well written thought provoking paper. It addressed questions and challenges facing in plant science research, and the needs to incorporate multi disciplinary approach. There is no rocket science in this paper, no extensive used of jargon, it's readable and comprehensible to anyone who has completed pre-u biology, a-level or stpm degree.

In oriental culture, students or parents tend do choose / encourage to pursue field which are regarded as high prospect like law, medicine, accountancy,pharmacy etc. Hopefully this paper will increase our awareness on the significance of plant science research and enhance our appreciation to plants. Also, hope this paper can encourage more people to involve in plant science research (according to my previous master supervisor, only 10% bioscience researchers are involved in plant science research!)

The following questions are my favorite pick:

How do we ensure that society appreciates the full importance of plants?

How can we attract the best young minds to plant science so that they can address Grand Challenges facing humanity such as climate change, food security, and fossil fuel replacement?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?
Which plants have the greatest potential for use as biofuels with the least effects on biodiversity, carbon footprints and food security?

How can we use plant science to prevent mal-nutrition?

How can we use knowledge of plants and their properties to improve human health?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?

What are the best ways to control invasive species including plants, pests and pathogens?

Can we increase crop productivity without harm-ing biodiversity?

 

Hope you enjoy reading this paper;)

Syst.Bio workshop

Attended CPIB Summer School: Mathematical Modelling for Biologists at Nottingham university recently. The Programme is as follows:-


Day 1: Data, Networks and Models
Day 2: Multi-variable models
Day 3: Parameter estimation and sensitivity; Stochastic models
Day 4: Multicellular modelling

More info please visit their website at

http://www.cpib.ac.uk/events/cpib-summer-school/

Definitely, this is a good introductory course for biology background researchers who want to discover or would like to expose to syst bio related research.

Also, I take this opportunity to explore the campuse.

random thought-my works

my works:

It’s just like the endless pit. The more I find out out, the deeper hole i dig for myself :( What a deep s**t..

 

As a lone striker, and the sole person working in my field, it’s going to be hard and challenging. Often, many obstacles arise, most people can’t help, in the end I am the one to think and come out with the strategies. I am tired and helpless. Just suffered another setback: after two years hard work and troubleshooting, only learnt that the incompatible system employed led to the failure of my works. As a pioneer in this “enigma enzyme”, I have no choice but treat this as a lesson, and keep trying. 

 

No doubt, proactive and stay positive keep me soldier on. I’m grateful to get advice from expert in Beijing Genome Institute and encouragement from my former post-doc in Sydney. I don’t expect to get any publication from the thesis at this moment or major findings to be presented in big conference. I will try my best, get things done, submit dissertation and leave no regret.

#PhD workshop- Writing your thesis

Attended a good workshop recently, one of the effective researcher development programmes (EDRP) offered by the university.

A 3 hour workshop is like a condense form of all PhD self-help books I have read. For books list, you can refer to a well written post by my friend at: Lulu's World - Between Ignorance and Enlightenment: Book list for PhD and PhD-to-be - http://ow.ly/4UON0

Here, I would like to share few insightful quotes from the facilitators:

"As a PhD student,you enjoy a good degree of autonomy,therefore you have to responsible to your thesis writing up& submission&not your PI"

"2 competitors,same field with impressive CV, employers prefer the one completed PhD by deadline than the one extended his/her degree."

"Competition is fierce,get ur thesis done,back to normal life,get a job&establish career,start to earn $. It's jz a beginning"

"a PhD thesis'll not change the world immediately,instead it's building up a picture like jigsaw puzzle."

The value/future of #PhD

This topic catch my attention as it’s featured in the cover page of the recent Nature magazine (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7343/index.html).

The following issues of the topic above maybe of interest:-

Education: The PhD factory : Nature News -  http://ow.ly/4Kkae

Education: Rethinking PhDs : Nature News -  http://ow.ly/4Kkkk

Seven ages of the PhD : Nature : Nature Publishing Group -http://ow.ly/4Kkl9

Reform the PhD system or close it down : Nature News - http://ow.ly/4Kkmg

What is a PhD really worth? : Nature -  http://ow.ly/4Kknl

Fix the PhD : Nature : Nature Publishing Group -  http://ow.ly/4KknH

Books about PhD research

Currently I’m reading/ just finished reading the following books  about doctoral research. You can get it from Amazon book store. Also, thanks lulu ma for the book sharing :). Image of book covers are courtesy of Amazon UK website (http://www.amazon.co.uk)

 

A good review on this book from the following blog post:-

http://phdtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/unwritten-rules-of-phd-research-gordon.html?spref=tw

 

This book provides guidance on choosing a suitable PhD/Post-Doc project, the reality of scientific research & don’t romanticize your career. How to get the best out of your project within the time period. Learn to say no, don’t please your supervisor blindly & remember in the end of your project, you’re the one responsible for your works.

 

A very good beginner guide for new PhD students or people who wish to explore more info about what research degree is. A dummy guide on how to make use of your PhD, some survival skills, how to make a good presentation,& other source alike. The nature of academia and industrial career, etc.

Aspirations, Expectations and Reality - Postgraduate Toolbox

Thought provoking blogpost from postgraduatetoolbox, as below:-



Aspirations, Expectations and Reality - Postgraduate Toolbox

Valentine day. Dedicate “my love” to “them”.. :)

 

Interesting comic from http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1420

Likewise my love to Arabidopsis & Thesis: 1) I think about you all the time. 2) I see you in my dreams 3) I sing your praises far & wide 4) I write odes to you no one will ever read 5) I weep at your absence 6) I count the months/years until you're mine 7) I treasure/water you all the time. :)

source: PHD Comics: How do I love you? -  http://ow.ly/3Vqf3

Graduate School: to go or not to go?

A debatable article by the Economist leads to various arguments, as follows:-

Doctoral degrees: The disposable academic | The Economist -  http://ow.ly/3IJZN

In accordance to this, there are other articles may be of interest, such as:-

100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School - http://ow.ly/3KOMk

Career Advice: We Ignore 'The Economist' - Inside Higher Ed -  http://ow.ly/3KONJ 

Of course, some arguments don’t really apply to subjects like science, technology & math.

Anyway, read the article with open minded. No right or wrong in this issue, follow your will.

Food security: The Future of Food and Farming

With reference to the information from the respective website:

This report provide an overview of the evidence and discuss the challenges and choices for policy makers and others whose interests relate to all aspects of the global food system.

This report is intended for:
Policy makers and a wide range of professionals and researchers whose interests relate to all aspects
of the global food system: including governance at all scales, food production and processing, the
supply chain, and also consumer attitudes and demand. It is also relevant to policy makers and others
with an interest in areas that interact with the food system, for example: climate change mitigation,
energy and water competition, and land use.

Source:
Foresight. The Future of Food and Farming (2011)
Final Project Report.
The Government Office for Science, London.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/current-projects/global-food-and-farming-futures/reports-and-publications

I have downloaded a copy to Kindle, would be nice to read what are the strategies proposed to overcome the food security issue in the future.

Other info:
Genetically modified crops are the key to human survival, says UK's chief scientist | Environment | The Observer - http://ow.ly/3KaBg

Zheng Lab - Bad Project (Lady Gaga parody)

Came across this on FB. Interesting, worth watching. Hope I won't be caught in bad project.. haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4L4M8m4d0

Why Study Plants?

Impressed with the launch of “Teaching Tools in Plant Biology” in one of the high-impact Plant Biology’s journals- The Plant Cell.

 

I believe most of my friends know that I am a postgraduate student in Plant Science. The first article- Why Study Plants? clearly illustrate my intention & passion to carry out studies in this area.

 

This article is written for general public, easily understandable without the excessive used of scientific jargon. You can download the article &/ power point presentation at (YouTube video is available as well):

 

http://www.plantcell.org/teachingtools/TTPB1.dtl

 

Hope you enjoy reading this interesting article. Cheers