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;)

#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

Green economy

A series of interesting publication on the website@ http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/

http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/AdvisoryServices/tabid/4603/Default.aspx
hmm, interesting didn’t see any spots on our map :). I think no harm for us to engage professional body for advices how to benefit from green economy and at the same time ensure sustainable natural resources.

 
A worth reading article as follow:

Nuclear Malaysia: Red flag in a greening global economy « ALIRAN - http://ow.ly/41cgv

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

 

SAY NO TO MEGA TOWER!!!

If not mistaken, Malaysia GDP is about $200 billion, and in 2011 Malaysian Budget RM411 Million (approx. $133.35/ $0.13billion) allocated for R&D. This means only 0.065% of the country GDP will be spent on R&D, a... key for knowledge economy.
FYI: Israel, Sweden, Korea, Finland and Japan all spending above 3%, and... Iceland, the USA, Singapore, Denmark, Germany and Austria all spending above 2.5%, UK about 1.8%.

Many coutries are increasing their investment in science, as there's a huge potential there. The success of science, knowledge development is important for future economic growth and this is a factor to attract foreign investor in high-skilled area as well.

Say NO/TAK NAK to mega tower, we want 5 billion MYR on knowledge economy development

Please show your support by joining the facebook page at

Facebook-1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower http://ow.ly/2XXX6

It’s time to exert people power.

GM mosquitoes- some random thoughts

I referred to the recent news published in the Star online regarding the Field testing approved for GM mosquitoes - http://ow.ly/2St3N

In the news, there are few key words that draw my attention, such as

National Biosafety Board, field testing, genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes, Cabinet approval, Natural Resources and Environment Ministry

This is a breakthrough technology and I learnt that (if not mistaken) it’s a collaboration between IMR, Malaysia and Oxford based company. Of course, I’m looking forward for the outcome of this  exciting study.
However there are several concerns we should look into it:-

1) More information  (E.g. underlying safety issue, ecological impact, public opinion, etc) about this GM mosquitoes should be available to the public. I knew this effort one year ago, but other people may not know about this.

2) In research, every approach will have its pros and cons. We would like to know who are the panel members of the National Biosafety Board? What are their expertise? In this case, a biosafety board should be comprised of experts in genetic, molecular biology, ecology, environmental sciece, ethical science, etc. For public interest, we should keep inform with any side impacts of GM materials

3) Field study. Is it takes place in housing area, forest, confined region etc? How long it takes? Why these places were selected (Bentong, Pahang, and Alor Gajah, Malacca,)? Just a note that area of studies may affect the result, due to various factors e.g. weather, moisture, or amount of rainwater (precipitation rate). etc

4)GM tech. What approach was employed? What effects to insect, or “mosquitoes-eating animal” should they feed on this GM mosquitoes?

5)Ecosystem: as mentioned earlier, what if other insects/ mosquitoes eating animal feed on them? Since we are not sure that the larvae produced are 100% eradicated, so what will happen if the larvae alive, will the offspring become a new species of mosquitoes? When the field study carry out, ecological assessment should be carry out, e.g. what happen to the population in the area of study.

6) Cabinet approval: Wondering is there any cabinet member/ minister have knowledge of GM. This is a big decision, the cabinet should also refer to opinions from scientific community / public locally & internationally.

7) The study itself. No matter positive or negative feedbacks.  A good finding should be opened for discussion, ready to be challenged by expert or public. Just like the GM crops issues in China and UK, there were good discussion involved. These discussions will lead to better before the study begin.

I don’t play down the government effort in tackling the dengue fever, but proper control on GM materials is crucial. Also, I hope there will be more discussion involved in this issue. The government should also increase public awareness on the GM issue as well.  

There are few papers from the nature about mosquitoes that are worth reading (paiseh, I haven’t read through the papers):-

Mosquitoes: schemes to render them extinct are impracticable : Nature -  http://ow.ly/2Sv1D

Mosquitoes: retain an ex situ population for ecological insurance : Nature - http://ow.ly/2Sv2j

Mosquitoes: just how much biodiversity does humanity need? : Nature -  http://ow.ly/2Sv36

Mosquitoes: first evaluate impacts of eradicating them : Nature -   http://ow.ly/2Sv3y

The Cartagena Protocol and genetically modified mosquitoes : Nature Biotechnology -   http://ow.ly/2Sv3Z

The Scientific Century Report

I came across the scientific century report published by the Royal Society, The advisory group of the report is comprised of Nobel Laureates and former ministers.

The report provides suggestions to develop science as a key field for the UK’s economic growth. Six recommendations are proposed:

1. Put science and innovation at the heart if a strategy for long-term economic growth;
2. Prioritise investment in excellent people;
3. Strengthen Government’s use of science;
4. Reinforce the UK’s position as a hub for global science and innovation;
5. Better align science and innovation with global challenges;
6. Revitalise science and mathematics education.

You can download the report (76 pages) from the website--http://royalsociety.org/The-scientific-century/

I’m reading the report these days, hope to gain some insights then.

cheers

The Penang Science Council & the science policy

I am delighted with the effort of the PR-led Penang state government in establishing the Penang Science Council (http://www.psc.org.my/).

I hope this effort will reduce the incident of brain drain that getting worst in our country these days
We have rich resources and talented graduates which should provide strong foundation to us. Unfortunately, we don’t have a sustainable and viable policies, plans to strengthen our advantages. As a result, our science graduates don’t have wider career prospect in the country, this causes them to look for better opportunity in other countries.

I remembered we used to have a very great plan in the National Biotechnology Policies with key research areas to be involved, strategic research assigned to the country’s elite institutions and each state had been allocated with the key development based on their strengths (availability of natural resources). The ambitious projects had attracted numerous students to pursue studies in biosciences, and today let’s us review what are the career outcome these graduates? I believe < 50% are involved in bio-related jobs. The major factor is lack of career opportunities, and of course last but not least lack of interest in this field by our graduates. However, we can't deny the fact that many graduates still wish to pursue career in science. Also, bear in mind that, availability of skilled workers are essential to the bioscience development despite of the natural resources we have.

From my point of view, several factors are essential to make the science policy success in the country:-

1) Sustainable and viable policy, and a S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goal. Also, we need to form a panel consists of politician, academician, NGOs, public to oversee the policy in order to ensure KPI (Key Performance Indicator) achieved. Recruit most qualified and capable human resources to run the policy with less political intervene. We should promote collaboration and knowledge transfer between local and international renown institutes.

2) World class education for Malaysian. Improve standard and quality of the higher education institutions in the quality, by practicing meritocracy. We should recruit top scholars and home talents come to our country, and prepare a good platform for them to exhibit their skills. I believe RRR (Recruit, Retain and Reward) are keys to attract world class expert to serve in the country!

3) Reform science policy: We need to establish sustained funding systems for scientific research in order to encourage researchers to carry out their studies. Foster innovations and promote technology-based ventures from local entrepreneurs by implementing stimulus plan (increase government funding, loan etc) and tax-relief. Greater government funding for investment in key research areas such as phytochemistry, neutralceutical research.  

Lastly, the most critical success factor is we need to have a good government with likely-minded policy makers. I wonder since the last general election until now is there any MPs question on the future of R&D in the country. To the best of my knowledge, I afraid no!

Therefore I would like to ask is there any ministers/deputy ministers/ MPs debate on national science policy? Don’t you think development on science& knowledge workers are important? What’s the status of Biovalley, etc. To what extent you are going to train local skill workers, and reduce the issue of brain drain to other countries? How much the budget is to be allocated to R&D?

I’m confident and strongly believe that the Penang Science Council is able to deliver a strategic plan that make us stand out of the crowd, to be the key science hub in SEA or Asia.

All the best! As a young researcher and anak Malaysia, I am ready to contribute and share my views. Cheers

Food Security—series of interesting papers

 

Excerpt of my report:-

Abiotic stresses such as extreme temperature, drought and salinity as well as biotic stress like pathogen infections significantly affect growth and reproduction of plants. This environmental constraint is one of the major factors account for low productivity and quality in corps and has worsened food security issue faced today. For instance, developing countries in which more than 800 million people are short of food supply and 1.3 billion individuals living less than USD 1 a day. Furthermore, an estimated human population rise from 6.1 billion to 9.3 billion in year 2050 indicates that an additional 50% of food production is required in order to maintain food supply (Flowers, 2004). Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants and developing stress tolerant crops are essential to overcome a potential food crisis.

Flowers,T.J. (2004) Improving crop salt tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany 55:307-319

More articles can refer to the website/ references therein:-

Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People

H. Charles J. Godfray, John R. Beddington, Ian R. Crute, Lawrence Haddad, David Lawrence, James F. Muir, Jules Pretty, Sherman Robinson, Sandy M. Thomas, and Camilla Toulmin (12 February 2010)
Science 327 (5967), 812. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1185383]

'10 Worst Jobs in Science' by 'Popular Science'

Blimey! This is funny.

The worst jobs are:-

Armpit detective

Feces piper

Sneeze modeler

Dung curator

Doomsday fact-checker

Oceanic-snot diver

Tissue reaper

Bad-dance observer

Bean counter

Whale slasher

More info (i.e. detail description), click the link provided below.

Source:

'Popular Science' publishes '10 Worst Jobs in Science' list - USATODAY.com - http://ow.ly/1v7vH

Plant Journal-Volume 61 Issue 6 (March 2010)

SPECIAL ISSUE Arabidopsis: A rich harvest 10 years after completion of the genome sequence.

Open access papers that maybe of interest.

available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118488398/home

Another hectic and challenging day awaiting

I came across many questions by friends, juniors, prospective postgraduates regarding life as a researcher (I think consultation is my sub-career, LOL). 

First of all, I want to stress that you can’t do a PhD for the sake of ‘Dr’ title. Doing research is challenging and hard, you will be facing many obstacles throughout your studies. This is especially true when you are doing a lab-based doctorate.

Taken me as an example, I not solely doing my own research. In fact, I am working with other colleagues in other projects too. Furthermore, teaching activities, annual progress report, professional/soft skills development etc are extra commitments which I have to bear with.

For a while, I don’t have such a hectic day. Of course this is not my typical daily routine, and don’t worry you are still a normal human being to enjoy your life, to have fun, etc apart from your research. Self-discipline is a must in pursuing research career.

In this hectic day:-

I woke up @ 4am, performed chlorophyll fluorescence analysis until 7am. Breakfast and back uni. Reached uni@ 830am, checking test questions I set previously.

Then 10am, I had a presentation to show my research progress, followed by school’s buffet lunch. Attended a talk by prominent researcher in plant pathology @ 1pm.

From 2pm onwards, I had a series of workshops on new skills development and Systems Biology PhD student discussion. This finished at 6pm, and then we can off to pub.

However, I went to another meeting and discussed about organisation of the coming 3rd year undergrad student course assessment test.

Such a bloody hectic day is not happen every day, but it’s happens very frequently. I enjoy every single moment of this challenging life. Thinking of people in 3rd world/ under-developed countries who are under severe famine situation, I shouldn’t waste time.

However, no matter you are, remember play hard, work hard, play smart, work smart.

That’s why I try to post tweets everyday, to keep my friends, families, secret admirers, followers, & possibly rivals (if there is any, haha) update on latest happenings.

Feel free to talk with me, if you have any problems with your research, life, etc, queries on career planning, evil ideas etc. I am happy to be your audience.

Cheers!

Spring has sprung, I simply like this lovely weather.

Top 20 institutions in molecular biology and genetics

Data provided by Thomson Reuters from its Essential Science Indicators database, January 1999-October 2009

 

source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410342&c=1