Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, dear readers!

I hope you all can take some rest, let go of your research, and recharge your batteries. My plans include staying 4 days in the Ardennes in the beautiful South of Belgium.

The regular posts will resume after New Year.

I have tons of plans for PhD Talk in 2013, including a few new series, and 2013 will hopefully be my last year in graduate school, after which I plan to write some general reflecting posts on the whole PhD process, as well as share more of my research in plain English!

The Shires and the Thoroughbreds of Academia

Flickr Image under CC by audi_insperation

For the holidays, I hope you will enjoy some lighter reading.

Recently I came to realize that there are two archetypal workhorses in academia: the shires and the thoroughbreds.

Let's look at their characteristics:

The Shire

Known for its strength, constitution, and endurance, the Shire horse is known as an English ‘Great Horse’ and is one of the purest breeds native to the country.

Temperament: Patient; Calm; Docile; Easy-going; Gentle; Hard working.

The Thoroughbred

Thoroughbreds are considered one of the best racing breeds in the world. The breed is well known for its speed, agility, endurance and hotblooded nature.

Temperament: Courageous, alert, spirited, excitable, fast, athletic.

Does that sound familiar to you? Do you consider yourself a shire or a thoroughbred?

Smart Materials, Made in Delft

 We’ve introduced Erik Schlangen as Professor “Experimental Micromechanics”. But what does that really mean, and where does he wants the research of his group to result in? In his own words: he wants their inventions to show up when you Google for “future materials”.


Now let’s consider for example concrete. With very simple and archaic tests, such as the slump test and the compressive test, engineers derive the properties to build our skyscrapers and bridges.



 
Nowadays, the requirements for concrete are much more complicated though. We can add steel fibers for better performance, reduce the amount of cement for a greener concrete and add retarders and superplastifiers to increase the workability. In the end, we have much more ingredients than the original sand, cement, stones with some water to make it fluid. So how representative are the very basic experiments that we use to derive the properties? Erik and his team aim at finding a way to explain how the material fails.

To explain how complex materials such as the improved concrete fail, better measurement techniques and testing machines are necessary, as well as detailed material models to support these tests. But these techniques and models not only allow the researchers to better understand existing materials – they help them to go one step further and develop better materials.

Very flexible materials, green concrete containing wood fibers, and materials that can heal themselves show us a way into the future, in which we tailor our materials to fit our requirements “a la carte”. Concrete that closes its cracks by using bacteria, and asphalt with steelwool fibers have already been invented by Erik and his colleagues, and now they are studying, amongst others, the fracture properties of graphite as used for the cores in nuclear reactors, and the properties on the interface between the stones and the cement in concrete, two different parts which can come apart.

And what will the future bring? Future materials in Google? One thing is for sure: Erik’s cheerful approach to smart materials reminds us of the eager explorations of our younger selves. Never grow up…

You can view Erik’s presentation at Civil Engineering on his professorship at Collegerama

This post originally appeared on the TEDx Delft website.

Affiliate Links and Sponsorship Opportunities

Some time ago, I stated clearly why I am blogging and that I don't intend to make any money from this. However, you might have noticed the Amazon recommendations in the side bar that have shown up recently, and the transitions of the Book Reviews with a random googled image to an image with an Amazon link.

As you might have understood, I started to use affiliate links to Amazon products. More precisely, if you purchase a book based on my recommendation, I receive a 4% commission on it, that I can use as Amazon store credit to buy me more books.

I'm still reviewing books independently, I  won't gush over something that I don't like just to talk people into buying it - but if you find the reviews helpful, you are welcome to support the website in this way.

Also, in order to cover the costs of a few features that I would like to build into the site, I'm willing to accept sponsorships from institutions that share my ideas on education and research.

Academic Lessons from The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell writes in Outliers: The Story of Success on what it takes to be successful in life and work, and he has some very interesting arguments that provide us valuable lessons on success in academia, or success in a PhD program.

The Roseto Mystery

In the introduction, we learn that inhabitants of the town Roseto live longer, healthier lives because they have such a closely-knit community. For a PhD project, it is important that you find your community of peers: your fellow students or an online community.

For a successful academic career, a good network in your field with fellow academicians and practitioners is important. You can build your network and visibility online and through conferences.

The 10,000-Hour Rule

What does it take to be a good professional? About 10,000 hours of practice, according to Gladwell. How does that translate to the PhD?

If you consider the average length of 3 to 4 years for a PhD course, you end up with on average 3,5 years of experience in research and writing.
At 65 hours per week, and 52 weeks per year, minus holidays and the time required to travel to conferences, an average student works about 65 hr/wk*(52 wk - 8 wk) per year.
The magic number of 10,000 hours then appears when you consider:  

3,5 yr * 65 hr/wk*(52 wk - 8 wk)= 10,000 hr

Does this calculation show us that you need 10,000 hours to master every skill in life?

I don't think so, just like Tim Ferriss thinks you don't need that much time to learn basketball technique. But to become a professional at something, for example, becoming a researcher, 10,000 hours in the apprenticeship time as a PhD Candidate seems feasible to me.

The Trouble with Geniuses

Another interesting aspect Gladwell discusses is the threshold level for intelligence. Success relates to your IQ, but only until a certain threshold.

You need to be smart enough for graduate studies, but once you go over the threshold IQ, there seems to be little difference between the smart kid and the slightly smarter kid.

What matters after the threshold are your other skills, and your savvy to negotiate and interact with others. Indeed, in academia, being smart is not enough - you need to learn your craft and your skills as well. 

The Three Lessons of Joe Flom

Joe Flom didn't take the typical path a lawyer in post-war New York followed, as the WASP lawyers in the large existing offices wouldn't hire the young Jewish graduate. Instead, he started working on different things.

If you are lucky enough to get hired by an institution with long academic standing, and be put on tenure track, you know what your road will look like.

But there are other options too, although less straight-forward. With my graduation in sight, and a lingering economic crisis worldwide, I might need to go with my axe into the woods and carve my own path.
 

Harlan, Kentucky

In rugged Appalachia, a "culture of honor" prevails, which -according to Gladwell- can still be found in the reactions of Southerners as compared to people from the Northern States.

If you move through the academic world and over the continents in pursuit of your academic career, you might find that cultural differences are very large. When you are new in a country, try to make friends with the locals.

When in doubt on how to handle situations (will someone be offended, is doing this polite or not, how do I bring up this issue?) ask your local trustee.
Even though I'm a Belgian in the Netherlands, I still sometimes need to ask a local if something is OK or not.

The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes

Along the same lines, if you move countries, try to find out if you are in a high-power distance or low-power distance community.

Understanding the cultural differences is essential in your path to academic success.

Rice Paddies and Math Tests

Hard work alone won't bring you success, but meaningful work with a close relation between work investment and resulting merit will help you move forward.
When it comes to research and problem-solving, an example of how Renee discovers that the slope of the y-axis is infinity shows the benefit of chewing through a problem until you really understand it.

Stretching your concentration and doing deep work are essential in moving forward in your field of expertise, and for meaningful publications.

Marita's Bargain

By sending children from poor low-income families to a very competitive school, the gap between these children and children from private schools becomes much smaller.

At my alma mater, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, engineering students have classes from 8am to 5pm daily, and are continuously stimulated to put great effort into their studies. The attitude I learned in Brussels has helped me through graduate school - I got used to start early and get studying, on a daily basis.

Gladwell's Outliers is a book I enjoyed reading very much, as it was on the Georgia Tech list of recommendations. In 3 days, I worked my way through it, and this book is written very well such that the act of reading felt relaxing, but at the same time I was learning and gathering new insights - great combination indeed!  

Disclaimer: The links to the book in this post are affiliate links: if you buy the book through my recommendation, I get a small percentage that I can spend to buy more books.
   

The Creative Process: Creativity Without Borders

Floris Visser postulates that scientists are artists – and his opinion hit a nerve for me. An opinion that also fits perfectly in my series about the Creative process.

Too often, we seem to draw a line between the professions and interests. However, when we take a step back, there are common grounds. Just like artists, scientists need to be very creative people in order to make discoveries and advance their field.

The very essence of science is as creative as art – but also the outcome and the observations in science can show an artistic beauty. You might think, for example, of beautiful repetitive patterns in nature, which can either inspire scientists and researchers to take a similar step (remember the bacteria in self-healing concrete that are inspired by the terraces of Pamukkale?) or can inspire artists to achieve, amongst others, the perfect proportions which we see repeated in nature.

You can improve your creativity by developing your creative habit. But today, I'm asking you to take this idea one step further. I'd like to invite you to share a link between art or nature and your profession or research topic in the comments section below. Please share, and inspire others!

This post is an adaptation of an earlier post for TEDx Delft

Can Blogging add an Additional Dimension to Academic Publishing?

This post continues the ideas on blogging to tackle publication bias, and blogging for all academics.

As USC Rossier reacted on Twitter by wondering if blogging could overtake peer-reviewed journals, an interesting discussion followed. I storified it for your interest!

Why Blogging is for Every Single Academic

In my vision of the future, blogging is as much a part of the academic world as peer-reviewed journal articles.

There are several reasons for blogging, and blogging as well as more online sharing, could tackle publication bias.

But at the same time, I notice a lot of reluctance when it comes to blogging. Two years ago at the PhD Event, the Online Networking and Social Media workshop ended up in a long list of complaints and reasons why to stay away from the Big Scary Interwebz. This year, the workshop I intended to give at the Network Day of Utrecht University had 0 interested persons.

So, scholars 2.0 should acknowledge the fears and doubts of their less-internet-oriented peers and address these fears more specifically.

I'm giving you my 2 cents here, hoping that I can spark some interest in doubting academics:

1. Privacy

Online identity protection and concerns with regard to privacy are a major concern. However, if you are active online, you really have more control over your online identity than when you try to fully stray away. In a way, if you try to avoid to have anything about you or your work online, you fully depend on others who might still distribute content that contains your name.

If privacy, or not publishing of your contact information, is your main concern, then you can think deeply in advance on how much of your data you want to provide when you write something. The key here is to always think twice when you fill out a form online and check if your data will not be shared with others.

2. Fear for writing something "stupid"

A fear I can fully relate to... In the past, I've deleted complete blogs (like the blog I kept on my MySpace), because I didn't like the contents anymore. I've also wondered if it can happen that I write something about my research, which then would venture out into the interwebz and lead a life of its own, grow teeth and come and bite my in the ankles.

However, if it turns out I wrote something that turns out to be discredited by other research, I'd be more than willing to discuss it here. Sharing knowledge leads to advancing the entire body of knowledge, and I prefer to write, and fail if necessary, than to keep my thoughts to myself.

3. Lack of time

We're all more than busy: research, education, administrative tasks, preparing a trip for a conference and some more activities all keep our schedules more than full. However, when you consider starting to write online as a blogger, you should reflect before you start. If you don't have the time to keep a blog alive, having your own website or blog might not be the way to go for you.

But that doesn't mean blogging wouldn't be suitable for you! There are many ways in which you can still contribute online, even though you don't have the time for your own page: you can guest blog, or your faculty or research group might start a blog in which all involved researchers can take turns and provide content when their schedule allows them.

4. Lack of ideas

Another commonly-heard grumble is "I don't have good ideas to write a post". You don't really need to sit with a coffee and cook up a Great Idea. There are many ways in which you can share your knowledge online. In this post, you can find a few ideas on which contents you can quickly turn into a post. I'd add to that, writing a post to discuss a conference you visited, to share a presentation you gave (slides and a brief summary), write an entry when you have a new publication and -specifically for PhD students- giving an update of your work every now and then.

How would you convince a fellow academician to take the plunge and write online?

A Wonderful World of Sensations

Wendy Lampen explains us in a very vivid language how she experiences the world. All sensations impact her brain and collide such that she has linked memories. She gives us an insight on what the world feels like when you have Asperger’s syndrome.

Her brain might function in a different way, but does that simply mean she is abnormal? Or could her different braintype actually add value to our world as well, by shining a light on the world from an angle so unexpected to us? And why is there a mindmap on the screen while she is talking?

The first step to understand how different braintypes can enrich our world, is to listen to an “abnormal” person’s view on reality. Today, Wendy invited us from the TEDxDelft stage to take a trip into her reality. She explains how she senses and makes sense of the world.

Following a good TEDxDelft tradition, she starts with a story from when she was a young child. She describes a trip to the beach where her family was playing cards. In her memory, the stale smell of the cards is predominant, and the texture of the sand. At another point in her childhood, she was rescued by her uncle from drowning. The last drops of water dripping from her face felt like long pink strands of gooey and sticky stuff. But when she explained this experience to her family, they laughed at her. And she noticed that more often people would laugh at her perception of the world – so she decided to keep quiet. After telling us about these childhood memories, her brain makes her relive these experiences – her muscles even tighten and her voice changes.

To give us an insight in how her brain works, Wendy uses the analogy of a sponge. Just like a sponge, her brain absorbs everything she senses, sees, smells, feels, hears – an overwhelming world by times. But when this “sponge” is full, she can’t absorb anything – nothing at all, not even a question someone might ask her. And then some time later, when the “sponge” has dried out a bit again, suddenly the echo of the question might ring in her mind again.

Another aspect of her reality is synesthesia: for her, the number four associates with a typical type of yellow that also makes her feel sick. In general, she sees music and tastes smells and sounds.
Then, she visually explains us how she scans the world: vertically and horizontally, but with blind spots such that instead of a globe she ends up with a doughnut.

You might by now think that her world is just that: overwhelming, too much, weird even? But then she smiles, and shows us how much playtime her brain also gives her: she translates the world into mathematical schemes, she sometimes redraws the images she has in her brain, she can focus for 8 hours on a ball of yarn to create a visual object and she has fun mindmapping her entire world as she lives the fragments of it.

Just like recent research in neuroscience has shown that psilocybin actually mutes the inherent “reducing valves” in the average human’s brain, Wendy showed us how there is actually much more going on than you can imagine.

This post originally appeared as a live blog for TEDx Delft.

Thesis Distance: Inner resistance

Mid November I finished the first draft of my thesis, printed it and handed a copy of it to my 2 supervisors. Shortly afterwards, I headed to Pittsburgh for holidays. I intended to take my thesis print with me, and proofread it in the beautiful library of Pittsburgh.

And then, I decided to take a step back.

I decided to take a Real Holiday and not to touch my thesis until returning.

I forced myself to create a distance between what I wrote and myself.

And to be honest, it was very hard. Here, I give you some insights in why I found it difficult to take a break (you'd think I'd be more than happy to relax after such a big effort, no?):

1. Tunnel vision

For many months, I have been planning my writing and have been focused on the thesis and the thesis alone. Finishing the thesis not only became my first priority, but also took over my entire mind. Realizing how much of tunnel vision I am experiencing is already one step towards returning to the world outside of the thesis again.

2. Stress

Admittedly, I am terrified by the idea of not graduating within the 4 years of my program. It creates a certain type of stress that makes me act like a hamster in a wheel: keep running keep running and keep busy to make sure it will all get done in time.

3. Perfectionism

I dislike the opening lines of my first chapter. I've wanted to change them around again recently, but I decided that instead I should ask the opinions of my supervisors. As a perfectionist, I want to keep on editing my text and polishing it and proofreading it. Again, taking a step aside and waiting two weeks to continue working on my thesis, helps me to reflect on which editing is necessary and which comes out of perfectionism.

Have you walked away from your thesis at a certain point in the process? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments below!