I'm getting ready for this spring's round of conferences (only two, I still need time for research of course) and I was thinking about the time a conference "really" takes. So, while I was in the gym today, I listed all the steps through which you need to go when attending a conference.
Step 1: Preparation - 33 hours
1.1. Finding a suitable conference - 1 hour
For a new PhD student, it's important to identify which conferences are important in your field, and have an idea how often these conferences take place as well as how long before the conference abstracts are due. I've submitted in late 2010 an abstract for a conference in 2012 to which I would love to go.
Your advisor might point you towards interesting conferences, or you might (as in my case) mainly feel like looking for them yourself and then propose going there to your supervisors. Keep an eye on the websites of technical committees in your field - they might organize a workshop on your topic during a certain conference.
1.2. Writing and submitting an abstract - 2 hours
Bring your abstract down to these four (six)pillars: (background), problem statement, (scope), methods, results and conclusions. I like to copy the questions from this website in a word document and simply answer the questions:
Why do we care about the problem and the results?
What problem are you trying to solve?
How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem?
What's the answer?
What are the implications of your answer?
Then I merge them into an abstract and call it a day. Submitting the abstract itself can be a separate task too - typically you'll be working your way through some online system and if you're a perfectionist like me, you'll feel the need to check, double-check and triple-check every step and waste a lot of time on the entire process.
1.3. Writing a paper - 20 hours
I've been tracking my time for the past 9 months now, and I've discovered that a conference paper takes me about 20 hours to write, while a journal paper or a paper for a special publication takes me 40 hours. I don't work in a straight 20 hours (that would mean I could finish a paper in half a week), instead of this I typically work in different stages: making the outline, making additional calculations and figures, throwing words to the screen, edit, re-edit, discuss with supervisor 1, edit, discuss with supervisor 2, edit, re-edit. The bulk of my time does go to the steps after making the outline and before showing it to someone else, in which I preferable work in isolation, but typically get disturbed by whatever is going on in the lab, educational tasks and other activities which at that moment distract me from my writing - which I don't like then. I should consider trying out this bulk phase in the library or at home.
1.4. Preparing a presentation - 6 hours
I tend to spend a fair amount of time on making carefully designed slides and then try out my presentation enough times to be sure I'm meeting the time restrictions. Over time, I might become more confident with this step and spend less time on it, but currently I prefer to have carefully prepared material and a well-rehearsed talk to kill my nerves.
1.5. Dreadful administration - 4 hours
I spent my entire morning and some part of my afternoon today on this work, and even though the forms are now digital and the workflow process is much better organized, I still dread this part. It's not science, it's administration and I tend to put it off because I don't consider it important. Requesting permission, registering, arranging the payment, booking the flight and booking the hotel all take some time.
Step 2: The conference - 3 days
2.1. Searching for interesting talks - 1 day before the start
Take some time to skim through the abstracts and set your itinerary for the conferences so you get the most of it. Allow some time to discover presentations on topics which at first you would not attend, and allow some time to simply rest during the day as well.
2.2. Networking - 3 days
Before even writing the abstract, you have probably looked at the organizing and scientific committees of the conference. Identify who you would like to talk to, but also allow plenty of time to meet new people: fellow PhD candidates, professors with years of experience, engineers from the industry - try to get a good sample of the population of the conference and resist the temptation to stick around with your peers.
2.3. The exhibition
The ideal chance to have a look at what is happening outside the walls of academia! I've not been paying enough attention to the exhibition on my conferences last year, but this time I'm planning to pay more attention to the input from the industry.
Step 3: The aftermath
3.1. Getting in touch - 2 hours
Classify the business cars you've collected, connect on LinkedIn or send an e-mail to your new acquaintances and write a message. I didn't get much further last year than just thanking a few people for the interesting discussion we had. I probably should do a little more effort to keep in touch, but I still am in doubt how to exactly do this.
3.2. Reconnect to the lab - 1 day
So what has happened while you were away? Talk briefly to all people involved in your project to feel "the temperature of the water". If the lab is boiling, solve a few problems, and get ready to dive back into your research work of every day. Don't forget to show your colleagues your trophies: announcements for conferences/workshops, the proceedings, and any interesting story you heard.
3.3. Tired? - 1 week
I noticed last year (when I went to 2 conferences in a row) how tiring conferences can be. I had been continuously in sponge-mode (trying to soak all information around me from presentations, the exhibition, talking to people) that I had an overly full head when I came back home. Just allow yourself some rest, and time to let all the new information and impressions sink to the bottom.
How much time do you devote to the preparation of a conference?
Decisions and priorities
on Sunday, March 27, 2011
In roughly two weeks I'm leaving for a conference, and then a holiday, and suddenly it seems as if I'm overloaded with work with so many tasks waiting to be finished before I can leave with a peaceful mind.
At a certain point, one week ago, I felt like starting to yell at the top of my lungs and run away from my office. Instead, I took a deep breath, a nice cup of tea, and I made a list of what precisely I had to do before leaving.
Then, I looked at these tasks and started to make an order of importance. Which tasks do I really need to do? Which ones are important and which ones are urgent? I remembered the important-urgent matrix about which I learned previously.
picture taken from this article
However, I found it quite difficult to categorize my work. All tasks seemed to be urgent, but for various reasons. I can't postpone registering for my next conference, booking the flight and arranging my administration because that would mean I can't go to the conference. However, I tend to classify "writing the paper which is due mid May" as more important, and I've been giving priority to this over the past week to allow for time to discuss it with my supervisors.
Likewise, I would be tempted to postpone my experimental work so I can finish all the other tasks at hand and not get too physically tired (my new setup seems to break my back when I'm using it - I still need to solve this too).
This rambling of thoughts made me feel quite stressed out. I needed another deep breath and another nice cup of tea to shift the tasks into categories of this matrix.
And indeed, more thinking did result in the following tasks per category:
Category 1: Important and urgent
- Paper deadlines
- Registration deadlines
- Experiments when I'm in a series of experiments
Category 2: Important and not urgent
- the core of my research
- planning experiments
- calculations with my results
- keeping up with the literature (which sadly always ends up way down in my list of things to do or in my weekend)
Category 3: Not important and urgent
- educational tasks
- phone calls, e-mail
- someone showing up in my office
Category 4: Not important and not urgent
- lunch and coffee breaks
- sticking around
- blogging
Realizing this, I decided to focus on finishing the paper, arranging my next conference, trying to discuss some things with my supervisor and just carrying out my experiments. I've been classifying my basic test results, but I will program my Matlab code for the plots of my experimental data after my conference and holiday. I'm skipping coffee breaks, but not lunch breaks, and I'm not skipping the gym nor choir practice. And, if everything works out alright, I'll finish my most urgent tasks this week and will have some time to think and move forward next week (I like the idea of having buffer time).
How do you handle extremely busy periods of time? Do you skip tasks or do you work more hours?
At a certain point, one week ago, I felt like starting to yell at the top of my lungs and run away from my office. Instead, I took a deep breath, a nice cup of tea, and I made a list of what precisely I had to do before leaving.
Then, I looked at these tasks and started to make an order of importance. Which tasks do I really need to do? Which ones are important and which ones are urgent? I remembered the important-urgent matrix about which I learned previously.
picture taken from this article
However, I found it quite difficult to categorize my work. All tasks seemed to be urgent, but for various reasons. I can't postpone registering for my next conference, booking the flight and arranging my administration because that would mean I can't go to the conference. However, I tend to classify "writing the paper which is due mid May" as more important, and I've been giving priority to this over the past week to allow for time to discuss it with my supervisors.
Likewise, I would be tempted to postpone my experimental work so I can finish all the other tasks at hand and not get too physically tired (my new setup seems to break my back when I'm using it - I still need to solve this too).
This rambling of thoughts made me feel quite stressed out. I needed another deep breath and another nice cup of tea to shift the tasks into categories of this matrix.
And indeed, more thinking did result in the following tasks per category:
Category 1: Important and urgent
- Paper deadlines
- Registration deadlines
- Experiments when I'm in a series of experiments
Category 2: Important and not urgent
- the core of my research
- planning experiments
- calculations with my results
- keeping up with the literature (which sadly always ends up way down in my list of things to do or in my weekend)
Category 3: Not important and urgent
- educational tasks
- phone calls, e-mail
- someone showing up in my office
Category 4: Not important and not urgent
- lunch and coffee breaks
- sticking around
- blogging
Realizing this, I decided to focus on finishing the paper, arranging my next conference, trying to discuss some things with my supervisor and just carrying out my experiments. I've been classifying my basic test results, but I will program my Matlab code for the plots of my experimental data after my conference and holiday. I'm skipping coffee breaks, but not lunch breaks, and I'm not skipping the gym nor choir practice. And, if everything works out alright, I'll finish my most urgent tasks this week and will have some time to think and move forward next week (I like the idea of having buffer time).
How do you handle extremely busy periods of time? Do you skip tasks or do you work more hours?
Mindfulness - an update
on Saturday, March 19, 2011
One of my resolutions for 2011 was to start meditating and practicing mindfulness. Soon, one quarter of 2011 will be gone already (time flies!) and so I thought it was time for an update on my trials.
Facts
The first 1,5 months of my trials, I was practicing roughly 4 evenings per week. I first followed some online guided meditations, then I started focusing on my breathing in silence for a set amount of time, and now recently I started to listen to guided meditations on my Ipod.
Results
As I've been trying out different styles, I think different styles of meditation have their pros and cons.
Guided meditation:
+ Help me to focus on the voice
+ Can guide me to very deep relaxation
- Less "active"
- I tend to fall asleep
Focusing on breathing:
+ More active, I cannot relax and follow a voice
+ Makes me feel very "aware"
- My mind wanders terribly
- I don't have a good timer, setting my cell phone stopwatch for 10 minutes is not the nicest way to have a meditation ended
Progress
The positive progress is that I've started to live more mindfully, or at least I'm trying to. I'm trying to point my focus on one thing at a time. I try to focus more on what I'm precisely doing when I'm eating or biking and I try to give my undivided attention when I"m talking to someone.
The negative progress is that I've been slacking off with the meditation practice for the past few weeks. These past weeks have been quite stressful and overly busy, so it would be great to clear my head with a short mindfulness exercise, regain focus and then get my work done. Unfortunately, old habits die hard and in my most stressful times I tend to slack off, procrastinate and panic.
Favorite links
Here's a collection of websites with guided meditations:
http://portlandpsychotherapyclinic.com/mindfulness_and_acceptance_exercises
http://quietmindcafe.com/sympathetic-breathing.html
http://www.the-guided-meditation-site.com/index.html
http://integraleric.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-learn-to-meditate.html (although I"m still not getting the point of their audio file at all)
Facts
The first 1,5 months of my trials, I was practicing roughly 4 evenings per week. I first followed some online guided meditations, then I started focusing on my breathing in silence for a set amount of time, and now recently I started to listen to guided meditations on my Ipod.
Results
As I've been trying out different styles, I think different styles of meditation have their pros and cons.
Guided meditation:
+ Help me to focus on the voice
+ Can guide me to very deep relaxation
- Less "active"
- I tend to fall asleep
Focusing on breathing:
+ More active, I cannot relax and follow a voice
+ Makes me feel very "aware"
- My mind wanders terribly
- I don't have a good timer, setting my cell phone stopwatch for 10 minutes is not the nicest way to have a meditation ended
Progress
The positive progress is that I've started to live more mindfully, or at least I'm trying to. I'm trying to point my focus on one thing at a time. I try to focus more on what I'm precisely doing when I'm eating or biking and I try to give my undivided attention when I"m talking to someone.
The negative progress is that I've been slacking off with the meditation practice for the past few weeks. These past weeks have been quite stressful and overly busy, so it would be great to clear my head with a short mindfulness exercise, regain focus and then get my work done. Unfortunately, old habits die hard and in my most stressful times I tend to slack off, procrastinate and panic.
Favorite links
Here's a collection of websites with guided meditations:
http://portlandpsychotherapyclinic.com/mindfulness_and_acceptance_exercises
http://quietmindcafe.com/sympathetic-breathing.html
http://www.the-guided-meditation-site.com/index.html
http://integraleric.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-learn-to-meditate.html (although I"m still not getting the point of their audio file at all)
A few places worth visiting in Amsterdam
on Thursday, March 17, 2011
Last Saturday, I celebrated my previous roommate's birthday together with my current roommate in Amsterdam. I don't live in Amsterdam, I don't know the city at all. I've been to Amsterdam about 5 years ago during a summer camp, and I never really got the "feel" of the city. But my previous roommate knows the city, and she took us to a few wonderful places.
Lunch at a canal
We had lunch on a pontoon on one of the canals. Even though it is still winter, we could sit outside, out of the wind and in the sun.
Puccini bomboni
Chocolate approved by a Belgian! They sell really really great chocolate in their chocolaterie, as well as delicious pie in their neighboring coffee place.
Nieuwe Kerk
We spent the majority of our afternoon marveling over the gems of Islamic art from the Khalili collection which are currently on disply in the Nieuwe Kerk. If you like art and have some spare time, it's a must visit.
Lunch at a canal
We had lunch on a pontoon on one of the canals. Even though it is still winter, we could sit outside, out of the wind and in the sun.
Puccini bomboni
Chocolate approved by a Belgian! They sell really really great chocolate in their chocolaterie, as well as delicious pie in their neighboring coffee place.
Nieuwe Kerk
We spent the majority of our afternoon marveling over the gems of Islamic art from the Khalili collection which are currently on disply in the Nieuwe Kerk. If you like art and have some spare time, it's a must visit.
An afternoon without network connection
on Monday, March 14, 2011
This afternoon, the network connection of my office computer suddenly broke down. I spent a lot of time first trying to figure out what happened, rebooting a few times, then calling the service desk and finally having two technicians trying to solve the problem.
However, I was amazed to discover how much I am depending on the university network for my work:
- Word crashed because normal.dot is saved on a remote drive.
- MathCad crashed because my license is on the server.
- I wanted to put some references in Endnote, but I like searching for them online and then importing them into my Endnote library. So without network connection I couldn't do this.
- I wanted to look up some references which I found in a paper, but I couldn't connect to Scopus.
- I also couldn't e-mail the service desk. Luckily my phone was still working.
The most critical part was by far losing the MathCad license. I wanted to make one more calculation for my analysis report, but I couldn't. Since I was waiting all the time (first for action from the service desk, then for the technicians to come, then for a third person to reactivate my computer in the network), I wasted a fair amount of time.
This, however, made me think about how dependent I've become on the network for carrying out my research. With my personal laptop I can do more in case of network failure than with my office computer.
However, I was amazed to discover how much I am depending on the university network for my work:
- Word crashed because normal.dot is saved on a remote drive.
- MathCad crashed because my license is on the server.
- I wanted to put some references in Endnote, but I like searching for them online and then importing them into my Endnote library. So without network connection I couldn't do this.
- I wanted to look up some references which I found in a paper, but I couldn't connect to Scopus.
- I also couldn't e-mail the service desk. Luckily my phone was still working.
The most critical part was by far losing the MathCad license. I wanted to make one more calculation for my analysis report, but I couldn't. Since I was waiting all the time (first for action from the service desk, then for the technicians to come, then for a third person to reactivate my computer in the network), I wasted a fair amount of time.
This, however, made me think about how dependent I've become on the network for carrying out my research. With my personal laptop I can do more in case of network failure than with my office computer.
The phases of reading
on Thursday, March 10, 2011
In between of meetings related to my analysis report, I'm still working on my literature review.
Since I really liked the thesis whisperer's blog post about reading like a mongrel, I started to think about how I became a mongrel (which, by the way, is a new word to me, but I like the way it sounds). Reading papers and hunting for the right piece of information isn't really something which I started doing right from the first day of my PhD. In fact, I've been reading in different ways before achieving this level. Here are the phases I have been going through
1. The novice
I started reading papers for the first time during the last months of my master's degree. I remember that I spent more than a week (!) working my way through the first paper, reading and rereading almost every sentence and still not really understanding the contents. I thought maybe the topic was too difficult for me, but I decided I would keep working and see where that would take me.
2. The apprentice
And so I reached the point where I started to actually understand the topic and learn the concepts. All my energy was still going into understanding what exactly is the topic about, which parameters are important and which researchers played an important role.
3. The sponge
Once I mastered the basic concepts, I started to absorb information like a sponge. I was still summarizing everything I read in a paper, and building up my own database of information with respect to my topic. My focus was still very narrowly related to the paper I was reading. I've been a sponge for quite some months to cover my topic.
4. The concluder
Once my brain was full with all the information it had been soaking out of a fair number of papers, it started to actually play a more active role. Within the boundaries of a set of papers, I started to see similarities, and I started to draw some conclusions from that.
5. The interrelater
The spell check refuses to approve "interrelater" but I can't find a better word (suggestions are very welcome!). During this phase, I started to put together information from the entire range over which I had been reading, and relate this information to my experimental work. The bigger lines were becoming clearer and clearer and I felt that reading had start to require a higher level of my personal activity. I'm still most of the time in this phase.
6. The mongrel
There are a few topics which are not fully the focus of my research, but interesting enough to work my way through a stack of papers on this topic and filter out what I need. This needs to happen in the quick and dirty way: skimming, looking at pictures, trying to filter the keywords from the last and first lines of the paragraphs, and all other activities you can do when you only want to give something like fifteen minutes of your attention to a paper. This style of reading is the most active way I have described (in ascending order from the very passive phase of the novice to the active phase of the mongrel), and is least oriented on the paper and most on yourself and your research.
Have you distinguished similar phases while reading? I'd like to read about your experiences.
Since I really liked the thesis whisperer's blog post about reading like a mongrel, I started to think about how I became a mongrel (which, by the way, is a new word to me, but I like the way it sounds). Reading papers and hunting for the right piece of information isn't really something which I started doing right from the first day of my PhD. In fact, I've been reading in different ways before achieving this level. Here are the phases I have been going through
1. The novice
I started reading papers for the first time during the last months of my master's degree. I remember that I spent more than a week (!) working my way through the first paper, reading and rereading almost every sentence and still not really understanding the contents. I thought maybe the topic was too difficult for me, but I decided I would keep working and see where that would take me.
2. The apprentice
And so I reached the point where I started to actually understand the topic and learn the concepts. All my energy was still going into understanding what exactly is the topic about, which parameters are important and which researchers played an important role.
3. The sponge
Once I mastered the basic concepts, I started to absorb information like a sponge. I was still summarizing everything I read in a paper, and building up my own database of information with respect to my topic. My focus was still very narrowly related to the paper I was reading. I've been a sponge for quite some months to cover my topic.
4. The concluder
Once my brain was full with all the information it had been soaking out of a fair number of papers, it started to actually play a more active role. Within the boundaries of a set of papers, I started to see similarities, and I started to draw some conclusions from that.
5. The interrelater
The spell check refuses to approve "interrelater" but I can't find a better word (suggestions are very welcome!). During this phase, I started to put together information from the entire range over which I had been reading, and relate this information to my experimental work. The bigger lines were becoming clearer and clearer and I felt that reading had start to require a higher level of my personal activity. I'm still most of the time in this phase.
6. The mongrel
There are a few topics which are not fully the focus of my research, but interesting enough to work my way through a stack of papers on this topic and filter out what I need. This needs to happen in the quick and dirty way: skimming, looking at pictures, trying to filter the keywords from the last and first lines of the paragraphs, and all other activities you can do when you only want to give something like fifteen minutes of your attention to a paper. This style of reading is the most active way I have described (in ascending order from the very passive phase of the novice to the active phase of the mongrel), and is least oriented on the paper and most on yourself and your research.
Have you distinguished similar phases while reading? I'd like to read about your experiences.
Ten reasons why you should study abroad
on Monday, March 7, 2011
Currently I am in the middle of my 3rd year abroad. I've spent 1 year in the USA and now I am in my second year in the Netherlands, and most likely I will move on to yet another country after graduation.
Even though I had participated in every possible short exchange, I never really packed up my belongings to move abroad and explore life in another society until 3 years ago.
I'm convinced that the challenge of moving and studying abroad is one of the best schools you can attend. Here are 10 reasons why you should consider studying abroad too.
1. Find a scholarship you can be proud of
Studying abroad might be a financial challenge. It is one of the best opportunities though to apply to a scholarship you can be proud of. I'm more than happy to be a Fulbrighter and BAEF grantee, as I feel related to the philosophy of these funding organizations. Applying for a scholarship can be an administrative hassle, but don't feel held back by this. The benefits (being able to study abroad) are much more worth than the time and energy it takes you to fill out the lengthy applications.
2. Gain some experience with the monster called administration
Not only applying for scholarships, but applying for the visa, foreign degree certification (if needed) and all possible administrative tasks are far from being the most enjoyable experience out there. However, getting used to fill out forms, to plan accordingly is a skill you will benefit from later on. Consider all these administrative tasks as a project with a huge reward at the end. Don't consider it as You versus The Bureaucratic System. Everyone has to go through this.
3. Replace bad habits by better habits
And so you have arrived in a country where you might have never been before. You have your class schedule ready, and now it's time to start building up a certain routine. Being in a different environment is the ideal situation to replace a bad habit by a new one. You can replace your evenings of watching TV and eating chips by going to the gym, and being in a new environment will give you a boost to change things.
4. Travel and explore
Get to know the country you are living in by traveling and exploring as much as possible. There are plenty of cheap possibilities to travel around (backpacking, couch surfing, last call tickets). Don't forget that random wandering around in your new environment are also part of this exploring. Take some time to find your new favorite places: your new favorite bar, coffee place, movie theater, pizza restaurant...
5. Enjoy a different perspective...
Every university has its own teaching methods and philosophy. Working together with students from different backgrounds and learning from them is one of the most valuable aspects of studying abroad. Your won thinking patterns will be challenged and improved, and you get the chance to teach others the best parts that originate from your educational background.
6. ... and a different education
Your professors will have a different teaching style and advising style too. When I transitioned from the 40 hours of classes in Belgium, to only 12 hours per week in the US, I needed to rethink all my study and learning habits to become adjusted to this different schedule. I also had to change my way of working from a strongly mathematics based education in Belgium to more engineering-oriented education in the USA. Now that I am again experiencing a different university and a different style of education, I am feeling the advantages of the variety of education I had in the past.
7. Improve your foreign language skills
It's the old cliche: the best way to learn a language is to go and live abroad. I thought my English was good and took pride in my good TOEFL and GRE scores. However, the first months in the US I simply couldn't follow the lectures. It was going too fast, there was too much to adjust to. That feeling was completely at the end of the first semester.
8. Learn what really matters to you
You can't keep all your clutter with you when you move regularly. It has become much easier for me to sort out my belongings knowing that it has to fit in suitcases or expensive shipping boxes. I've also learned to value my home country. A cliche again: absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or in my case: I've learned to relativize the political problems Belgium has, and I've grown admiration for our system of free education, very affordable health care and public transport. I also know which friends matter to me: the ones that kept in touch, the ones that came to visit me abroad.
9. Learn to be fully independent
When you get in trouble far from your family and friends, there is no way to go and lean on their shoulders. Instead, it's time to grow up and deal with your problems, failures and setbacks yourself.
10. Become a citizen of the world
After a stay abroad, you will have fresh ideas, friends with different background and you will have grown as an individual. You'll come home and experience yet another cliche: you'll realize that home has stayed the same, but you are the one that changed.
Have you studied or are you studying abroad? How are you benefiting from this experience?
Even though I had participated in every possible short exchange, I never really packed up my belongings to move abroad and explore life in another society until 3 years ago.
I'm convinced that the challenge of moving and studying abroad is one of the best schools you can attend. Here are 10 reasons why you should consider studying abroad too.
1. Find a scholarship you can be proud of
Studying abroad might be a financial challenge. It is one of the best opportunities though to apply to a scholarship you can be proud of. I'm more than happy to be a Fulbrighter and BAEF grantee, as I feel related to the philosophy of these funding organizations. Applying for a scholarship can be an administrative hassle, but don't feel held back by this. The benefits (being able to study abroad) are much more worth than the time and energy it takes you to fill out the lengthy applications.
2. Gain some experience with the monster called administration
Not only applying for scholarships, but applying for the visa, foreign degree certification (if needed) and all possible administrative tasks are far from being the most enjoyable experience out there. However, getting used to fill out forms, to plan accordingly is a skill you will benefit from later on. Consider all these administrative tasks as a project with a huge reward at the end. Don't consider it as You versus The Bureaucratic System. Everyone has to go through this.
3. Replace bad habits by better habits
And so you have arrived in a country where you might have never been before. You have your class schedule ready, and now it's time to start building up a certain routine. Being in a different environment is the ideal situation to replace a bad habit by a new one. You can replace your evenings of watching TV and eating chips by going to the gym, and being in a new environment will give you a boost to change things.
4. Travel and explore
Get to know the country you are living in by traveling and exploring as much as possible. There are plenty of cheap possibilities to travel around (backpacking, couch surfing, last call tickets). Don't forget that random wandering around in your new environment are also part of this exploring. Take some time to find your new favorite places: your new favorite bar, coffee place, movie theater, pizza restaurant...
5. Enjoy a different perspective...
Every university has its own teaching methods and philosophy. Working together with students from different backgrounds and learning from them is one of the most valuable aspects of studying abroad. Your won thinking patterns will be challenged and improved, and you get the chance to teach others the best parts that originate from your educational background.
6. ... and a different education
Your professors will have a different teaching style and advising style too. When I transitioned from the 40 hours of classes in Belgium, to only 12 hours per week in the US, I needed to rethink all my study and learning habits to become adjusted to this different schedule. I also had to change my way of working from a strongly mathematics based education in Belgium to more engineering-oriented education in the USA. Now that I am again experiencing a different university and a different style of education, I am feeling the advantages of the variety of education I had in the past.
7. Improve your foreign language skills
It's the old cliche: the best way to learn a language is to go and live abroad. I thought my English was good and took pride in my good TOEFL and GRE scores. However, the first months in the US I simply couldn't follow the lectures. It was going too fast, there was too much to adjust to. That feeling was completely at the end of the first semester.
8. Learn what really matters to you
You can't keep all your clutter with you when you move regularly. It has become much easier for me to sort out my belongings knowing that it has to fit in suitcases or expensive shipping boxes. I've also learned to value my home country. A cliche again: absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or in my case: I've learned to relativize the political problems Belgium has, and I've grown admiration for our system of free education, very affordable health care and public transport. I also know which friends matter to me: the ones that kept in touch, the ones that came to visit me abroad.
9. Learn to be fully independent
When you get in trouble far from your family and friends, there is no way to go and lean on their shoulders. Instead, it's time to grow up and deal with your problems, failures and setbacks yourself.
10. Become a citizen of the world
After a stay abroad, you will have fresh ideas, friends with different background and you will have grown as an individual. You'll come home and experience yet another cliche: you'll realize that home has stayed the same, but you are the one that changed.
Have you studied or are you studying abroad? How are you benefiting from this experience?
Lack of sleep - Part two
on Sunday, March 6, 2011
I previously wrote about how lack of sleep can influence your creativity.
Since I've started to do some efforts to get more sleep, I've noticed additional benefits. Although I still struggle to set boundaries and end the day while I "still have so much things to do", I've been making progress. Here are 5 additional benefits of getting enough sleep.
1. More time during the weekends
I used to cut back on sleep during the week and then sleep in during the weekends, usually until noon. I'd end up unable to sleep on Sunday night, and start the week tired already. I now suddenly have the mornings of the weekend available as well, which I can use for work, or to go to the gym, or arrange some things in my house. It feels as if my weekend has become longer.
2. Performing better at work
I'm simply sharper, more able to focus and I have more power and energy to work in the lab. I'm not depending on coffee at all anymore - I've switched to an occasional cup of green tea and water for the rest of the day. Only when I'm having a snack with chocolate, I get coffee because I like the combination of the taste of chocolate and coffee. I don't need to fuel myself with caffeine to soldier through the day anymore.
3. Feeling less tempted to procrastinate
As a result of the previous, I can get through an entire afternoon of reading with only 2 or 3 random internet browsing sessions. That's quite an improvement for me!
4. Feeling more fit and healthy
Waking up after a decent night of sleep, helps me to feel fit from the start of the day. I've noticed that I have more energy since I am now biking faster uphill, performing better at the gym, carrying heavier objects in the lab and running up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
5. Having the feeling of accomplishment
I'm still logging my bedtimes, and whenever I manage to log a time before 11pm (giving me 8 hours of sleep), I add a little smiley next to my time. In weeks during which I see 4 smileys, I feel I've made progress with my resolution. That gives me a sense of accomplishment, and boosts my self-esteem as I am taking myself and my resolution serious.
Since I've started to do some efforts to get more sleep, I've noticed additional benefits. Although I still struggle to set boundaries and end the day while I "still have so much things to do", I've been making progress. Here are 5 additional benefits of getting enough sleep.
1. More time during the weekends
I used to cut back on sleep during the week and then sleep in during the weekends, usually until noon. I'd end up unable to sleep on Sunday night, and start the week tired already. I now suddenly have the mornings of the weekend available as well, which I can use for work, or to go to the gym, or arrange some things in my house. It feels as if my weekend has become longer.
2. Performing better at work
I'm simply sharper, more able to focus and I have more power and energy to work in the lab. I'm not depending on coffee at all anymore - I've switched to an occasional cup of green tea and water for the rest of the day. Only when I'm having a snack with chocolate, I get coffee because I like the combination of the taste of chocolate and coffee. I don't need to fuel myself with caffeine to soldier through the day anymore.
3. Feeling less tempted to procrastinate
As a result of the previous, I can get through an entire afternoon of reading with only 2 or 3 random internet browsing sessions. That's quite an improvement for me!
4. Feeling more fit and healthy
Waking up after a decent night of sleep, helps me to feel fit from the start of the day. I've noticed that I have more energy since I am now biking faster uphill, performing better at the gym, carrying heavier objects in the lab and running up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
5. Having the feeling of accomplishment
I'm still logging my bedtimes, and whenever I manage to log a time before 11pm (giving me 8 hours of sleep), I add a little smiley next to my time. In weeks during which I see 4 smileys, I feel I've made progress with my resolution. That gives me a sense of accomplishment, and boosts my self-esteem as I am taking myself and my resolution serious.
My PhD study companion
on Friday, March 4, 2011
You might have heard about the health benefits of having a pet, but maybe you think taking care of a pet doesn't fit in your busy graduate school schedule.
I've always had cats, but since "I was a student" and "did not have time for a pet" my cats always stayed with my parents where I would spend my weekends. Until I moved to a small apartment in Brussels and was spending my days at home to work on my degree thesis. So I did a little experiment and took Pasha (the cat in the pictures) with me to Brussels.
With my little companion, spending days and days at home to work on my thesis suddenly became much more pleasant. I was making calculations with Pasha on my lap, or very close to me in the sofa, I took some breaks to let him run behind a ball or a stuffed mouse. He'd be doing funny things which made me smile and I was feeling less stressed about my thesis.
When I moved to Delft, Pasha moved with me. It wasn't easy to find housing where pets are allowed, but I'm very glad I found a place where he is allowed.
I remember that 3 months into my PhD I came home very stressed. I was ready to shout at the very first person in front of me. Just from my body language, Pasha got scared off and went hiding. This made me realize I had to relax, enjoy my evening, and figure out my PhD problems the next day, behind my office computer.
Right before I fall asleep, I find it hard to stop thinking about Everything I Have To Do. However, when I just listen to Pasha's peaceful purring, I fall asleep easily.
During the weekend, he's constantly by my side while I'm reading for my literature review.
If you are considering having a pet, don't think that you can't have one until you "grow up" and get out of graduate school.
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