life long learning, coursera.org

Begin to learn new knowledge beyond my technical skills, coursera offers many free and useful short courses. It's not easy though, given that you need to have commitment to do home work, spend time to attend video lecture etc.

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? 

How #Malaysian Students can vote from overseas

The coming election is likely to fall in March, you still have chance to register as voter/ convert to become absent voter. Remember, every vote counts, use your ballot to shoot down those incompetent reps.

For more info, please refer to the following link

http://www.ukeconline.com/how-students-can-vote-from-overseas/

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;)

Is the glass half empty or half full?

e-profile

I have set up a e-profile with template provided by the university.

http://eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/choonlim/

 

So why bother with this? Apart from working hard in the lab, we have to promote ourselves, our research & networking. A good info about the benefits of having one is available in the university webpage:-

http://eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/index.php

 

Another good piece of info:-

HOW TO: Set Up an Online Resume -  http://ow.ly/55GRg

 

You can reach me on Linkedin at:-

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/choon-kiat-lim/34/68b/ba8

#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

Dynamic views for blogs on blogspot.

Read the latest blog post from blogger: http://goo.gl/oExpn

You can change different view of your blog simply by adding “/view” to your blog url. For example my blog url is :

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/

I can change blog view by typing the following url:-

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/view

You have five options to choose from:-

1) Sidebar


2) Flip card


3) Mosaic


4) Snapshot


5) Timeslide

SHARED POST: Semporna area on island of Borneo, Malaysia, may have richest marine biodiversity in the world

 

Delighted to read the following news from sciencedaily.Proper conservation effort is needed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110223092400.htm#

Summary:ScienceDaily (2011-02-23) -- Semporna may have the world's highest marine biodiversity. A recent expedition yielded a record number of 43 species of mushroom corals. Furthermore, some new species were discovered, among which at least two shrimps and possibly a number of gall crabs. The health of the reefs was judged to be relatively poor: 36 percent of transects had fair, another 36 percent had poor live coral cover.

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

Applications for London 2012 Olympic Games tickets

FYI:

Received official email regarding the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The message read:

“Applications for London 2012 Olympic Games tickets will open on Tuesday 15 March 2011 and will remain open for a period of six weeks, closing at 11.59pm on Tuesday 26 April 2011. Remember, tickets will not be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This means there is no advantage to submitting your application on the first day.”

For info visit the website at :
http://www.london2012.com/

or follow the updates on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/#!/London2012

Good bye 2010, Hello 2011

Before we welcome to arrival of year 2011, let me share some most-views blog posts of 2010 to fellow readers. The posts are as follows (blog posts are not arranged in rank order):-

2010 Year End Review- (in Mandarin)

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-year-end-review-in-mandarin.html

Associate status of the Higher Education Academy

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/2010/07/associate-status-of-higher-education.html

APPEAL FOR PTPTN REPAYMENT EXEMPTION (borrowers who graduated with First Class Honours)

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/2010/12/appeal-for-ptptn-repayment-exemption.html

trip to Pollock Country Park

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/2009/10/trip-to-pollock-country-park.html

CV/ Resume

http://limchoonkiat-ck.blogspot.com/p/cv-resume.html

新闻稿

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-post_25.html

基因改造蚊子：一个有希望但不可马虎/必须严格监管的计划

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-post.html

期待

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_9022.html

聆听

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_28.html

英国高等教育学院专业资格

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_18.html

不要高楼

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_23.html

教育不该只惠及精英分子

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_27.html

优质教育是否还存在呢

http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_19.html

2010 Year End Review- (in Mandarin)

Apologies, time constraint, not able to write it in another language, feel free to use Google translator, I believe it is working well. Perhaps I may post the English version later time..cheers..

Wishing you Merry Xmas & a Happy New Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010年平淡的一年，心情没太大起伏。倒是花了些时间进行学术以外的阅读，以及更加关注国内时事动态。

最近购买了一本金读版（kindle）的《蓝海策略》书籍。得到不少启发（还在阅读中，每年再跟大家分享吧）。但我可以领悟到的一点就是科研也少不了蓝海策略。创新突破，思维上的改变，如何变通，避免在“红海中厮杀”都可应用在科研上。

我的博士研究专注于某酶（enzyme）在植物中的功能。至今，我们从生物信息的数据库得知共有3个基因（genes）表达和制造此酶。由于至今没人知此酶的作用，加上没有先前实验记录或成果可参考。因此对我来说，我的博士研究是很有趣，充满挑战（hmm,没有博士研究是不挑战的。。哈哈，除了那些冒牌的之外）。

在跟导师与同事讨论当儿，大家都猜测此酶功能主要于对抗环境压力（如：干旱，病毒侵袭等），也因此我就有了先入为主的心态，认定此酶的功能必定如此，非得到这方面数据不可。其中一个了解此酶的功能的方式就是得到突变体（mutant).由于突变体没有制造此酶的基因，因此当我们那突变体植物跟原生体（wild type)比较,那么我们便可推测其功能。

就这样，读了一年博，重复又重复的实验，我都的不到满意的结果。因为突变体和原生体没显示出明显的差异。当时，唯一欣慰的是做了9个月的实验，才发觉所用的4个突变体中有两个是“假的”-（就是它的基因没受到影响，因此跟原生体没分别）

当时是8月份，也没想太多，打算回国度假充电后在回来打拼。回来了，充电了。还是，被不理想数据弄的失望了。泄气的我停止了两个星期的实验。停下来，让我好好沉淀，思考问题出现在哪儿。

这两个星期我少了对实验的牵挂，没去理会社交网络的点滴、动态更新。就只进行学术和非学术阅读，煮些丰富的菜肴，尽量让自己放松。这段时间，让我再次“开窍”。

发觉到这一年来，在进行实验时我的主观性太强。在还没证实该酶的作用，我不该断定它的功能必定是抗压。我当时也不够严谨，因为得不到数据而什么实验都尝试去做，而且做得不精。倒头来，两头不到岸。就如，《蓝海策略》所提，我应该突破框架，从另一个角度探讨问题，不要闭塞。还有，才还没进行深入实验时，要好好了解你的课题，多看看相关的文献，细心的设计实验，还有别忘了获得充分休息。

两个星期后，我再来进行新的实验。除了从其他方面探讨此酶的功能（如其对成长的功能、荷尔蒙的反应等），也在目前进行的抗压实验进行改良。用跟严谨的方式去探讨问题，多加几个quality control指标，等。把实验的方向缩小-“求专不求多”。设立一个清单和时间表以鉴定所有需要好好掌握的技术，以及该向那位专家学习。也把，之前的“杂念”放一旁，不太重要、费时、费力的实验留到稍后在做。

收集和分析数据后，获得不少有趣数据，之前毫无突破的抗压实验也开始有头绪了。上星期跟导师进行了2小时的年终汇报，他对进展感到满意。我们也开始拟定计划如何从这些有趣的数据进行更深入的专研。以彻底了解此酶在有关方面的功能，这也少不了要发表文献的考量。

我的表达能力不太好，但是从以上的实验心得中想要表达的信息是：-

不要轻易被挫折打败，船到桥头自然直。别把自己局限在框架中，自己跟自己的影子过不去。别太闭塞。要伸缩，看开。冷静分析问题。有些时候，主观性别太强，尝试学习接受与学会放开。要学会突围，开创新机会。也与大家一同分享奶茶在我推特（twitter)的留言：“谨慎认真纪律，通常都是成功人士的基石”

hmm,对了。英国政府将会收回留学生毕业后可留在英国工作两年的准证。虽然不了解这会对博士研究生带来什么层次的影响。但，在新的一年，我会重新看回之前拟定过的后备计划。以及（如有必要）为2009-2014五年计划进行修改。××铺后路很重要，因为你永远不知下一起突发事件。

家人与亲情永远是我最重要的一环，每个星期跟他们联系是少不了，他们是我的推动力。

近期报章评论提到“知识分子去了哪里？”。我答：“哈喽，我在这里”。哈哈，身为一分子，在新的一年我会继续在知识经济、科研和教育课题提出看法。明年的第一篇博文将会是关于人才计划（talent plan）。

至于我的明年计划。。。。。算了吧，抱歉。。我不按牌理出牌的性格，我无意公开。认识我的亲友都知我是walk the talk 的人, 而不是talk the cock 的家伙。规划很重要，执行的意愿更加不可少，很多人有不少计划，但最后不了了之，沦为豪言而已。我相信缺乏纪律，不灵活变通是当中的原因。规划这回是不是与生俱来的，它是慢慢积累的。当你先拟定一个小计划/目标，成功实现后。这就会激励你在拟定较大（但实际）的计划更得心应手。急不来的，慢慢学习。计划/目标必须是SMART: SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELIABLE, TIMELY

我已有一系列规划，适当时候会在社交网站在慢慢跟大家分享，交流交流。

最后预祝大家圣诞与新年快乐。

你也许有兴趣阅读过去两年的回顾：

2009年：http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-2010.html

2008年 ：http://limchoonkiat.blogspot.com/2008/12/20082009.html

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

 

Congratulation to WenNi & Ramoz (version1).wmv

Congratz to the couple, and this is the greeting from fellow UTAR biotech coursemate :)

Register to vote. Do it Now!

I refer to the blogpost on Niamah blog.

If the 13th General Elections are going to be called for March 2011
then the last day to register as a voter is
December 15, 2010

There isn't much time. Register to vote now!

You can register to vote at any Malaysian

post-office. Nation-wide. 

Do it soon. Before December 15, 2010.

If you’re unhappy with the current situation, use your ballot as the bullet to “shoot” down the incompetence people representatives.  

Remember, every little help, everyone plays a role here. We have to be proactive, initiative, responsive &creative on nation issues, instead sitting there waiting for solution.

Once again, I would like to urge you:

Do it now! Register to Vote! Action is Power!

review on #Kindle 3

I got kindle in Sept 2010. It’s a good reading device, and I would rate it 8/10. More info about the product can visit the following page: http://amzn.to/cHj9x8

I like the e-ink technology offered by this device, it makes no difference as in reading paper document. With 4 gb storage, we can carry many documents in this handy device. Apart from carrying whole stack of documents, we are reducing papers use as well by promoting e-book reading.

Unlike LED device, we able to read in bright sunlight with no glare, and with paper-like screen Kindle also offers better contrast.

As claimed by Amazon, it has a long battery life (a single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off). I have charges three times from September until now, occasionally with wifi on.



However, I have few comments on this device, as follows:-

Personalised screen saver-Kindle comes with pre-set screen saver, but it would be great if we can set the jpeg image as screen saver.

Note pad- Although there’s a note taking feature on book you  read, but it would be useful if a stand alone (just like dictionary) notepad is available. (just in case we can write down something when paper is not available)

Support for power point

Multiple documents delete-Right now It’s inconvenient when we want to delete few documents at a time. Instead, we have to delete one by one.

Poor document conversion, i.e. html to kindle format (occasionally)- as display in  the picture below, poor text display i.e. “productivit y” instead of “productivity”




Dynamic 5-way controller. As in the picture below, (with Kindle’s top to down menu clicking) I have to press “down” key 6 times to “delete this document”

Why don’t Kindle allows us to press “up” key one time, and it will scroll to “delete this document”. (** less no. of clicks = save more time )
 

Kindle didn’t display the Chinese character of file name properly  




Better PDF viewing capabilities- we can’t view the document properly, i.e. zoom in 200% (as in the picture below, red circle part), if zoom out, to 150%, we can’t view the document clearly, the text is too small for me (I tried with landscape mode as well). If there is flexible zoom in/out scale, then we can view PDF in comfortable way.



A plus point is software update available for Kindle,  I’m looking forward to the improved version of Kindle software. Overall, I am happy with this device, I will not hesitate to recommend this gadget to others.

Menu for 2010 Christmas party

Menu for 2010 Christmas party, thinking which one to take for the 3 courses, feel free to give your feedback :)