Wit & Wisdom

The art of the 15-minute talk

Iris van Zelst June 7, 2018

Let's make this presentation a success!
Credit: Pixabay

We’ve all attended conferences with those dreaded 15-minute talks and we have no problem picking out which talks were amazing and which talks were abysmal. However, when it comes to our own talks, it’s hard to judge them, find out how they can be improved or break away from long-established habits (such as our layout or talking pace). This week, Matthew Herman, postdoc at the Tectonoph ...[Read More]

Convection in eggs

Iris van Zelst March 28, 2018

I cannot guarantee that you will get an nice, chocolate Easter egg for Easter from the Easter bunny, but I can guarantee that you will get a nice, Easter-themed geodynamics blog post from me. That's something, isn't it?
Credit: Public domain pictures.

Happy Easter everybody! It is that time of year again when you wake up excitedly on Easter Sunday and run into the garden to find the chocolate eggs the Easter Bunny hid for you! What? That’s just me? Hm. Well, in any case, you will probably have a couple of extra days off from work and this should be celebrated with a themed blog post! As you know, geodynamics is about the large scale dynam ...[Read More]

Help us fight patriarchy, one comic strip at a time!

Iris van Zelst March 21, 2018

We can do it!
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Women in science/geodynamics: a topic we have discussed before and should continue to discuss, because we’re not there yet. In this new Wit & Wisdom post, Marie Bocher, postdoc at the Seismology and Wave Physics group of ETH Zürich, discusses a range of all-too-common encounters women face and a possible solution to awareness: comics (drawn by Alice Adenis, PhD student at ENS Lyon). You ...[Read More]

Work-life balance: insights from geodynamicists

Iris van Zelst January 25, 2018

Don't we all have the same hobby in academia?
Credit: Classical Art Memes on Pinterest

Maintaining a good work-life balance is essential for a steady career and happy life in academia. However, like with all good things, it is not easy. In this new Wit & Wisdom post, Jessica Munch, PhD student at ETH Zürich, explores how to achieve a good work-life balance. Research is a truly amazing occupation, especially in geodynamics (okay, that might be a bit biased…). However, disre ...[Read More]