Even though blogging is becoming more and more popular among scientists and researchers, I still notice some doubts and hesitation among my peers when it comes to blogging.
Some people react by saying "Who am I to speak up?", some think it is an (innocent) waste of time on the internet, others think of it as shameless self-promotion.
Over the past nine years, I've been having blogs here and there, but I never really made a solid habit out of blogging and I always ended up discontented with my own writing and deleting posts and even entire blogs - until this blog which is now a little over one year old.
Although I did not have a strong motivation to start this blog (it was initially part of my day zero project which didn't lead to much), I have found the following reasons along the way to keep writing here:
1. A place to reflect
A main motivator for writing posts here, is self-reflection. Besides the research itself which I've been carrying out over the past years, I've come to an understanding of the broader implications of doing a PhD. Writing out what I've learned, and how I tackle certain situations, makes the entire learning process clearer to me. For example, recently I was wondering how much (or how little) my presentation style has changed after presenting at several conferences. I realized that I am not nervous anymore about presenting, and that I have found a certain routine which helps me to put a slideshow together within a relatively short amount of time. Thinking about this, and documenting what I've learned, helps me to realistically assess my development, instead of just worrying about all the work that still needs to be done before I can graduate.
2. Documenting a journey
I've added additional pages to this blog, so I can keep track of the presentations I've given and the papers I've written so far. Also, I use this webspace to combine the links towards my slideshare presentations, as well as published papers which can be found online.
3. Practice writing
I have the habit of writing an entire paragraph in a paper, and then simply select and delete it because I'm not satisfied with it, only to find myself staring at a blank screen again. It's a well-known advice that the more you write, the easier it becomes. Dissertation writing guides typically will tell you to make writing a daily habit. I too have experienced that writing a lot (blogging, journaling, writing small reports, scribbling notes about my literature review and all other forms of writing, have helped me to form coherent sentences. Also, I've become less harsh on myself - I can always edit afterwards if I find a mistake.
4. Say "hi" to the world
I'm not really interested in shameless self-promotion, but I simply do think that my work is interesting, and that there must be people nerdy enough out there who might be interested in my work. By making it googleable, and by showing some of my results and work, I want to wave at whoever might be interested in exchanging ideas on my research topic.
5. Not: money
Recently, I've been receiving some emails about sponsorships, but I've been declining. I'm not interested in making money from blogging. I'm doing this for fun and for myself, and I'm just not interested in earning something from this. Also, I'm a bit bothered by comments which, at first appear to add to the contents of this blog, but then also link to a sometimes completely unrelated commercial business. I am not judging or condemning anyone else whose ambition it is to make money from blogging, but I'm only stating here that it is not my motivation and that I try to keep this place ad-free and spam-free.
The basic elements of a presentation with slides
on Monday, November 14, 2011
I've written this post for students who will give a research presentation for the first time, pointing out how slides can help you through your talk. In fact, I was recently reflecting on how my style of presenting has changed over the past two years, and what I wish I had known back then. I've reached the point where I can go to the front and present without my stomach trying to escape or my breath turning strange, but I don't fully enjoy it yet and I still have a lot of room for improvement.
1. An overview slide
The audience will appreciate if you tell them first what they can expect from your presentation. If you give an outline of how your presentation will look like, it is easier for the listener to place the different slides and parts of the story within the framework that you present in the beginning.
2. Spend time on your introduction
Don't think you should rush to the core and show the world the wonderful science you are spending your time on. A good introduction is necessary to make sure your audience can actually understand the bigger problem, and then -hopefully- follow your approach to the problem.
Also, on conferences in FarFarAway, I like taking the opportunity to briefly sum up the other research related to my topic done in our research group, and introduce the different partners which work on the general research project of which my PhD is a part.
3. Using formulas
I heard this at TEDxDelft:
“With every formula you show, you lose half of your audience; on my first slide there are two” — Leo Kouwenhoven
Don't fill up your slides with formulas, no one will remember them and maybe people won't be able to read or analyze them when you go over them too fast.
If you need to use a formula (or more), take your audience by the hand and walk them through the equation. I like using animations to highlight parts of formulas and explain step by step why a certain parameter is in the formula. Otherwise, if you only want to point out one parameter, you can use a phrase like: "What I want you to notice in this formula is the relation between XX and XXX." (Credit goes to Dr. Rosenstein, who taught me to explain visual data by grabbing the attention of the audience with the "what I want you to notice here" phrase).
4. How to explain graphs
I hate it when someone says: "and this graph shows the results" and then continues to the next slide. From a course by Dr. Rosenstein I took at Georgia Tech, I remembered the following for the rest of my presenting days:
- explain which variable is on the x-axis, and which units it has,
- explain which variable is on the y-axis, and which units it has,
- explain the data points,
- explain the legend,
- state the conclusion, what we can learn from that graph.
5. The end
Here's a great post on how to end a presentation. It is very similar to how I finish a presentation, including the ending phrase from Dr. Rosenstein's course.
Here's a recent example of one of my presentations.
1. An overview slide
The audience will appreciate if you tell them first what they can expect from your presentation. If you give an outline of how your presentation will look like, it is easier for the listener to place the different slides and parts of the story within the framework that you present in the beginning.
2. Spend time on your introduction
Don't think you should rush to the core and show the world the wonderful science you are spending your time on. A good introduction is necessary to make sure your audience can actually understand the bigger problem, and then -hopefully- follow your approach to the problem.
Also, on conferences in FarFarAway, I like taking the opportunity to briefly sum up the other research related to my topic done in our research group, and introduce the different partners which work on the general research project of which my PhD is a part.
3. Using formulas
I heard this at TEDxDelft:
“With every formula you show, you lose half of your audience; on my first slide there are two” — Leo Kouwenhoven
Don't fill up your slides with formulas, no one will remember them and maybe people won't be able to read or analyze them when you go over them too fast.
If you need to use a formula (or more), take your audience by the hand and walk them through the equation. I like using animations to highlight parts of formulas and explain step by step why a certain parameter is in the formula. Otherwise, if you only want to point out one parameter, you can use a phrase like: "What I want you to notice in this formula is the relation between XX and XXX." (Credit goes to Dr. Rosenstein, who taught me to explain visual data by grabbing the attention of the audience with the "what I want you to notice here" phrase).
4. How to explain graphs
I hate it when someone says: "and this graph shows the results" and then continues to the next slide. From a course by Dr. Rosenstein I took at Georgia Tech, I remembered the following for the rest of my presenting days:
- explain which variable is on the x-axis, and which units it has,
- explain which variable is on the y-axis, and which units it has,
- explain the data points,
- explain the legend,
- state the conclusion, what we can learn from that graph.
5. The end
Here's a great post on how to end a presentation. It is very similar to how I finish a presentation, including the ending phrase from Dr. Rosenstein's course.
Here's a recent example of one of my presentations.
How to present calculations in a report
on Sunday, November 13, 2011
I recently spent a decent amount of hours trying a answer a question my advisor had asked. As a result, I ended up with a pile of papers, some printed out graphs and pieces of Matlab and MathCad code, and random sheets with hand calculations - and only an indication of the answer. As I thought this topic deserved some additional attention, I combined the chaos on my desk into a 44-page report (in less than 20 hours of time, while still running additional calculations).
Here's how I organized the material:
1. How did it start?
Why did I decided to spend some time on this topic? What are the limitations of the previously used techniques and what will I try to solve in this document?
I used the answers to these questions to try and keep the bigger picture in mind.
2. What does the literature say?
What useful information and descriptions are available in the literature?
Not all of the papers I had read were useful. I did end up citing most of them, but some of them I discussed in larger detail. I distilled the methods which I ended up trying out myself, and clearly wrote how they should be applied for the question at hand.
3. Structure the calculations
Even though this is work-in-progress, I wanted to bring the different pieces of code and calculations together. I went through the print-outs of code, my own hand calculations, the tables and graphs I had accumulated while working on this problem, and decided to copy and paste the relevant parts right into the document. Although this would not lead to a neat final report, I decided I wanted to show the train of thought which I followed to my advisors, to show clearly the process and be able to discuss the steps I took.
4. The assumptions
I made a separate section which focused on the limitations and assumptions I had used in the calculations. I also discussed some advantages and disadvantages of some of the assumptions i had made - to facilitate the discussion on the calculations. Likewise, I added a list of questions and uncertainties which need to be discussed.
5. Give up on perfectionism
Even though I aimed at fully answering the question my advisor had asked me, I contented myself with the idea that I had found interesting material on my way, had played around with several methods, and learned from it - but I did not find a conclusive answer yet. A few years ago, I would have never the problem rest before having a full solution. However, that is not even possible in research - assumptions need to be discussed , and sometimes some advice along the way is more than welcome.
6. What did we learn?
After all the calculations, which directions are open to be chosen? What can we conclude up to now?
Do you have a clear way to present calculations? Please let me know in the comments section
Here's how I organized the material:
1. How did it start?
Why did I decided to spend some time on this topic? What are the limitations of the previously used techniques and what will I try to solve in this document?
I used the answers to these questions to try and keep the bigger picture in mind.
2. What does the literature say?
What useful information and descriptions are available in the literature?
Not all of the papers I had read were useful. I did end up citing most of them, but some of them I discussed in larger detail. I distilled the methods which I ended up trying out myself, and clearly wrote how they should be applied for the question at hand.
3. Structure the calculations
Even though this is work-in-progress, I wanted to bring the different pieces of code and calculations together. I went through the print-outs of code, my own hand calculations, the tables and graphs I had accumulated while working on this problem, and decided to copy and paste the relevant parts right into the document. Although this would not lead to a neat final report, I decided I wanted to show the train of thought which I followed to my advisors, to show clearly the process and be able to discuss the steps I took.
4. The assumptions
I made a separate section which focused on the limitations and assumptions I had used in the calculations. I also discussed some advantages and disadvantages of some of the assumptions i had made - to facilitate the discussion on the calculations. Likewise, I added a list of questions and uncertainties which need to be discussed.
5. Give up on perfectionism
Even though I aimed at fully answering the question my advisor had asked me, I contented myself with the idea that I had found interesting material on my way, had played around with several methods, and learned from it - but I did not find a conclusive answer yet. A few years ago, I would have never the problem rest before having a full solution. However, that is not even possible in research - assumptions need to be discussed , and sometimes some advice along the way is more than welcome.
6. What did we learn?
After all the calculations, which directions are open to be chosen? What can we conclude up to now?
Do you have a clear way to present calculations? Please let me know in the comments section
Ideas - and Feynman (TEDxDelft)
This blog was originally written live at TEDxDelft 2011
When I woke up this morning, all excited about today's event, I started thinking about "ideas worth spreading". Somehow, and not surprisingly, I thought of Richard Feynman. His way of thinking, and him being a top-notch scientist, are both a lasting inspiration and a close-to-home link to TEDxDelft
Feynman on the environment for ideas
In "Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman", Feynman explains his way of working, developing ideas and the necessary conditions for developing ideas.
Feynman's way of working reflected his love for solving riddles. He loved breaking locks, solving puzzles and taking part radios. He loved a challenge as well, and was fueled by curiosity (when lecturing in Brazil, he ended up playing in a samba band).
When Feynman "got stuck" in research at a certain point, he saw a certain object falling down, and wanted to write down the equations of motion. Just the fact that he started working on "something", and he started developing equations again, he managed to get his thoughts and research back on track.
Feynman challenges the idea some scientists have that you need the ideal conditions to do great work:
When I was at Princeton in the 1940s I could see what happened to those great minds at the Institute for Advanced Study, who had been specially selected for their tremendous brains and were now given this opportunity to sit in this lovely house by the woods there, with no classes to teach, with no obligations whatsoever. These poor bastards could now sit and think clearly all by themselves, OK? So they don’t get any ideas for a while: They have every opportunity to do something, and they’re not getting any ideas. I believe that in a situation like this a kind of guilt or depression worms inside of you, and you begin to worry about not getting any ideas. And nothing happens. Still no ideas come. Nothing happens because there’s not enough real activity and challenge: You’re not in contact with the experimental guys. You don’t have to think how to answer questions from the students. Nothing!
In fact, Feynman told that he liked working from strip clubs and bars.
Understanding in order to build up an idea
When Feynman thought he could not understand another researcher's presentation and paper, his sister sent him upstairs with the paper and told him to work on it himself. When he started to break down the paper and work through it himself, equation by equation, he could understand and even take the ideas a step further. Some argue that he could not accept any idea at all, and that he needed to break everything down and then build it up from scratch in his own mind. Others write: "I think Feynman had a healthy respect for how our minds actually work — as opposed to how they might work if they were ideal reasoning machines."
Fully breaking down a concept into its core elements, understanding these elements and then using them for your own ideas, is a true challenge, but it is the fuel which drives ideas fundamentally progressing science and our society.
Feynman and TEDx
An example of how closely TED(x) and Feynman are related, can be seen here. The university where he spent most of his career, is organizing a TEDx event on Feynman's vision.
Also, Feynman's ideas just appeared a few moments ago in Leo Kouwenhoven's TEDxDelft talk.
When I woke up this morning, all excited about today's event, I started thinking about "ideas worth spreading". Somehow, and not surprisingly, I thought of Richard Feynman. His way of thinking, and him being a top-notch scientist, are both a lasting inspiration and a close-to-home link to TEDxDelft
Feynman on the environment for ideas
In "Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman", Feynman explains his way of working, developing ideas and the necessary conditions for developing ideas.
Feynman's way of working reflected his love for solving riddles. He loved breaking locks, solving puzzles and taking part radios. He loved a challenge as well, and was fueled by curiosity (when lecturing in Brazil, he ended up playing in a samba band).
When Feynman "got stuck" in research at a certain point, he saw a certain object falling down, and wanted to write down the equations of motion. Just the fact that he started working on "something", and he started developing equations again, he managed to get his thoughts and research back on track.
Feynman challenges the idea some scientists have that you need the ideal conditions to do great work:
When I was at Princeton in the 1940s I could see what happened to those great minds at the Institute for Advanced Study, who had been specially selected for their tremendous brains and were now given this opportunity to sit in this lovely house by the woods there, with no classes to teach, with no obligations whatsoever. These poor bastards could now sit and think clearly all by themselves, OK? So they don’t get any ideas for a while: They have every opportunity to do something, and they’re not getting any ideas. I believe that in a situation like this a kind of guilt or depression worms inside of you, and you begin to worry about not getting any ideas. And nothing happens. Still no ideas come. Nothing happens because there’s not enough real activity and challenge: You’re not in contact with the experimental guys. You don’t have to think how to answer questions from the students. Nothing!
In fact, Feynman told that he liked working from strip clubs and bars.
Understanding in order to build up an idea
When Feynman thought he could not understand another researcher's presentation and paper, his sister sent him upstairs with the paper and told him to work on it himself. When he started to break down the paper and work through it himself, equation by equation, he could understand and even take the ideas a step further. Some argue that he could not accept any idea at all, and that he needed to break everything down and then build it up from scratch in his own mind. Others write: "I think Feynman had a healthy respect for how our minds actually work — as opposed to how they might work if they were ideal reasoning machines."
Fully breaking down a concept into its core elements, understanding these elements and then using them for your own ideas, is a true challenge, but it is the fuel which drives ideas fundamentally progressing science and our society.
Feynman and TEDx
An example of how closely TED(x) and Feynman are related, can be seen here. The university where he spent most of his career, is organizing a TEDx event on Feynman's vision.
Also, Feynman's ideas just appeared a few moments ago in Leo Kouwenhoven's TEDxDelft talk.
Space: Research and Tourism (TEDxDelft)
I originally live-blogged this post from TEDxDelft
The first Dutch-born astronaut ever, Lodewijk van den Berg, gave an inspiring talk about research in space, and how he went from being a crystal growth scientist to becoming an astronaut.
From scientist to astronaut
The dilemma was: "Should we train a scientist specialized in crystal growth to become an astronaut, or should we make an astronaut study crystal growth?"
From thinking he would never have a chance to be selected because of his age and bad eyesight, Lodewijk van den Berg ended up becoming the prime crew member for the experiments on crystal growth in zero gravity. During his talk, he made the critical remark that for space travel and research, emotions override the rational considerations. The wish to participate in such research become stronger than the rational notion of the risks involved.
Being able to carry out research in zero gravity requires us to understand the effect of gravity on our lives and society. With some movies shot in space (showing a crew member in continuous rotation around his axis, and a bubble of grape juice, and the remark you need perfect table manners in space), Lodewijk van den Berg moved to the motion of fully living three-dimensional in space.
Satellites can be considered as the most basic device for the exploration of space, or wifi over very large distances. These devices allow us to make observations, but they are limited: they cannot carry out experiments. Humans in space, on the other, can both carry out experiments and serve as experimental animals, influencing the practice of medicine on Earth.
The necessary requirements for space research
Three elements are required for research in space:
1. A scientific base:
Obviously, you need to design experiments, understand the scientific issues involved and carefully prepare for an experiment.
2. Coordination:
One of the challenges is to make different groups, of different disciplines and different backgrounds and nationalities work together. A free flow of information is required.
3. Budget:
An adequate budget, sometimes providing research funding for several decades, is necessary to go from an "idea" to a "finished experiment".
Current problems and solutions
Nowadays, three regional groups dominate space research and exploration: US, Russia and the EU. Together, and with the help of Japan, Australia and Canada, they have contributed to the ISS, thus fulfilling the second criterion on coordination.
However, three problems are putting borders to the progress of space research:
1. Space shuttle:
The termination of the space shuttle program by the US cuts away one of the ways of transportation between Earth and the ISS.
2. Malfunction of the Russian spacecrafts:
Recently, mechanical problems with the Russian spacecrafts, has taken away the redundancy to get people up and down to the space station.
3. Decentralization of the European space program:
Instead of bringing the European researchers and scientists working on the space program together (and thus fulfilling the second criterion), the institutions are more and more being distributed over the different regions, and thus taking away the daily interaction between the major players in this field.
4. The crisis, always the crisis:
No money, no budget. Research, science and education are among the first victims of the crisis.
However, Lodewijk van den Berg had a positive message and solutions to these problems as well, and gave us an outlook on the future of the space program:
1. Commercial space travel
Soon, when commercial space travel will be available, a new stream of revenue will be created and this will create an additional source of funding for space research.
2. A real global view
We should think as a planet, not as rivaling nations anymore. The major players should open up and work together with China. A real global program, in which all research findings are shared is necessary. He suggest the creation of a UN space office, that really operates on a global scale. (This did remind me of when I watched the debate for the Republican nomination two weeks ago, in which all candidates were defending the idea of the US cutting back on its support to the UN). The only way to move forward is to create a planet-wide space program.
A personal note
As you might have noticed from my emphasis on this talk, I love everything related to space exploration. In fact, at the age of 18 , I was doubting between studying engineering in Belgium, or coming to Delft to study aerospace engineering.
Here's a few places where I've been, and which I highly recommend to everyone interested in rockets and space exploration:
1. Space Camp and the Euro Space Center
As a 10-year-old kid, I had a blast at the camp - and I would encourage all parents to send curious kids to this camp.
2. International Space Camp and the US Space and Rocket Center
My first trip to the US (I was 16 then) took me to Huntsville, AL, where I spent a week with students from all over the world, learning about space research, space missions and the work of astronauts. I went back to the US Space and Rocket Center when I was living in Atlanta, GA and I felt the same excitement I had felt 8 years before. I think every scientist, every engineer and every dreamer can't dislike a wonderful place like that.
3. Cape Canaveral
Bad planning and a lack of time resulted in me only seeing the outside of this holy place for space exploration, but passing by was still an inspiring moment.
4. Noordwijk
The closest to Delft, is the Space Expo in Noordwijk. If you haven't been there, and liked today's talk, you might like to go and visit. I remember enjoying it very much.
5. National Air and Space museum, DC
This museum is the most recent addition to my space-related trips and visits. I spent more than 4 hours there, reading and taking in sights of the rockets. If you're in DC, it's worth t stop by and learn.
The first Dutch-born astronaut ever, Lodewijk van den Berg, gave an inspiring talk about research in space, and how he went from being a crystal growth scientist to becoming an astronaut.
From scientist to astronaut
The dilemma was: "Should we train a scientist specialized in crystal growth to become an astronaut, or should we make an astronaut study crystal growth?"
From thinking he would never have a chance to be selected because of his age and bad eyesight, Lodewijk van den Berg ended up becoming the prime crew member for the experiments on crystal growth in zero gravity. During his talk, he made the critical remark that for space travel and research, emotions override the rational considerations. The wish to participate in such research become stronger than the rational notion of the risks involved.
Being able to carry out research in zero gravity requires us to understand the effect of gravity on our lives and society. With some movies shot in space (showing a crew member in continuous rotation around his axis, and a bubble of grape juice, and the remark you need perfect table manners in space), Lodewijk van den Berg moved to the motion of fully living three-dimensional in space.
Satellites can be considered as the most basic device for the exploration of space, or wifi over very large distances. These devices allow us to make observations, but they are limited: they cannot carry out experiments. Humans in space, on the other, can both carry out experiments and serve as experimental animals, influencing the practice of medicine on Earth.
The necessary requirements for space research
Three elements are required for research in space:
1. A scientific base:
Obviously, you need to design experiments, understand the scientific issues involved and carefully prepare for an experiment.
2. Coordination:
One of the challenges is to make different groups, of different disciplines and different backgrounds and nationalities work together. A free flow of information is required.
3. Budget:
An adequate budget, sometimes providing research funding for several decades, is necessary to go from an "idea" to a "finished experiment".
Current problems and solutions
Nowadays, three regional groups dominate space research and exploration: US, Russia and the EU. Together, and with the help of Japan, Australia and Canada, they have contributed to the ISS, thus fulfilling the second criterion on coordination.
However, three problems are putting borders to the progress of space research:
1. Space shuttle:
The termination of the space shuttle program by the US cuts away one of the ways of transportation between Earth and the ISS.
2. Malfunction of the Russian spacecrafts:
Recently, mechanical problems with the Russian spacecrafts, has taken away the redundancy to get people up and down to the space station.
3. Decentralization of the European space program:
Instead of bringing the European researchers and scientists working on the space program together (and thus fulfilling the second criterion), the institutions are more and more being distributed over the different regions, and thus taking away the daily interaction between the major players in this field.
4. The crisis, always the crisis:
No money, no budget. Research, science and education are among the first victims of the crisis.
However, Lodewijk van den Berg had a positive message and solutions to these problems as well, and gave us an outlook on the future of the space program:
1. Commercial space travel
Soon, when commercial space travel will be available, a new stream of revenue will be created and this will create an additional source of funding for space research.
2. A real global view
We should think as a planet, not as rivaling nations anymore. The major players should open up and work together with China. A real global program, in which all research findings are shared is necessary. He suggest the creation of a UN space office, that really operates on a global scale. (This did remind me of when I watched the debate for the Republican nomination two weeks ago, in which all candidates were defending the idea of the US cutting back on its support to the UN). The only way to move forward is to create a planet-wide space program.
A personal note
As you might have noticed from my emphasis on this talk, I love everything related to space exploration. In fact, at the age of 18 , I was doubting between studying engineering in Belgium, or coming to Delft to study aerospace engineering.
Here's a few places where I've been, and which I highly recommend to everyone interested in rockets and space exploration:
1. Space Camp and the Euro Space Center
As a 10-year-old kid, I had a blast at the camp - and I would encourage all parents to send curious kids to this camp.
2. International Space Camp and the US Space and Rocket Center
My first trip to the US (I was 16 then) took me to Huntsville, AL, where I spent a week with students from all over the world, learning about space research, space missions and the work of astronauts. I went back to the US Space and Rocket Center when I was living in Atlanta, GA and I felt the same excitement I had felt 8 years before. I think every scientist, every engineer and every dreamer can't dislike a wonderful place like that.
3. Cape Canaveral
Bad planning and a lack of time resulted in me only seeing the outside of this holy place for space exploration, but passing by was still an inspiring moment.
4. Noordwijk
The closest to Delft, is the Space Expo in Noordwijk. If you haven't been there, and liked today's talk, you might like to go and visit. I remember enjoying it very much.
5. National Air and Space museum, DC
This museum is the most recent addition to my space-related trips and visits. I spent more than 4 hours there, reading and taking in sights of the rockets. If you're in DC, it's worth t stop by and learn.
Live blogging at TEDxDelft
on Monday, November 7, 2011
Just a quick note: I'm live blogging from TEDxDelft today - and trying to keep a good shot of science and inspiration together.
All articles will appear here
All articles will appear here
Presentation at ACI Fall Convention
on Sunday, November 6, 2011
In a session on "Recent Developments in Reinforced Concrete Slab Analysis, Design and Serviceability" I gave the presentation for which you can find the slides in here:
A variety of topics with regard to reinforced slabs were covered in the session: from punching reinforcement provisions, over the history of slab design and the development of prestressing methods and analysis for slabs.
Shear capacity of slabs and slab strips loaded close to the support
View more presentations from elantsoght
A variety of topics with regard to reinforced slabs were covered in the session: from punching reinforcement provisions, over the history of slab design and the development of prestressing methods and analysis for slabs.
Creating history – TEDxDelft 7 november 2011
on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
De ontwerpster van het mooiste boek ter wereld. De kristalonderzoeker die per ongeluk astronaut werd. De vrouw die de regels voor hoogtechnologisch draagmoederschap aan de kaak stelt. De kwantumwetenschapper die atomen aan de andere kant van de wereld kan omdraaien. De kunstenaar die van pvc-buizen beesten maakt die zelfstandig kunnen bewegen. De student die in zijn vrije tijd foto’s maakt van 12 kilometer hoogte. Allemaal schrijven ze geschiedenis. Allemaal vertellen ze hun verhaal op TEDxDelft.
Op TEDxDelft delen 20 sprekers hun history created volgens de beproefde TED-formule. Een TEDx is een ervaring waarvan je niet eens wist dat je die gemist had. Als partner van TEDxDelft nodig ik je van harte uit hierbij aanwezig te zijn. Je kunt je aanmelden via deze link: www.tedxdelft.nl/tickets Tot ziens op 7 november!
I just registered for TEDxDelft and I am totally looking forward to the first TEDx event I'll be attending! More info on TEDxDelft
Studying versus Research
on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
As I wrote in my very first post, research is not like making homework. In fact, even though a PhD is the third cycle of higher education (especially when taking coursework), there is large difference between studying and doing research. Research requires a different set of skills, and you can grow up to become a "researcher" once you master these skills.
Here's an overview of the main differences between a taught course and carrying out a long-term research project.
1. Regular checks versus less control
Midterm examinations, final examinations, homeworks and quizzes all give you the opportunity to frequently check if you are on the right track. For a research project, the milestones to achieve will need much more time until completion. This might give you the illusion that you have more time, but in fact you only have more time which you need to structure for yourself.
2. Staying in the field versus going into the unknown scary woods to hunt
When studying, all the necessary theory behind the problems to solve are documented and can be relied upon. They're tried and trusted methods which will -sooner or later- lead you towards the solution of you homework problem. This is quite different for research, in which you go out in the woods and you have no idea what you'll bring home from the hunt, if anything at all.
3. Different level of intensity
I could happily sit down and study an entire day from 8am until midnight with only a few breaks to feed myself. I simply can't imagine sitting through such a long session while working on my research - after a certain amount of time I start to feel as if my brain is "fried" and pieces of my brain start to crumble down and fall like snowflakes (I might be slightly exaggerating here).
4. Level of independence
While during a taught course, more deadlines have to be met and compulsory labs have to be taken, a PhD study has much less deadlines. There is no imposed deadline for when you should go and write your first paper.
5. Additional skills
Research doesn't exist until it's documented in some way. Documenting research in papers, presentations, a dissertation and other publications requires a large set of skills (for example: academic writing, public speaking, organizing material,...). Research also requires planning skills. You might pass an exam that you've only studied the night before, but you won't finish your dissertation if you only start putting material together the night before your contract ends.
Here's an overview of the main differences between a taught course and carrying out a long-term research project.
1. Regular checks versus less control
Midterm examinations, final examinations, homeworks and quizzes all give you the opportunity to frequently check if you are on the right track. For a research project, the milestones to achieve will need much more time until completion. This might give you the illusion that you have more time, but in fact you only have more time which you need to structure for yourself.
2. Staying in the field versus going into the unknown scary woods to hunt
When studying, all the necessary theory behind the problems to solve are documented and can be relied upon. They're tried and trusted methods which will -sooner or later- lead you towards the solution of you homework problem. This is quite different for research, in which you go out in the woods and you have no idea what you'll bring home from the hunt, if anything at all.
3. Different level of intensity
I could happily sit down and study an entire day from 8am until midnight with only a few breaks to feed myself. I simply can't imagine sitting through such a long session while working on my research - after a certain amount of time I start to feel as if my brain is "fried" and pieces of my brain start to crumble down and fall like snowflakes (I might be slightly exaggerating here).
4. Level of independence
While during a taught course, more deadlines have to be met and compulsory labs have to be taken, a PhD study has much less deadlines. There is no imposed deadline for when you should go and write your first paper.
5. Additional skills
Research doesn't exist until it's documented in some way. Documenting research in papers, presentations, a dissertation and other publications requires a large set of skills (for example: academic writing, public speaking, organizing material,...). Research also requires planning skills. You might pass an exam that you've only studied the night before, but you won't finish your dissertation if you only start putting material together the night before your contract ends.
Five pitfalls to avoid when working from home
on Monday, October 10, 2011
For the past two years, I haven't had much opportunities to work from home as I have been very busy with my experiments in the lab. I do have the habit to squeeze in some hours during the weekend, but only recently I've worked a full office day from home (either on purpose, or because I had to be at home for some maintenance works/expected mail/...).
Working from home has the incredible advantage that no one can come in and disturb you, but at the same time it might feel harder to work from home.
Here are typical pitfalls for working from home, and how to avoid them.
1. Not getting into work-mode
You might feel tempted to clean up the kitchen, put another load of laundry into the washer... Quickly, before you are "really" going to get started. And then you go and browse the interwebs... And before you know, it's time for lunch already. Even though I don't have a designated work area at home (I can use my desk, my computer desk, the living room or the balcony to work from), I do need to switch my brain into work-mode and ignore all other distraction at home before I really can get started.
2. Not setting boundaries
When you're already at home, it's harder to decide when it's time to call it quits for today and go home. I find it helpful to define my task for the day, and just be satisfied if I can finish it by the time I would typically leave my office. Admittedly, I find this one quite difficult.
3. Isolation
This one is more a challenge for students working from distance and/or working part-time on their PhD. Not being in your research group and having the regular chitchat with fellow PhD students can make you feel isolated, as described here.
4. Losing focus
The downside of having a day of quiet peace, is that it might be too quiet - which makes it tempting to doze off or let your thoughts wander unlimitedly. I've tried to solve this by changing my work-space in the house (giving me some variety) and by setting regular breaks (which is hard when it's so peaceful and quiet that you can get completely absorbed in material and forget about the world around you).
5. Missing tools
It might be out of your hands to solve this pitfall. I, for example, cannot remote control my office computer from home because of an incompatibility in the operating systems. However, when I plan to work from home, I check and double-check to see if I have all necessary data, papers and documents with me to carry out the task at hand.
Which pitfalls have you come across when working from home and how did you solve them?
Working from home has the incredible advantage that no one can come in and disturb you, but at the same time it might feel harder to work from home.
Here are typical pitfalls for working from home, and how to avoid them.
1. Not getting into work-mode
You might feel tempted to clean up the kitchen, put another load of laundry into the washer... Quickly, before you are "really" going to get started. And then you go and browse the interwebs... And before you know, it's time for lunch already. Even though I don't have a designated work area at home (I can use my desk, my computer desk, the living room or the balcony to work from), I do need to switch my brain into work-mode and ignore all other distraction at home before I really can get started.
2. Not setting boundaries
When you're already at home, it's harder to decide when it's time to call it quits for today and go home. I find it helpful to define my task for the day, and just be satisfied if I can finish it by the time I would typically leave my office. Admittedly, I find this one quite difficult.
3. Isolation
This one is more a challenge for students working from distance and/or working part-time on their PhD. Not being in your research group and having the regular chitchat with fellow PhD students can make you feel isolated, as described here.
4. Losing focus
The downside of having a day of quiet peace, is that it might be too quiet - which makes it tempting to doze off or let your thoughts wander unlimitedly. I've tried to solve this by changing my work-space in the house (giving me some variety) and by setting regular breaks (which is hard when it's so peaceful and quiet that you can get completely absorbed in material and forget about the world around you).
5. Missing tools
It might be out of your hands to solve this pitfall. I, for example, cannot remote control my office computer from home because of an incompatibility in the operating systems. However, when I plan to work from home, I check and double-check to see if I have all necessary data, papers and documents with me to carry out the task at hand.
Which pitfalls have you come across when working from home and how did you solve them?
Diversity
on Thursday, September 29, 2011
Today, during lunch, I attended a presentation on the diversity policy of TU Delft, and here's a quick overview of what struck me most:
- Even though the Netherlands is one of the most progressive and developed countries around, it has among the lowest percentages of female professors in the European Union (Belgium was even one place lower in that ranking).
- There was a lot of information on the Delft Fellowship for female academics, in an attempt to attract talented researched. It's aimed at researchers who have spent a few years in industry or as a post-doc, outside of the TU Delft. And this "outside of the TU Delft" seems to stir quite some discussion (should we give our research positions to foreigners?). And do we even need a fellowship which is only for women?
- Who reaches the top? White, male, Dutch academics who studied at TU Delft.
I still need to think about these issues, put it all into the context of my personal experience, and then I'll have an opinion on it. But as of now, I just find it an interesting topic.
- Even though the Netherlands is one of the most progressive and developed countries around, it has among the lowest percentages of female professors in the European Union (Belgium was even one place lower in that ranking).
- There was a lot of information on the Delft Fellowship for female academics, in an attempt to attract talented researched. It's aimed at researchers who have spent a few years in industry or as a post-doc, outside of the TU Delft. And this "outside of the TU Delft" seems to stir quite some discussion (should we give our research positions to foreigners?). And do we even need a fellowship which is only for women?
- Who reaches the top? White, male, Dutch academics who studied at TU Delft.
I still need to think about these issues, put it all into the context of my personal experience, and then I'll have an opinion on it. But as of now, I just find it an interesting topic.
A presentation in Dutch
on Thursday, September 22, 2011
Most of the time, I present in English, but every now and then I gt to talk in my native language.
It's a strange sensation that talking about my research in my mother tongue takes me slightly more effort than talking in English, for the following reasons:
- I usually read papers in English, and am more familiar with the technical terms in English
- In Dutch, I feel more tempted to slide into my own dialect, and I have to do extra effort to talk in standard Dutch. In English, I simply have a funny foreign accent.
- I present more often in English than in Dutch, so I am more familiar with presenting in English.
I was wondering if and how other non-native speakers experience presenting their research in their native language...
For those who are interested, here's the presentation I gave:
It's a strange sensation that talking about my research in my mother tongue takes me slightly more effort than talking in English, for the following reasons:
- I usually read papers in English, and am more familiar with the technical terms in English
- In Dutch, I feel more tempted to slide into my own dialect, and I have to do extra effort to talk in standard Dutch. In English, I simply have a funny foreign accent.
- I present more often in English than in Dutch, so I am more familiar with presenting in English.
I was wondering if and how other non-native speakers experience presenting their research in their native language...
For those who are interested, here's the presentation I gave:
Afschuiving in betonnen platen
View more presentations from elantsoght.
Five reasons why I decided to pursue a PhD
on Monday, September 19, 2011
Some time ago, I was asked why I decided to pursue a PhD, and how I got an idea of what a PhD candidate's work life looks like. In fact, I had always liked to idea of simply keeping on studying (there's always more to learn), but when I went to Georgia Tech and was in class with both MS and PhD students, I got a more realistic idea of what I could expect when deciding to pursue a doctoral degree.
Ultimately, these five reasons are the main reasons why I decided to study for a PhD, and why I enjoy my studies and research so much:
1. Curiosity
I wanted to know more, I wanted to figure out things - and for that reason, research is about the best fit possible. I was also curious to explore my own boundaries and abilities and to get off the beaten path and "work my way through the woods".
2. Intellectual freedom
Even though I do have deadlines, I still have enough time and space to spend on developing thoughts that simply seem interesting to me. Also, I dislike authority very much, and being able to work for my degree on my project in all the freedom I like, is about the most ideal work-situation for me.
3. Self-development
While pursuing my doctoral degree, I have been developing my transferable skills much more than I expected to do. I've had the opportunity to attend workshops and trainings for this goal, but I have also had the opportunities to bring into practice what I've learned from these workshops - by presenting for various audiences, traveling to conferences and juggling several smaller projects at the same time.
4. Challenge
The ultimate goal of a doctoral dissertation is to present an original contribution to your study field. To fulfill this requirement, certain intellectual boundaries have to be pushed, or -as my best friend states it- we have to reinvent hot water every day.
5. Fun
Science, and in my case experimental research, is fun. There's always an unexpected challenge (or, for the pessimists among us, a problem) which requires an original and preferable quick fix.
Ultimately, these five reasons are the main reasons why I decided to study for a PhD, and why I enjoy my studies and research so much:
1. Curiosity
I wanted to know more, I wanted to figure out things - and for that reason, research is about the best fit possible. I was also curious to explore my own boundaries and abilities and to get off the beaten path and "work my way through the woods".
2. Intellectual freedom
Even though I do have deadlines, I still have enough time and space to spend on developing thoughts that simply seem interesting to me. Also, I dislike authority very much, and being able to work for my degree on my project in all the freedom I like, is about the most ideal work-situation for me.
3. Self-development
While pursuing my doctoral degree, I have been developing my transferable skills much more than I expected to do. I've had the opportunity to attend workshops and trainings for this goal, but I have also had the opportunities to bring into practice what I've learned from these workshops - by presenting for various audiences, traveling to conferences and juggling several smaller projects at the same time.
4. Challenge
The ultimate goal of a doctoral dissertation is to present an original contribution to your study field. To fulfill this requirement, certain intellectual boundaries have to be pushed, or -as my best friend states it- we have to reinvent hot water every day.
5. Fun
Science, and in my case experimental research, is fun. There's always an unexpected challenge (or, for the pessimists among us, a problem) which requires an original and preferable quick fix.
Blog birthday!
on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Yesterday was PhD talk's first birthday. One year since my first blog post, and I must say it has been a great experience.
I started off this blog to keep track of how I am doing with my resolutions (stay focused and find a work-life balance), but this blog has taken many directions. I've found a way to write about my research, what it means to do research, and many other remotely related topics.
Here's a big "Thank you" for my readers and subscribers! I never thought my writing would be read in the first place, but I'm glad to see your comments and input! Thank you all so much!
So, after a year, how am I doing with my resolutions?
1. Stay focused
Major improvements! My ability to focus and concentrate has greatly increased - partially because I have been training my concentration "muscle", but also partially because I feel more time-pressure on the different tasks I am juggling, which makes me gear up to a higher mode of concentration.
2. Work-life balance
I still spend more hours on my PhD than what you'd spend on a "normal" job, but I enjoy it a lot, and get a lot of energy and joy out of doing research - especially when I "find" something. It looks like a work-life balance to me means a large shot of work and a large shot of "life" in there, and as little "idling" time as possible. I've been working out a lot, playing music a lot, writing in my dairy, blogging, occasionally writing poems and drawing, reading Good Books, modeling, making scrapbooks, spending time in nature, spending time with my family, traveling, sleeping more and trying out new recipes (to mention a few). You might get tired by simply reading this list, but I've found that to keep going is what really fuels me. An evening in front of the TV just feels like wasted time to me.
Research-wise it has been an amazing year, too. I've started to feel confident about my research and to grow as a teacher. Currently, I'm juggling a crazy amount of different tasks - and I totally love it. Since I have a problem with authority, the freedom of academia seems to stimulate me to perform in an optimal way.
Personally, too, this past year (I was 25) has been among my top 3 favorite life-years ever (together with 23 and 17).
I started off this blog to keep track of how I am doing with my resolutions (stay focused and find a work-life balance), but this blog has taken many directions. I've found a way to write about my research, what it means to do research, and many other remotely related topics.
Here's a big "Thank you" for my readers and subscribers! I never thought my writing would be read in the first place, but I'm glad to see your comments and input! Thank you all so much!
So, after a year, how am I doing with my resolutions?
1. Stay focused
Major improvements! My ability to focus and concentrate has greatly increased - partially because I have been training my concentration "muscle", but also partially because I feel more time-pressure on the different tasks I am juggling, which makes me gear up to a higher mode of concentration.
2. Work-life balance
I still spend more hours on my PhD than what you'd spend on a "normal" job, but I enjoy it a lot, and get a lot of energy and joy out of doing research - especially when I "find" something. It looks like a work-life balance to me means a large shot of work and a large shot of "life" in there, and as little "idling" time as possible. I've been working out a lot, playing music a lot, writing in my dairy, blogging, occasionally writing poems and drawing, reading Good Books, modeling, making scrapbooks, spending time in nature, spending time with my family, traveling, sleeping more and trying out new recipes (to mention a few). You might get tired by simply reading this list, but I've found that to keep going is what really fuels me. An evening in front of the TV just feels like wasted time to me.
Research-wise it has been an amazing year, too. I've started to feel confident about my research and to grow as a teacher. Currently, I'm juggling a crazy amount of different tasks - and I totally love it. Since I have a problem with authority, the freedom of academia seems to stimulate me to perform in an optimal way.
Personally, too, this past year (I was 25) has been among my top 3 favorite life-years ever (together with 23 and 17).
Structural engineering conferences
on Sunday, September 11, 2011
There are a few websites I regularly check to see if there's an interesting conference coming up to which I should submit an abstract. These are:
ACI: International conferences
fib events
ASCE Conferences
After attending a few conferences, I now also receive calls for abstracts in my mailbox regularly.
Over the past two years, I've attended the following conferences:
Structural Faults and Repair
This is a conference specialized in repair and strengthening of existing structures. Case studies from practicing engineers as well as academic research are presented. It's organized in the marvelous city of Edinburgh.
fib PhD symposium in Civil Engineering
This conference is organized for PhD students, mainly for PhD students researching structural concrete. Presentations are 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion - so there is plenty of time to go in-depth. It's also a great place to practice presenting skills among your peers.
ASCE Structures Congress
Eight parallel tracks, featuring all topics related to structural engineering... This conference bundles a vast amount of expertise and information into a few days' worth of time - planning your schedule ahead is a must! I learned a lot on bridge engineering, as I chose to mainly attend the sessions in the bridge engineering track.
fib symposium
This conference is entirely focused on structural concrete - and I was very pleased to find several entire sessions dedicated to the problem of shear in concrete. Again, with several parallel tracks, planning your schedule in advance is required.
ACI: International conferences
fib events
ASCE Conferences
After attending a few conferences, I now also receive calls for abstracts in my mailbox regularly.
Over the past two years, I've attended the following conferences:
Structural Faults and Repair
This is a conference specialized in repair and strengthening of existing structures. Case studies from practicing engineers as well as academic research are presented. It's organized in the marvelous city of Edinburgh.
fib PhD symposium in Civil Engineering
This conference is organized for PhD students, mainly for PhD students researching structural concrete. Presentations are 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion - so there is plenty of time to go in-depth. It's also a great place to practice presenting skills among your peers.
ASCE Structures Congress
Eight parallel tracks, featuring all topics related to structural engineering... This conference bundles a vast amount of expertise and information into a few days' worth of time - planning your schedule ahead is a must! I learned a lot on bridge engineering, as I chose to mainly attend the sessions in the bridge engineering track.
fib symposium
This conference is entirely focused on structural concrete - and I was very pleased to find several entire sessions dedicated to the problem of shear in concrete. Again, with several parallel tracks, planning your schedule in advance is required.
Five helpful websites
on Saturday, September 3, 2011
In today's sea of information, I selected a few websites which are part of my daily toolbox.
1. Rescuetime
Together with ManicTime (which does not depend on internet connection), these timetracking software tools have greatly increased not only my productivity, but also my understanding of how I divide my time and how I can take most benefit out of it.
2. GoogleReader
I used to check several websites and blogs at random times. GoogleReader has become the portal through which I manage updates from sites and blogs
3. Diigo
The Diigo toolbar and library website help me to save interesting articles for later, make lists of favorite sites, highlight excerpts of websites here and there and tag all this information into relevant categories.
4. BeoLingus
This extensive, easy-to-operate online dictionary German-English has helped me through several German papers.
5. Scopus
Scopus has become the search engine to which I turn for finding papers and technical documents.
In the background: Grooveshark
When last.fm turned into a paid service, I searched for an alternative, and ended up really enjoying Grooveshark.
Which websites have become an integral part of your daily work and research experience?
1. Rescuetime
Together with ManicTime (which does not depend on internet connection), these timetracking software tools have greatly increased not only my productivity, but also my understanding of how I divide my time and how I can take most benefit out of it.
2. GoogleReader
I used to check several websites and blogs at random times. GoogleReader has become the portal through which I manage updates from sites and blogs
3. Diigo
The Diigo toolbar and library website help me to save interesting articles for later, make lists of favorite sites, highlight excerpts of websites here and there and tag all this information into relevant categories.
4. BeoLingus
This extensive, easy-to-operate online dictionary German-English has helped me through several German papers.
5. Scopus
Scopus has become the search engine to which I turn for finding papers and technical documents.
In the background: Grooveshark
When last.fm turned into a paid service, I searched for an alternative, and ended up really enjoying Grooveshark.
Which websites have become an integral part of your daily work and research experience?
Halfway my PhD
on Thursday, September 1, 2011
Today, I'm exactly halfway the time it is supposed to take me to finish my PhD. Looking back at the past two years, and thinking of what still needs to be done, I find it hard to tell if I am on schedule, but I can say for certain that I've had a fruitful learning experience so far.
What I've done so far:
- Experiments: the largest chunk of my time has gone into preparing and carrying out experiments in the lab. In total we've done 134 tests on 31 specimens by now, and we've just started our smaller, second series of experiments.
- Reading: I've been reading technical papers and reports with an insatiable hunger for a broader knowledge. I'm nearing 500 entries into Endnote (which just looks like a fun number, but it doesn't tell you that much). What matters is that I feel that I've started to get a good overview on what we know with regard to shear in concrete and existing concrete bridges.
- Analysis: I've done the larger part of data analysis of the experiments which I have finished.
- Writing/presenting my research: I've written a few conference papers, gave some talks and am about to finish a set of research reports.
- Case studies on existing bridges: which I found very valuable - maybe mot directly for my thesis, but definitely for my general understanding of my topic.
- Teaching: I've been TA for a course for two years, and I've just seen my first MSc thesis student defend with flying colors and graduate.
- Study: Of only one course I followed the course and finished the exam. Since I have no requirement for a certain amount of credits I should obtain to get my degree, I've been mainly shopping around in some courses to learn what I directly need. I wanted to study more, but I couldn't combine it with my busy lab-schedule. Additionally, I followed some workshops and courses on skills for PhD students, which I found very helpful.
What I still need to do:
- Finish my experiments, 7 more slabs to go.
- Analysis: I'm curious to see what will come out of these new experiments
- Development of a theory: I have a few loose ideas, but I have to do it. This is still an enormous task to tackle.
- Writing: I haven't finished my literature review yet. I haven't written any chapter of my thesis at all (a thought which by times mildly distresses me). I don't have a journal paper out yet, either. Also, I want to write more conference papers.
- Teaching: keep doing and keep learning from practice.
What I've learned so far:
- Writing: When I look chronologically at the different conference papers I've written, I see progress in my own writing. I try to improve step by step.
- Organizing/Productivity: Bit by bit, I've been developing my own ways to keep all my documents and ongoing projects organized and up-and-running.My main goal now is (still) to be able to get as much out of my concentration and focus as possible.
- Teaching: If I compare the way I was TA-ing the course last year and this year, I notice that I've become much better organized and found a way which works very well for me.
It's been an interesting journey so far - and I'm really curious to see where the path will be going.
What I've done so far:
- Experiments: the largest chunk of my time has gone into preparing and carrying out experiments in the lab. In total we've done 134 tests on 31 specimens by now, and we've just started our smaller, second series of experiments.
- Reading: I've been reading technical papers and reports with an insatiable hunger for a broader knowledge. I'm nearing 500 entries into Endnote (which just looks like a fun number, but it doesn't tell you that much). What matters is that I feel that I've started to get a good overview on what we know with regard to shear in concrete and existing concrete bridges.
- Analysis: I've done the larger part of data analysis of the experiments which I have finished.
- Writing/presenting my research: I've written a few conference papers, gave some talks and am about to finish a set of research reports.
- Case studies on existing bridges: which I found very valuable - maybe mot directly for my thesis, but definitely for my general understanding of my topic.
- Teaching: I've been TA for a course for two years, and I've just seen my first MSc thesis student defend with flying colors and graduate.
- Study: Of only one course I followed the course and finished the exam. Since I have no requirement for a certain amount of credits I should obtain to get my degree, I've been mainly shopping around in some courses to learn what I directly need. I wanted to study more, but I couldn't combine it with my busy lab-schedule. Additionally, I followed some workshops and courses on skills for PhD students, which I found very helpful.
What I still need to do:
- Finish my experiments, 7 more slabs to go.
- Analysis: I'm curious to see what will come out of these new experiments
- Development of a theory: I have a few loose ideas, but I have to do it. This is still an enormous task to tackle.
- Writing: I haven't finished my literature review yet. I haven't written any chapter of my thesis at all (a thought which by times mildly distresses me). I don't have a journal paper out yet, either. Also, I want to write more conference papers.
- Teaching: keep doing and keep learning from practice.
What I've learned so far:
- Writing: When I look chronologically at the different conference papers I've written, I see progress in my own writing. I try to improve step by step.
- Organizing/Productivity: Bit by bit, I've been developing my own ways to keep all my documents and ongoing projects organized and up-and-running.My main goal now is (still) to be able to get as much out of my concentration and focus as possible.
- Teaching: If I compare the way I was TA-ing the course last year and this year, I notice that I've become much better organized and found a way which works very well for me.
It's been an interesting journey so far - and I'm really curious to see where the path will be going.
The making of a specimen
on Monday, August 29, 2011
I spend most of my time in the laboratory to destroy slabs - but before doing so, we first have to make our specimens.
The slabs I'm testing are reinforced concrete slabs, which are cast in timber formwork in the laboratory hall. The reinforcement is delivered as ready-made cages according to our drawings, and the concrete is delivered by a truck mixer from a nearby plant.
We start with the timber formwork:
And we also have the reinforcement in our laboratory hall:
One of these cages is used per slab:
Then, the reinforcement is placed into the formwork:
Now we're ready to pour on some concrete... Notice the mixer truck at the entrance of the laboratory.
The concrete is taken to the formwork and then poured into it:
Meanwhile, we also cast small cubes to check the material properties of the concrete:
After pouring the concrete, the surface of the slab needs to be finished:
The result: some freshly-made concrete slabs:
These can be used in our setup after typically 28 days - ready to suffer!
The slabs I'm testing are reinforced concrete slabs, which are cast in timber formwork in the laboratory hall. The reinforcement is delivered as ready-made cages according to our drawings, and the concrete is delivered by a truck mixer from a nearby plant.
We start with the timber formwork:
And we also have the reinforcement in our laboratory hall:
One of these cages is used per slab:
Then, the reinforcement is placed into the formwork:
Now we're ready to pour on some concrete... Notice the mixer truck at the entrance of the laboratory.
The concrete is taken to the formwork and then poured into it:
Meanwhile, we also cast small cubes to check the material properties of the concrete:
After pouring the concrete, the surface of the slab needs to be finished:
The result: some freshly-made concrete slabs:
These can be used in our setup after typically 28 days - ready to suffer!
A PhD defense at Georgia Tech
on Sunday, August 28, 2011
I've recently attended two PhD thesis defenses at Georgia Tech, which were quite different from a PhD thesis defense at TU Delft.
One of the first differences, is that the thesis itself is not fully completed and printed yet at Georgia Tech before the defense. In Delft, the thesis committee will give their input on the draft thesis before the defense, then the thesis is printed and after distribution of the printed dissertations, the defense itself can take place. At Georgia Tech, and I assume at other US universities, the defense takes place before the completion of the thesis.
The defense itself consists of a presentation which is open to the public, as well as the actual defense with the committee, behind closed doors.
The presentation is attended by the committee and lasts one hour. In this presentation, the defending PhD candidate receives enough time to explain his/her thesis work to its full extent. At TU Delft, the presentation only lasts 20 minutes, is not attended by the committee and has to be given "such that friends and family can actually understand what you've been doing all those years."
While a defense at TU Delft is very formal, is only held in the Senaatszaal of the Aula and involves a beadle and paranymphs, a defense at Georgia Tech is less formal. Also, at TU Delft, the defense and the actual graduation are merged into one ceremony, while at Georgia Tech the defense and commencement are separate, and months apart.
What seems to me an advantage of the system used at Georgia Tech, is the shorter time between the first completed draft of the thesis and 'being done' (which would mean the defense in Delft or the submission and acceptance of the thesis at Georgia Tech). At TU Delft, this seems to be a matter of months, while at Georgia Tech it is more a matter of weeks.
One of the first differences, is that the thesis itself is not fully completed and printed yet at Georgia Tech before the defense. In Delft, the thesis committee will give their input on the draft thesis before the defense, then the thesis is printed and after distribution of the printed dissertations, the defense itself can take place. At Georgia Tech, and I assume at other US universities, the defense takes place before the completion of the thesis.
The defense itself consists of a presentation which is open to the public, as well as the actual defense with the committee, behind closed doors.
The presentation is attended by the committee and lasts one hour. In this presentation, the defending PhD candidate receives enough time to explain his/her thesis work to its full extent. At TU Delft, the presentation only lasts 20 minutes, is not attended by the committee and has to be given "such that friends and family can actually understand what you've been doing all those years."
While a defense at TU Delft is very formal, is only held in the Senaatszaal of the Aula and involves a beadle and paranymphs, a defense at Georgia Tech is less formal. Also, at TU Delft, the defense and the actual graduation are merged into one ceremony, while at Georgia Tech the defense and commencement are separate, and months apart.
What seems to me an advantage of the system used at Georgia Tech, is the shorter time between the first completed draft of the thesis and 'being done' (which would mean the defense in Delft or the submission and acceptance of the thesis at Georgia Tech). At TU Delft, this seems to be a matter of months, while at Georgia Tech it is more a matter of weeks.
Blog post about holidays
on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Before I went on holiday last summer, I read this inspiring post (in Dutch) about how you can keep that "holiday feeling" a longer.
That feeling was described as:
"This feeling is associated with peace, energy, creativity, inspiration and relaxation"
This made me realize how much I actually need a holiday every now and then. As a salaried employee of my university, I am entitled 41 working days of paid leave per year (yes, that's not a typo, and that's quite common for us here).
As I had read this article before I left, I decided I would pay closer attention to how precisely I was feeling before and after my (relatively short and very full holiday).
I left completely exhausted. In fact, I fell asleep before my plane took off and slept through most of my 10 hour flight.
Now that I've been back to research for one week, I clearly noticed how taking a break positively influenced my abilities. My thinking is clearer, my attention span longer and my focus sharper. Even though I find it hard to stop and rest for a while, this should be a reminder for the upcoming (crazy-busy) months.
As a result of this, I decided I will take the recommendations of that post and put them into practice. Here's a brief summary of that advice:
- do something new once per week
- take enough breaks
- go outside
- turn off your phone/mail/twitter/facebook
- surround yourself with that holiday feeling
I'll be writing in 1 or 2 months to describe how I could savor my holiday feeling a little longer.
A personal note: I wrote my holiday was rather short (10 days) but very full. In fact, it was filled with the PhD defense of my boyfriend, my birthday, a lot of partying and our engagement.
That feeling was described as:
"This feeling is associated with peace, energy, creativity, inspiration and relaxation"
This made me realize how much I actually need a holiday every now and then. As a salaried employee of my university, I am entitled 41 working days of paid leave per year (yes, that's not a typo, and that's quite common for us here).
As I had read this article before I left, I decided I would pay closer attention to how precisely I was feeling before and after my (relatively short and very full holiday).
I left completely exhausted. In fact, I fell asleep before my plane took off and slept through most of my 10 hour flight.
Now that I've been back to research for one week, I clearly noticed how taking a break positively influenced my abilities. My thinking is clearer, my attention span longer and my focus sharper. Even though I find it hard to stop and rest for a while, this should be a reminder for the upcoming (crazy-busy) months.
As a result of this, I decided I will take the recommendations of that post and put them into practice. Here's a brief summary of that advice:
- do something new once per week
- take enough breaks
- go outside
- turn off your phone/mail/twitter/facebook
- surround yourself with that holiday feeling
I'll be writing in 1 or 2 months to describe how I could savor my holiday feeling a little longer.
A personal note: I wrote my holiday was rather short (10 days) but very full. In fact, it was filled with the PhD defense of my boyfriend, my birthday, a lot of partying and our engagement.
How to write an abstract in 30 minutes
on Monday, August 1, 2011
Have you ever been in the following situation?
You have selected a conference you would like to attend, and you have all the information you need for writing the abstract (the conference topic which suits your work, the maximum amount of words, submission through a website or email). Maybe you've googled "How to write an abstract". And there you are, with a new Word document and a scary white page in front of you. You go and get a cup of coffee, and stare at the screen. You play around with some words to come up with a good title which is within the maximum amount of characters allowed. You go and get another cup of coffee. Check Facebook. Get a snack... And before you know a few hours have gone by and Word is still showing an almost empty screen.
I've found what really works for me to write an abstract in roughly 30 minutes. As I was googling "How to write an abstract" in the past, I came across this article by Philip Koopman which caught my attention.
What I most like about this website is the questions it has in the different sections your abstract should contain:
Motivation: Why do we care about the problem and the results?
Problem statement: What problem are you trying to solve?
Approach: How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product?
Results: What's the answer?
Conclusions: What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful)?
In fact, whenever I now write an abstract, I simply copy and paste these questions into a new document. Then I start answering them one by one. Sometimes I just talk out loud and write it down. Style and grammar don't matter to me at that point - I just need to get the ideas out first.
These answers then make up the first draft of my abstract. I simply delete the questions, and print out this first version. At that point, I start manipulating the abstract into a readable text, in correct English (as good as possible in my case), and making sure the entire piece flows from its starting point and background description towards the results and conclusions.
Do you have a method which helps you to write abstracts?
You have selected a conference you would like to attend, and you have all the information you need for writing the abstract (the conference topic which suits your work, the maximum amount of words, submission through a website or email). Maybe you've googled "How to write an abstract". And there you are, with a new Word document and a scary white page in front of you. You go and get a cup of coffee, and stare at the screen. You play around with some words to come up with a good title which is within the maximum amount of characters allowed. You go and get another cup of coffee. Check Facebook. Get a snack... And before you know a few hours have gone by and Word is still showing an almost empty screen.
I've found what really works for me to write an abstract in roughly 30 minutes. As I was googling "How to write an abstract" in the past, I came across this article by Philip Koopman which caught my attention.
What I most like about this website is the questions it has in the different sections your abstract should contain:
Motivation: Why do we care about the problem and the results?
Problem statement: What problem are you trying to solve?
Approach: How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product?
Results: What's the answer?
Conclusions: What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful)?
In fact, whenever I now write an abstract, I simply copy and paste these questions into a new document. Then I start answering them one by one. Sometimes I just talk out loud and write it down. Style and grammar don't matter to me at that point - I just need to get the ideas out first.
These answers then make up the first draft of my abstract. I simply delete the questions, and print out this first version. At that point, I start manipulating the abstract into a readable text, in correct English (as good as possible in my case), and making sure the entire piece flows from its starting point and background description towards the results and conclusions.
Do you have a method which helps you to write abstracts?
Book review: Starting research: An introduction to academic research and dissertation writing - Roy Preece
on Sunday, July 31, 2011
This book is written for any student undertaking research for the first time. Although the book seems to be written from the perspective of social sciences, there is good information for science and engineering students in it as well.
The first three chapters give an introduction into research itself:
Chapter 1: What is research?
Chapter 2: Elements of scientific method
Chapter 3: Te logic of scientific method
If you have never taken the opportunity to get a good understanding of the scientific method and the nature of research, this book provides an excellent description. Even though the writing style is rather academic, the text of these chapters shines a light on what research is and how science is undertaken.
The following chapters are fully oriented towards the social sciences:
Chapter 4: Information in research
Chapter 5: Methods of primary information collection
Chapter 6: Organization and analysis of surveys
Especially chapters 5 and 6, which deal with interviews and surveys, were too far away from my daily research practice and general understanding to benefit from this reading. In fact, I mainly skimmed through these chapters.
After a chapter about statistics (Chapter 7: You can understand statistics), to chapters which I found very valuable are:
Chapter 8: The research question
Chapter 9: The research dissertation
These chapters focus on writing your dissertation. Within chapter 8, the requirements for a dissertation are discussed, and attention is given to the research question and hypothesis. A few pages are dedicated to the literature review ("Background reading") and useful advice with respect to the use of libraries and recording information is given. In chapter 9, the dissertation writing itself is more deeply discussed: from writer's block and how to organize the dissertation to the format of a typical dissertation and how to use references properly.
In chapter 8, the link between research itself, its structure and the structure of the dissertation are made. I particularly liked this breakdown:
"A dissertation is a substantial and complex piece of writing but a good dissertation can be seen to be constructed from a few essential and distinct parts.
1. Justification - why the research question is important and should be investigated; limitations of the research due to constraints of time, resources or information.
2. Background (literature review) - what is known about the topic so far; in particular, what other relevant research has been carried out.
3. Introduction to the empirical work - why the particular experiments, surveys or case-studies have been identified as relevant to the topic.
4. Design of the empirical work - how the empirical work has been designed in detail to relate to the topic (for example, methods of measurement used).
5. Results of the empirical work - description, tabulation, analysis and critique of the empirical work.
6. Inferences - use of the results and other evidence to make rational conclusions about the topic.
7. Discussion - a review of methods, results and inferences; any limitations to the applicability of the results due to, for example, lack of resources or variables not investigated; some speculation about relationships involving the topic; possible future work.
Running through each stage, except stage 5, is the motif of the research question; it is the touchstone against which the relevance of every point and sentence of the dissertation is judged."
A great feature of this book is that every chapter is summarized in a set of conclusions (check list) at the end, and plenty of references are available at the end of every chapter to allow further reading.
To conclude, I must say that this book was not an easy reading for me. I had to get adjusted to the topic, it challenged me to take some distance from my research and judge my analytical procedures. Nevertheless, I absolutely value that this book gave me a better insight into the nature of research itself.
Focus Booster
on Friday, July 22, 2011
I've been experimenting with Focus Booster over the past days, and wanted to share some of my thoughts on this.
Focus Booster is a simple software tool to use with the Pomodoro Technique . You can start a Pomodoro with this, it runs for 25 minutes on your desktop (while gradually changing color from green to red), rings a bell and then times a 5 minute break for you. After this break, you can start a new Pomodoro time slot. Focus Booster also keeps track of the amount of Pomodoros you've accomplished over the day.
Previously, I was using the stopwatch on my cell phone to see if I can concentrate for 20 to 45 minutes before changing tasks (I was nicknaming this the "egg timer trick", but now that I am continuously with my eyes glued to my computer screen, I thought I could try a little app for this.
Here are some of my observations:
- I like how it "forces" me to take breaks. I've noticed that I can work the entire morning with only a few breaks, but then I feel really empty and unable to work in the afternoon and evening. Taking little breaks has helped me to be able to work more productively throughout the entire day, without burning all my energy in the morning.
- Having an app on your screen makes it very visible. It challenges me to start racing against the clock in the last five minutes of a 25-minutes slot. It also tells me that after 5 minutes of browsing the internet, I need to get back to my calculations.
- Whenever another thought crosses my mind, I just write it down on a piece of paper and get back to it later. And this "later" doesn't feel so far away, as every chunk of time is only 25 minutes.
- This method feel intuitively right for me. I used to work in time slots of 20 minutes, as this used to be the amount of time that I was spending on my homework in secondary school. When I went to university, I simply felt I could not really concentrate deeply for longer than 20 minutes, so I started to divide my time in sets of 20 minutes each (trying to study one proof at a time, for example).
Even though I'm not really familiar with the original Pomodoro Technique, I've been easily able to implement this software tool into my regular way of working, and by doing so, found a way to optimize my "egg timer trick" method.
If you are interested in the Pomodoro Technique itself, and how you could implement it into your work and benefit from it, I recommend the following blog posts as well:
Easily Stop Procrastination in its Tracks and Become a Productivity Machine: One Tomato at a Time
Productivity help with Pomodoro
Focus Booster is a simple software tool to use with the Pomodoro Technique . You can start a Pomodoro with this, it runs for 25 minutes on your desktop (while gradually changing color from green to red), rings a bell and then times a 5 minute break for you. After this break, you can start a new Pomodoro time slot. Focus Booster also keeps track of the amount of Pomodoros you've accomplished over the day.
Previously, I was using the stopwatch on my cell phone to see if I can concentrate for 20 to 45 minutes before changing tasks (I was nicknaming this the "egg timer trick", but now that I am continuously with my eyes glued to my computer screen, I thought I could try a little app for this.
Here are some of my observations:
- I like how it "forces" me to take breaks. I've noticed that I can work the entire morning with only a few breaks, but then I feel really empty and unable to work in the afternoon and evening. Taking little breaks has helped me to be able to work more productively throughout the entire day, without burning all my energy in the morning.
- Having an app on your screen makes it very visible. It challenges me to start racing against the clock in the last five minutes of a 25-minutes slot. It also tells me that after 5 minutes of browsing the internet, I need to get back to my calculations.
- Whenever another thought crosses my mind, I just write it down on a piece of paper and get back to it later. And this "later" doesn't feel so far away, as every chunk of time is only 25 minutes.
- This method feel intuitively right for me. I used to work in time slots of 20 minutes, as this used to be the amount of time that I was spending on my homework in secondary school. When I went to university, I simply felt I could not really concentrate deeply for longer than 20 minutes, so I started to divide my time in sets of 20 minutes each (trying to study one proof at a time, for example).
Even though I'm not really familiar with the original Pomodoro Technique, I've been easily able to implement this software tool into my regular way of working, and by doing so, found a way to optimize my "egg timer trick" method.
If you are interested in the Pomodoro Technique itself, and how you could implement it into your work and benefit from it, I recommend the following blog posts as well:
Easily Stop Procrastination in its Tracks and Become a Productivity Machine: One Tomato at a Time
Productivity help with Pomodoro
Blogs I am currently following
on Monday, July 18, 2011
Here's the list of what I currently have in my Google Reader:
About writing
Aliventures: Ali Luke's blog in which she shares ideas and strategies for better writing.
Explorations of style: On academic writing
Useful tips and advice
addictivetips: Useful tips and tricks with regard to software
Church of the Customer: Business blog
Dumb little man: Tips for life, with content covering a wide range of subjects
Get rich slowly: On money... because frugality blogs are very helpful when you are in graduate school
Lifehacker: Tips, tricks, hacks,...
Mark's daily apple: Mainly about the primal diet (about which I don't care), but every now and then an interesting article about the food industry shows up here
Seth's blog: Short, to the point and well written posts
Stepcase Lifehack: Another blog filled with tips, tricks and lifehacks
Steve Pavlina: On personal development
The Positivity Blog: Covering a lot of topics which make me smile
The Simple Dollar: Personal finance blog
Time Management Ninja: To the point posts on time management
Whole Health Source: Another blog with a primal perspective
Zen habits: Very inspiring material
Science
About science: Posts on several news items in science
Geology Geek: On geology, and much more
PhD Student blogs and blogs about doing a PhD
Alternative PhD: On academia, and outside academia
Daniel and I: Heart-warming blog of a fellow PhD student
Happy Science: On science, doing a PhD, and skepticism of ungrounded popular beliefs
Jane Davis: Blog of fellow PhD student and phd-chatter Jane Davis
jbdeaton.com: On (structural) engineering, teaching and research.
Jennifer Jones' PhD Notebook: Research on the olympics and observations from a PhD candidate
Jenn's studious life: Graduate student blog, counting down to her first paper
Literature Review HQ: A blog devoted to the literature review, because so many of us struggle with this
Peoplegogy: Blog covering doctoral school, education, arts, life...
PhD2Published: Great content for all PhD students, Post-docs and academics out there
Louter promoveren: Dutch blog from a coach for PhD students
Sara Batts - Research project progress: PhD candidate blog
Sarah Stewart: On education, teaching, research and learning
Silence and Voice: Jeffrey Keefer's blog on educational research
The research whisperer: Great posts on how to do research
The thesis whisperer: Every PhD student's staple food
The 3 month thesis: How to write a PhD thesis in 3 months
To Do: Dissertation: Great archives and tools available
Fashion blogs
(because these provide great inspiration on how to put outfits together on a small budget)
Calivintage
Constance-Victoria
Crimson Rosella
Delightful Dozen
Delightfully Tacky
Elegantly academic (special kudos to a PhD student who runs a fashion blog)
Flashes of Style
Hummingbird Girls
Light Witch Spell Book
Scrapbook de la Emma
Selective Potential
Strutt
The Styling Dutchman
Tick tock vintage
Waking Life
What would a nerd wear
I skim read all posts at first glance, and then read the ones which seem relevant to me.
Recommendations for more reading are very welcome :)
About writing
Aliventures: Ali Luke's blog in which she shares ideas and strategies for better writing.
Explorations of style: On academic writing
Useful tips and advice
addictivetips: Useful tips and tricks with regard to software
Church of the Customer: Business blog
Dumb little man: Tips for life, with content covering a wide range of subjects
Get rich slowly: On money... because frugality blogs are very helpful when you are in graduate school
Lifehacker: Tips, tricks, hacks,...
Mark's daily apple: Mainly about the primal diet (about which I don't care), but every now and then an interesting article about the food industry shows up here
Seth's blog: Short, to the point and well written posts
Stepcase Lifehack: Another blog filled with tips, tricks and lifehacks
Steve Pavlina: On personal development
The Positivity Blog: Covering a lot of topics which make me smile
The Simple Dollar: Personal finance blog
Time Management Ninja: To the point posts on time management
Whole Health Source: Another blog with a primal perspective
Zen habits: Very inspiring material
Science
About science: Posts on several news items in science
Geology Geek: On geology, and much more
PhD Student blogs and blogs about doing a PhD
Alternative PhD: On academia, and outside academia
Daniel and I: Heart-warming blog of a fellow PhD student
Happy Science: On science, doing a PhD, and skepticism of ungrounded popular beliefs
Jane Davis: Blog of fellow PhD student and phd-chatter Jane Davis
jbdeaton.com: On (structural) engineering, teaching and research.
Jennifer Jones' PhD Notebook: Research on the olympics and observations from a PhD candidate
Jenn's studious life: Graduate student blog, counting down to her first paper
Literature Review HQ: A blog devoted to the literature review, because so many of us struggle with this
Peoplegogy: Blog covering doctoral school, education, arts, life...
PhD2Published: Great content for all PhD students, Post-docs and academics out there
Louter promoveren: Dutch blog from a coach for PhD students
Sara Batts - Research project progress: PhD candidate blog
Sarah Stewart: On education, teaching, research and learning
Silence and Voice: Jeffrey Keefer's blog on educational research
The research whisperer: Great posts on how to do research
The thesis whisperer: Every PhD student's staple food
The 3 month thesis: How to write a PhD thesis in 3 months
To Do: Dissertation: Great archives and tools available
Fashion blogs
(because these provide great inspiration on how to put outfits together on a small budget)
Calivintage
Constance-Victoria
Crimson Rosella
Delightful Dozen
Delightfully Tacky
Elegantly academic (special kudos to a PhD student who runs a fashion blog)
Flashes of Style
Hummingbird Girls
Light Witch Spell Book
Scrapbook de la Emma
Selective Potential
Strutt
The Styling Dutchman
Tick tock vintage
Waking Life
What would a nerd wear
I skim read all posts at first glance, and then read the ones which seem relevant to me.
Recommendations for more reading are very welcome :)
Using shortcuts to write faster
on Sunday, July 17, 2011
I recently heard someone complain about the amount of time it takes to write out formulas in a Word report. My response to it was to frown and say: "It's not that bad, right?". She then told me it takes to much time to select every single feature you need... I looked at her very surprised an asked her: "Don't you use the keyboard shortcuts then?". Apparently she had never heard of it.
I have made it a habit to use shortcuts on my keyboard for as many operations as possible, and it definitely speeds up my writing time.
Here's an overview of useful shortcuts I use:
Word
ctrl s: save
ctrl p: print
ctrl x: cut
ctrl c: copy
ctrl v: paste
ctrl o: open
ctrl f: find
ctrl +: superscript
ctrl =: subscript
ctrl i: italic
ctrl b: bold
ctrl u: underline
ctrl a, F9: select all, then renumber tables, figures and cross references
MathType
ctrl g: move to greek alphabet
ctrl l: subscript
ctrl h: superscript
ctrl j: sub- and superscript
ctrl 9: brackets
ctrl r: root
ctrl f: fractal
There are many more easy shortcuts available. In MathType, the corresponding shortcut is given in the lower task bar whenever you select an operation. In Word itself, the shortcuts are given in the menus.
I have made it a habit to use shortcuts on my keyboard for as many operations as possible, and it definitely speeds up my writing time.
Here's an overview of useful shortcuts I use:
Word
ctrl s: save
ctrl p: print
ctrl x: cut
ctrl c: copy
ctrl v: paste
ctrl o: open
ctrl f: find
ctrl +: superscript
ctrl =: subscript
ctrl i: italic
ctrl b: bold
ctrl u: underline
ctrl a, F9: select all, then renumber tables, figures and cross references
MathType
ctrl g: move to greek alphabet
ctrl l: subscript
ctrl h: superscript
ctrl j: sub- and superscript
ctrl 9: brackets
ctrl r: root
ctrl f: fractal
There are many more easy shortcuts available. In MathType, the corresponding shortcut is given in the lower task bar whenever you select an operation. In Word itself, the shortcuts are given in the menus.
Who am I to speak up?
on Monday, July 11, 2011
I have to admit something: I continuously question myself, asking "Who am I to speak up?".
- Who am I to write a blog and give advice on the process of doing a PhD? I'm just a second year PhD student who likes trying out different ways of working, but maybe my writing is pointless clueless blabbering.
- Who am I to raise my hand at a presentation and discuss? Why would I dare to speak up while much more experienced researchers are in the same room?
- Who am I to supervise students? I'm only just their age and sometimes even younger, and I only have very limited practical experience...
- Who am I to tell the Ministry of Transport how to evaluate their existing slab bridges? I've only been breaking slabs in the lab, but I've never designed a bridge which has been really built.
The list goes on and on, and it all comes down to one of the PhD emotions which is denoted as the imposter syndrome.
I still face these thoughts frequently, but I now know to tell myself: "Hey, there's another imposter syndrome thought coming up!" and then I just shrug my shoulders and continue my way.
I'm trying to convert my thoughts like this:
- I started this blog to keep track of how I am experimenting with workflow processes, to document my journey as a PhD student and -most of all- simply because I enjoy writing. If I look at my personal motivation, the question "Who am I to write this?" is simply irrelevant.
- Raising my hand and getting involved into discussions is simply part of a learning curve.
- In my tiny little area of research, I am in fact becoming an expert, with all the rights to talk about what I have observed in all the experiments I did.
With this post I would like to call out to everyone out there who might be contemplating starting a blog or making their work more visible.
In the end, it all comes down to these five words:
You have nothing to lose
- Who am I to write a blog and give advice on the process of doing a PhD? I'm just a second year PhD student who likes trying out different ways of working, but maybe my writing is pointless clueless blabbering.
- Who am I to raise my hand at a presentation and discuss? Why would I dare to speak up while much more experienced researchers are in the same room?
- Who am I to supervise students? I'm only just their age and sometimes even younger, and I only have very limited practical experience...
- Who am I to tell the Ministry of Transport how to evaluate their existing slab bridges? I've only been breaking slabs in the lab, but I've never designed a bridge which has been really built.
The list goes on and on, and it all comes down to one of the PhD emotions which is denoted as the imposter syndrome.
I still face these thoughts frequently, but I now know to tell myself: "Hey, there's another imposter syndrome thought coming up!" and then I just shrug my shoulders and continue my way.
I'm trying to convert my thoughts like this:
- I started this blog to keep track of how I am experimenting with workflow processes, to document my journey as a PhD student and -most of all- simply because I enjoy writing. If I look at my personal motivation, the question "Who am I to write this?" is simply irrelevant.
- Raising my hand and getting involved into discussions is simply part of a learning curve.
- In my tiny little area of research, I am in fact becoming an expert, with all the rights to talk about what I have observed in all the experiments I did.
With this post I would like to call out to everyone out there who might be contemplating starting a blog or making their work more visible.
In the end, it all comes down to these five words:
You have nothing to lose
How to tackle a large task
on Sunday, July 10, 2011
Writing a doctoral dissertation is a large task, but not the only large task to face during the PhD. A few examples include:
- writing an article,
- preparing a research report,
- the literature review itself,
- developing a method,
- ...
One way to get started is to take a blank page of paper, stare at it, and then get started hoping you'll end up with your required result. This used to be my approach, but I've gradually moved to a more structured approach. Here's a description of my typical workflow.
1. Break it down
Every large task consists of a series of smaller and more tangible tasks.
In a first brainstorm session, I always sketch the roadmap which I plan to follow for completion of the task ahead. Sometimes I make a mindmap, sometimes I sketch the smaller tasks. Once I have an idea of what needs to be done, I write a list of the steps I plan to go through from start to end.
2. Estimate the time needed
It's easier to estimate how much time a smaller task needs than to estimate to time needed for the entire task. This helps to plan the time needed for completion and to add these required blocks of time to your planning.
For example, it's easy to estimate that you need:
- 2 hours to read a paper,
- 15 minutes to archive it and add it to your references managing system, and
- 45 minutes to type out the important information into the literature review.
If you have a certain amount of papers which need to be read for a background study, you can guess how long it takes to process the papers. Continuing with this example, you could estimate that after processing the papers, you need 1 day to proofread and mark up your notes with important information and 2 days to rewrite the document.
3. Sharpen your pencil
I like having all the necessary tools and documents within my reach before I get started. Having to go after a missing document can really disturb my train of thought, so I like to have all my armor ready and shining before I enter the battlefield.
4. Keep track of your questions and assumptions
I recently started using a few extra sheets/documents while working on a larger task. In one document, I jot down all questions I need to ask my supervisor for verification. In another document, I list all the assumptions I have made. This makes it easier to talk through a large task with others (for example, my advisor).
5. Document the process
I keep all my draft document with their date in the title and I keep notes and to do lists in binders. It's like keeping a research journal or a lab book, but then for a different task. The longer I'm in doctoral school, the more it appears to me of the utmost importance to document all the steps I make.
This method might seem more time consuming than simply getting started and work towards the end, but I've noticed that a little extra effort at the start brings me faster and more reliably to the finish.
- writing an article,
- preparing a research report,
- the literature review itself,
- developing a method,
- ...
One way to get started is to take a blank page of paper, stare at it, and then get started hoping you'll end up with your required result. This used to be my approach, but I've gradually moved to a more structured approach. Here's a description of my typical workflow.
1. Break it down
Every large task consists of a series of smaller and more tangible tasks.
In a first brainstorm session, I always sketch the roadmap which I plan to follow for completion of the task ahead. Sometimes I make a mindmap, sometimes I sketch the smaller tasks. Once I have an idea of what needs to be done, I write a list of the steps I plan to go through from start to end.
2. Estimate the time needed
It's easier to estimate how much time a smaller task needs than to estimate to time needed for the entire task. This helps to plan the time needed for completion and to add these required blocks of time to your planning.
For example, it's easy to estimate that you need:
- 2 hours to read a paper,
- 15 minutes to archive it and add it to your references managing system, and
- 45 minutes to type out the important information into the literature review.
If you have a certain amount of papers which need to be read for a background study, you can guess how long it takes to process the papers. Continuing with this example, you could estimate that after processing the papers, you need 1 day to proofread and mark up your notes with important information and 2 days to rewrite the document.
3. Sharpen your pencil
I like having all the necessary tools and documents within my reach before I get started. Having to go after a missing document can really disturb my train of thought, so I like to have all my armor ready and shining before I enter the battlefield.
4. Keep track of your questions and assumptions
I recently started using a few extra sheets/documents while working on a larger task. In one document, I jot down all questions I need to ask my supervisor for verification. In another document, I list all the assumptions I have made. This makes it easier to talk through a large task with others (for example, my advisor).
5. Document the process
I keep all my draft document with their date in the title and I keep notes and to do lists in binders. It's like keeping a research journal or a lab book, but then for a different task. The longer I'm in doctoral school, the more it appears to me of the utmost importance to document all the steps I make.
This method might seem more time consuming than simply getting started and work towards the end, but I've noticed that a little extra effort at the start brings me faster and more reliably to the finish.
More mindfulness
on Sunday, July 3, 2011
Roughly 3,5 months have passed since my last post on mindfulness.
Facts
I try to practice daily, but in reality I practice roughly 1 out of 2 days. By now, I'm able to sit in silence and concentrate on my breathing for about 10 minutes, without even noticing the time. While it used to feel like a terribly long time in the beginning (is it time yet? is it time yet? is it time yet?), it now feels very natural.
Results
I am starting to feel the benefits (finally) and my concentration is in fact improving. It's been taking my quite some effort to take the time to meditate, but it starts paying off now.
Progress
One of the major advantages which I am experiencing now, is that I can switch to a more focused state of mind easily. All it takes is to sit back in my office chair, focus on my breathing for 3 to 5 counts to 10, and my head clears up.
Since I've been very busy lately with finishing up some deliverables of my project, I've been applying this method, and the results have been great. I've been steaming through stacks of work with such a sharp concentration that the hours were flying by without my noticing.
It's been a great way to tackle the afternoon dip, too.
Links
I haven't been using guided meditations that often, but here are some more links I've collected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvelHlN9Rw
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2S9YKY/www.adaringadventure.com/life-coaching/how-to-be-confident
http://mindbodyexperience.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diBGtabwDaQ&feature=grec_index
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyy0ra2WcQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzll1ywBkk
Facts
I try to practice daily, but in reality I practice roughly 1 out of 2 days. By now, I'm able to sit in silence and concentrate on my breathing for about 10 minutes, without even noticing the time. While it used to feel like a terribly long time in the beginning (is it time yet? is it time yet? is it time yet?), it now feels very natural.
Results
I am starting to feel the benefits (finally) and my concentration is in fact improving. It's been taking my quite some effort to take the time to meditate, but it starts paying off now.
Progress
One of the major advantages which I am experiencing now, is that I can switch to a more focused state of mind easily. All it takes is to sit back in my office chair, focus on my breathing for 3 to 5 counts to 10, and my head clears up.
Since I've been very busy lately with finishing up some deliverables of my project, I've been applying this method, and the results have been great. I've been steaming through stacks of work with such a sharp concentration that the hours were flying by without my noticing.
It's been a great way to tackle the afternoon dip, too.
Links
I haven't been using guided meditations that often, but here are some more links I've collected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvelHlN9Rw
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2S9YKY/www.adaringadventure.com/life-coaching/how-to-be-confident
http://mindbodyexperience.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diBGtabwDaQ&feature=grec_index
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyy0ra2WcQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzll1ywBkk
Assisting assignments
on Thursday, June 30, 2011
During the 4th quarter of the year, an important course of our research group is taught. Part of the course is a case study which the students have to carry out. The task of us PhD students is to assist students with their cases.
Since I am very busy starting a new series of tests and delivering all the reports from my first large series of tests (127 in total), I've been forced to streamline my procedures as much as possible with regard to assisting students.
I benefit from the fact that I have been assisting this course last year as well, and I had more time available to dedicate to my teaching duties. However, I still want to deliver the same results to the students and make sure they learn from the exercise.
Here's how I've been trying to streamline this task:
1. Have a clear workflow scheme
For all teams which I am assisting, I've made it clear how I prefer to work. I let them know that I prefer to:
- schedule appointments beforehand and if possible, I try to batch them together in one afternoon to keep my mind focused on the subject),
- to receive written material at least one workday before the meeting so that I can have a first impression of what needs to be improved
- have students neatly prepared for the meeting, and prepare myself as well for the meeting (fair enough, I'd say).
2. Know the common errors
From talking to senior PhD students and lecturers, I've been able to identify a few typical mistakes. I start by checking if the plots and graphs in the report "make sense", and then I check if the common errors have been made. If all this looks good, I can proceed and look at the report into further detail. If I can spot weaknesses early on, I know that I can point these out for the students but I don't need to go over the details of the report.
3. Schedule undisturbed chunks of time to correct
I've tried to grade reports in the middle of the day, while people are walking in and out of my office and I need to run up and down the stairs to the lab a few times. The result is that spend too much time trying to find my train of thought again. I've now made it a habit to read the reports either before 9am, after 4pm or from home.
4. Keep the pace of the students
I'm preparing the material at the same pace as the fastest group of students. I haven't prepared the entire case before it was even handed out (at least, not in detail, I did read through the assignment and an example solution before starting to get the general idea). While I'm checking the report of the fastest group of students, I spend some more time on the topic to be fully prepared to explain it again.
I'm planning to write about my method of approaching this matter again around this time next year to see if I've changed much of my ways...
The alliteration in the title is to keep the spirit of my previous post alive
Since I am very busy starting a new series of tests and delivering all the reports from my first large series of tests (127 in total), I've been forced to streamline my procedures as much as possible with regard to assisting students.
I benefit from the fact that I have been assisting this course last year as well, and I had more time available to dedicate to my teaching duties. However, I still want to deliver the same results to the students and make sure they learn from the exercise.
Here's how I've been trying to streamline this task:
1. Have a clear workflow scheme
For all teams which I am assisting, I've made it clear how I prefer to work. I let them know that I prefer to:
- schedule appointments beforehand and if possible, I try to batch them together in one afternoon to keep my mind focused on the subject),
- to receive written material at least one workday before the meeting so that I can have a first impression of what needs to be improved
- have students neatly prepared for the meeting, and prepare myself as well for the meeting (fair enough, I'd say).
2. Know the common errors
From talking to senior PhD students and lecturers, I've been able to identify a few typical mistakes. I start by checking if the plots and graphs in the report "make sense", and then I check if the common errors have been made. If all this looks good, I can proceed and look at the report into further detail. If I can spot weaknesses early on, I know that I can point these out for the students but I don't need to go over the details of the report.
3. Schedule undisturbed chunks of time to correct
I've tried to grade reports in the middle of the day, while people are walking in and out of my office and I need to run up and down the stairs to the lab a few times. The result is that spend too much time trying to find my train of thought again. I've now made it a habit to read the reports either before 9am, after 4pm or from home.
4. Keep the pace of the students
I'm preparing the material at the same pace as the fastest group of students. I haven't prepared the entire case before it was even handed out (at least, not in detail, I did read through the assignment and an example solution before starting to get the general idea). While I'm checking the report of the fastest group of students, I spend some more time on the topic to be fully prepared to explain it again.
I'm planning to write about my method of approaching this matter again around this time next year to see if I've changed much of my ways...
The alliteration in the title is to keep the spirit of my previous post alive
In defense of Latin in secondary schools
on Monday, June 27, 2011
After reading some thoughts on the upcoming reforms in the Belgian/Flemish secondary school system, I was particularly upset by reading that Latin has to be replaced by technical courses. And more technical courses are required because our society requires more engineers.
I'm an engineer but I studied Latin - Mathematics in secondary school. I'm as much interested in history, philosophy and poetry as I'm interested in concrete and bridges. Every now and then I need to rant about how we are more and more pushed towards narrow-mindedness by society.
I won't go into rant-mode today, but I will sum up a few benefits I enjoyed from studying Latin, despite my choice for technical studies later on.
1. Develop analytical skills
To understand a Latin text, it is necessary to analyze the sentence in detail before its meaning is clear. Most sentences need to be broken down, and then analyzed from its core to all extra parts. In fact, studying Latin seems to me a great way to develop general analytical skills, which are necessary also in technical studies.
2. Learn to pay attention to details
When reading Latin poetry, the metric in which it is written (eg. the dactylic hexameter for the Aeneid) determines the poetry. The consequence of long and short syllables is fixed when the metric scheme is chosen. I've spent hours marking the short and long syllables in Virgil's Aeneid, and it helped me to focus and pay close attention to details.
3. Personal growth
Secondary school is the time when your personality is developed. I think that general courses, which allow time for discussion, such as history, Latin and other language courses are key to developing your own ideas. I clearly remember how I learned to form a point of view and then argument it in class discussions in these "cultural" courses.
4. Develop writing skills
Latin brings your awareness to every single word, every single syllable. In Latin courses, elements of style are also often discusses. Having a background in this material surely helps developing general writing skills.
5. Learn other languages faster
This is the most commonly cited benefit of studying Latin. I also experience that Latin helps me to understand other languages. It helped me to develop a very basic level of Spanish.
I'm an engineer but I studied Latin - Mathematics in secondary school. I'm as much interested in history, philosophy and poetry as I'm interested in concrete and bridges. Every now and then I need to rant about how we are more and more pushed towards narrow-mindedness by society.
I won't go into rant-mode today, but I will sum up a few benefits I enjoyed from studying Latin, despite my choice for technical studies later on.
1. Develop analytical skills
To understand a Latin text, it is necessary to analyze the sentence in detail before its meaning is clear. Most sentences need to be broken down, and then analyzed from its core to all extra parts. In fact, studying Latin seems to me a great way to develop general analytical skills, which are necessary also in technical studies.
2. Learn to pay attention to details
When reading Latin poetry, the metric in which it is written (eg. the dactylic hexameter for the Aeneid) determines the poetry. The consequence of long and short syllables is fixed when the metric scheme is chosen. I've spent hours marking the short and long syllables in Virgil's Aeneid, and it helped me to focus and pay close attention to details.
3. Personal growth
Secondary school is the time when your personality is developed. I think that general courses, which allow time for discussion, such as history, Latin and other language courses are key to developing your own ideas. I clearly remember how I learned to form a point of view and then argument it in class discussions in these "cultural" courses.
4. Develop writing skills
Latin brings your awareness to every single word, every single syllable. In Latin courses, elements of style are also often discusses. Having a background in this material surely helps developing general writing skills.
5. Learn other languages faster
This is the most commonly cited benefit of studying Latin. I also experience that Latin helps me to understand other languages. It helped me to develop a very basic level of Spanish.
Software review: Codeform and Codeproof
on Sunday, June 26, 2011
Over the past week, I’ve been trying out a software package for structural engineering which combines a traditional calculation program (Codeform) with preprogrammed spreadsheets for all Eurocodes (Codeproof). Over a 1000 prefabricated formulas are available in the Eurocode library.
When I learned about this software, I became very curious to test it out. I download the 5-days trial version and, as an example, used the predefined Codeproof sheet to calculate the shear capacity of a concrete slab under a concentrated load (as shown here).
I used the trial version which can be found at Technosoft’s website for Codeform en Codeproof.
Here are my first impressions of the software package:
Advantages
Very easy to learn
It took me only 20 minutes to turn the existing Codeproof sheet into a sheet which can be used for calculating the expected values of my experiments according to Eurocode 2. I had never used Codeform before, but it is very easy to operate.
Presentation format
The sheets are preprogrammed and look very professional with respect to their layout. In the two printscreens I took, you can see how it looks. The sheets are ready to be printed out and implemented in a report. The calculation is made clear by displaying the formulas at full, in contrast to the ‘hidden formulas’ which result from printing out Excel output.
Flexible format
Since Codeform is a very user-friendly engine, it is very easy to make changes to the existing Codeproof sheets and develop them into your own spreadsheet.
Suitable for design offices
Since this software package contains standard sheets for all Eurocodes, it is the perfect tool for design offices. No more need to spend hours on developing in-house standard spreadsheets for frequently used calculations. The interpretation of the Eurocodes has also been done and the right links to previous chapters or paragraphs were made.
Learn to use the Eurocodes
For designers abroad who are not familiar with the Eurocodes, this tool could be a great way to get acquainted with the Eurocodes. It shows you how to use the code, how to calculate with it, and how to interpret it.
Disadvantage
Dimensionless calculations
Unlike some other packages, CodeForm does not use dimenions. If you would need to switch between English and SI units, then you’ll have to add the right conversion factors yourself.
Are you curious to test out this software too? You can head to the website and use the 5-day trial of the software.
When I learned about this software, I became very curious to test it out. I download the 5-days trial version and, as an example, used the predefined Codeproof sheet to calculate the shear capacity of a concrete slab under a concentrated load (as shown here).
I used the trial version which can be found at Technosoft’s website for Codeform en Codeproof.
Here are my first impressions of the software package:
Advantages
Very easy to learn
It took me only 20 minutes to turn the existing Codeproof sheet into a sheet which can be used for calculating the expected values of my experiments according to Eurocode 2. I had never used Codeform before, but it is very easy to operate.
Presentation format
The sheets are preprogrammed and look very professional with respect to their layout. In the two printscreens I took, you can see how it looks. The sheets are ready to be printed out and implemented in a report. The calculation is made clear by displaying the formulas at full, in contrast to the ‘hidden formulas’ which result from printing out Excel output.
Flexible format
Since Codeform is a very user-friendly engine, it is very easy to make changes to the existing Codeproof sheets and develop them into your own spreadsheet.
Suitable for design offices
Since this software package contains standard sheets for all Eurocodes, it is the perfect tool for design offices. No more need to spend hours on developing in-house standard spreadsheets for frequently used calculations. The interpretation of the Eurocodes has also been done and the right links to previous chapters or paragraphs were made.
Learn to use the Eurocodes
For designers abroad who are not familiar with the Eurocodes, this tool could be a great way to get acquainted with the Eurocodes. It shows you how to use the code, how to calculate with it, and how to interpret it.
Disadvantage
Dimensionless calculations
Unlike some other packages, CodeForm does not use dimenions. If you would need to switch between English and SI units, then you’ll have to add the right conversion factors yourself.
Are you curious to test out this software too? You can head to the website and use the 5-day trial of the software.
Reviewers' comments
on Monday, June 20, 2011
The past 5 days, I've been completely immersed into replying reviewers' comments to a paper which will be published as a special publication after a conference in October.
Previously, I did receive some comments from reviewers for other conference papers, but the effort they required to reply was typically negligible.
Wednesday evening, however, I received 3 pages of commentary on my paper, 19 sections with comments in total. I was both terrified (it looked like a lot of work) and enthusiastic (the reviewers really analyzed my paper and provided valuable input) at the same time.
I was googling around a bit for some advice on how to reply to reviewers' comments, since I had never done this before, but I couldn't find anything. Please point me to interesting posts online if you come across them, I'll be more than glad to read them and implement their advice in the future. And I'm sure I'll have to reply reviewers' comments many more time in the years to come.
Now that I've sent out the revised version and my 13-page reply to the reviewers, I've spent some time reflecting on this process, and here are some points which were to me the most striking ones.
1. Don't panic
I felt a slight sense of panic when I received the email with all the comments. It appeared to be a lot of work to me, and it was requested to be done as soon as possible. However, I took a deep breath, and decided to print out the comments, and finish the task I was carrying out before jumping to the comments.
2. One remark at a time
Rome wasn't build in a day. I've taken several slots of time over 4 days in total to reply the comments one by one. When necessary, I went to look up some additional references to give a solid basis to the reply I was working on.
I wasn't sure about my writing style though. I'm not sure in which voice to write, and how much information to include in the replies. Hopefully I can learn this in the (near) future.
3. Take it serious
The reviewers has obviously taken time and effort to work through my paper and point out paragraphs which were not clear, graphs which looked confusing and to offer some fresh ideas on my research.
It is at least polite to take it serious, and spend enough time to chew on this to provide them with a solid and founded answer to their comments, and, where needed, add the requested revisions to the paper.
4. Remember you are not alone
Even though I took quite some time to reflect on certain questions, I did feel that for some of these I needed some affirmation and good ideas from my co-authors.
After I drafted up the first version of the revised paper and the reply to the reviewers, I sent it to my co-authors with some extra comments and points for them to look at.
Today, I got all the necessary input and thoughts to finish up the revised version of the paper. I'm quite curious to see what will be next.
To conclude this post, I would like to point to Hidde Ploegh's post "End the wasteful tyranny of reviewer experiments" and Eva Teuling's discussion (in Dutch) "Peer review versus de idealistische wetenschapper." There's a lot of food for thought related to the review process in there, and the merely ethical discussion on the impact of recommending additional experiments. Highly recommended, now that we're at the topic.
Previously, I did receive some comments from reviewers for other conference papers, but the effort they required to reply was typically negligible.
Wednesday evening, however, I received 3 pages of commentary on my paper, 19 sections with comments in total. I was both terrified (it looked like a lot of work) and enthusiastic (the reviewers really analyzed my paper and provided valuable input) at the same time.
I was googling around a bit for some advice on how to reply to reviewers' comments, since I had never done this before, but I couldn't find anything. Please point me to interesting posts online if you come across them, I'll be more than glad to read them and implement their advice in the future. And I'm sure I'll have to reply reviewers' comments many more time in the years to come.
Now that I've sent out the revised version and my 13-page reply to the reviewers, I've spent some time reflecting on this process, and here are some points which were to me the most striking ones.
1. Don't panic
I felt a slight sense of panic when I received the email with all the comments. It appeared to be a lot of work to me, and it was requested to be done as soon as possible. However, I took a deep breath, and decided to print out the comments, and finish the task I was carrying out before jumping to the comments.
2. One remark at a time
Rome wasn't build in a day. I've taken several slots of time over 4 days in total to reply the comments one by one. When necessary, I went to look up some additional references to give a solid basis to the reply I was working on.
I wasn't sure about my writing style though. I'm not sure in which voice to write, and how much information to include in the replies. Hopefully I can learn this in the (near) future.
3. Take it serious
The reviewers has obviously taken time and effort to work through my paper and point out paragraphs which were not clear, graphs which looked confusing and to offer some fresh ideas on my research.
It is at least polite to take it serious, and spend enough time to chew on this to provide them with a solid and founded answer to their comments, and, where needed, add the requested revisions to the paper.
4. Remember you are not alone
Even though I took quite some time to reflect on certain questions, I did feel that for some of these I needed some affirmation and good ideas from my co-authors.
After I drafted up the first version of the revised paper and the reply to the reviewers, I sent it to my co-authors with some extra comments and points for them to look at.
Today, I got all the necessary input and thoughts to finish up the revised version of the paper. I'm quite curious to see what will be next.
To conclude this post, I would like to point to Hidde Ploegh's post "End the wasteful tyranny of reviewer experiments" and Eva Teuling's discussion (in Dutch) "Peer review versus de idealistische wetenschapper." There's a lot of food for thought related to the review process in there, and the merely ethical discussion on the impact of recommending additional experiments. Highly recommended, now that we're at the topic.
How to make your autobiographical essay stand out
on Sunday, June 19, 2011
When applying for a scholarship, you typically will have to add an autobiographical essay. If you want to stand out as an applicant, it is important to show more than good grades. Here is some advice on how to use one sheet of paper to make a lasting impression and be invited for an interview.
1. Polish your writing style
If you are at the point of applying for a scholarship to study abroad after your first cycle of higher education, chances are small that you've been going through application or interviewing processes before.
Likewise, chances are small that you have experience in writing, other than homeworks and essays related to your study course.
Writing an autobiographical essay takes more than just summing up what you've been spending your past years on. It requires a style of writing you might need to get used to. Even though I've always enjoyed writing, composing my autobiographical essay took me a lot of frowning, rewriting and rephrasing.
Make sure you allow enough time to go through this process, don't write it out the night before the deadline.
To give you an idea: I spent two months between my first trials and the final version in my application.
2. Ask a senior academic for advice
Look for a professor or senior academic with a clear writing style to whom you can turn to for advice. I was lucky enough to receive great ideas from one of my professors, which took my essay five levels up.
3. Show the link between your extracurricular activities and your studies
You might think that fellowship institutions are not interested in your talent for sports or music. However, you can use your extracurricular activities to show how it reinforces some of your talents in your studies.
In my essay, I linked composition courses to math. Following the classical rules of composition requires indeed a lot of "calculating" and counting distances between notes to come up with allowable chords.
4. Let your personality shine through
If you're applying for a prestigious fellowship, you are most likely already a very good student. To show that you are ready to take most advantage of the opportunity which might be offered to you and to become an ambassador of a sponsoring institution, it is important to show that you are a fully grown individual with a personal range of talents and interests.
5. Point out the skills you've learned from your extracurricular activities
Depending on the extracurricular activities you've chosen to spend your time on, you will have developed certain skills. Use the description of your activities to point out which skills you've learned.
Playing team-sports or playing in an orchestra teaches you how to work in a team, for example. Combining several activities with demanding studies teaches you time management skills.
1. Polish your writing style
If you are at the point of applying for a scholarship to study abroad after your first cycle of higher education, chances are small that you've been going through application or interviewing processes before.
Likewise, chances are small that you have experience in writing, other than homeworks and essays related to your study course.
Writing an autobiographical essay takes more than just summing up what you've been spending your past years on. It requires a style of writing you might need to get used to. Even though I've always enjoyed writing, composing my autobiographical essay took me a lot of frowning, rewriting and rephrasing.
Make sure you allow enough time to go through this process, don't write it out the night before the deadline.
To give you an idea: I spent two months between my first trials and the final version in my application.
2. Ask a senior academic for advice
Look for a professor or senior academic with a clear writing style to whom you can turn to for advice. I was lucky enough to receive great ideas from one of my professors, which took my essay five levels up.
3. Show the link between your extracurricular activities and your studies
You might think that fellowship institutions are not interested in your talent for sports or music. However, you can use your extracurricular activities to show how it reinforces some of your talents in your studies.
In my essay, I linked composition courses to math. Following the classical rules of composition requires indeed a lot of "calculating" and counting distances between notes to come up with allowable chords.
4. Let your personality shine through
If you're applying for a prestigious fellowship, you are most likely already a very good student. To show that you are ready to take most advantage of the opportunity which might be offered to you and to become an ambassador of a sponsoring institution, it is important to show that you are a fully grown individual with a personal range of talents and interests.
5. Point out the skills you've learned from your extracurricular activities
Depending on the extracurricular activities you've chosen to spend your time on, you will have developed certain skills. Use the description of your activities to point out which skills you've learned.
Playing team-sports or playing in an orchestra teaches you how to work in a team, for example. Combining several activities with demanding studies teaches you time management skills.
fib Symposium 2011 - paper and presentation
on Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Last week, I attended the fib Symposium 2011 in Prague, and presented some of my experimental results in the Friday morning session on Construction Technology.
The full paper is published on the CD proceedings, and the short version of 4 pages is published in the printed version of the proceedings. The abstract is the following:
The full paper is published on the CD proceedings, and the short version of 4 pages is published in the printed version of the proceedings. The abstract is the following:
Reinforced concrete one-way slabs subjected to concentrated loads are designed for shear by checking beam shear over an effective width and punching shear. Only a limited number of test data regarding the shear capacity of one-way slabs subjected to concentrated loads is available. To better evaluate the shear capacity of reinforced concrete one-way slabs, a series of experiments has been carried out on continuous one-way slabs (5m x 2,5m x 0,3m) loaded close to the support. The influence of the shear span to depth ratio is discussed. Conclusions about the influence of this parameter on the one-way shear capacity of reinforced concrete slabs and possible explanations for the difference with beams are provided. Test results are compared to the Eurocode provisions and a method to calculate shear capacity from the literature. A higher shear strength is found as compared to the Eurocode. As a result of these experiments expressions resulting in a higher theoretical shear strength for the design of one-way slabs under concentrated loads are recommended.
The keywords were: Shear, One-Way Slabs, Effective Width
Here are the slides I used for my 12 minute presentation:
As you can see, I added the tables with the experimental results which I used in the paper as a few extra slides at the end of my presentation. I didn't want to go over all the numbers during my talk, but I wanted to be prepared for more detailed questions. And in fact, I had a question about the flexural capacity of the tested slabs, so I could simply show the table with the reinforcement ratios and explain how we designed the reinforcement.
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