We are still in a lockdown and we can still use some entertainment for when we stare at the same four walls for hours on end or go on our daily walk. Fear not, dear reader, I have got just the thing for you in these troubling times: the new podcast Geology Bites hosted by Oliver Strimpel: www.geologybites.com. Don’t fret about the name, there’s plenty of geodynamics content as well. In ...[Read More]
This week, Cédric Thieulot, Assistant Professor at The Department of Earth Science, in Utrecht, shows that there is no place for humor in peer reviewed scientific publications. Science is serious. It’s about experiments, theory, analysis, and for most of this readership maths, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and so much more. It’s serious business, with funding, promotion, titles, grants and ...[Read More]
As we are 11 days into November, you might have started to become suspicious of the increased number of people around you growing out their moustaches. While this could be due to the fact that many of us are sequestered at home and may have forgotten the point of personal grooming, there is a good chance these people are participating in Movember (yes, that is a word play on November and mo, for m ...[Read More]
In this week’s wit and wisdom, Jyotirmoy Paul, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science, analyses the outlook of geoscience from the third world’s perspective. Academia has been shaped and influenced by the course of world history. The third world concept was seeded in Brussels, 1927, in a gathering of the League Against Imperialism1 and became popular in the mid-1950s through variou ...[Read More]
Cooking of course! Let me explain. This week, instead of doing his job, Antoine Rozel (senior researcher in ETH Zürich), shows that all your life problems will instantly disappear if you start cooking. Warning, this introductory paragraph is not going to cheer you up, skip it if you are already feeling blue unless you want to suffer a little more (that’s OK). Clearly the explosion of number ...[Read More]
Ah, love – that elusive feeling most people search for. It can be hard to find and hard to hold on to. Let me help you out. This week, I will give you 10 definitive tips to find your perfect match and fall and stay in love with your research. 1. Size doesn’t matter Some people like big, broad research topics, while others like smaller, niche research topics for which you really need to dive ...[Read More]
Who doesn’t love baking? Seriously, baked goods are the best: with or without gluten, with or without chocolate. But you know what makes every bake out there even better? A geological theme. You heard it here first! This week, Ruth Amey, postdoctoral researcher and programme manager of the Earth Observation Center for Doctoral Training at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, discusses th ...[Read More]
Too envious to watch Netflix’s Selling Sunset? Gone through the top 5 geodynamic movies? Lock-down vacation too boring for words? In need of useful procrastination? Search no longer! We have compiled an extensive list of online webinars and speaker series that were already active pre-Corona or saw the daylight during the pandemic to stay in touch with our colleagues both abroad and next door ...[Read More]
During the working day, Matthew Kemp is a seismology PhD student at the University of Oxford. In his spare time, however, he writes and performs musicals about science as part of the duo Geologise Theatre, using stories to explain complex scientific concepts to a variety of audiences – from dinosaur extinction to climate change. In this week’s post, he discusses how classical story-tel ...[Read More]
Starting to teach a course at a university can be an exciting but daunting experience. In today’s post Menno Fraters shares his experiences of starting to teach a class of 100+ students during the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. He provides three quick tips for when you start teaching, that may be useful for teaching in academics. During your time as a PhD student, you may have al ...[Read More]