Furious yet disillusioned by a bunch of anonymous reviewers, of which most have provided zero insight through their nugatory reviews and displaying unambiguous bias towards a non-inflammatory, well-worded and a scientifically substantiated manuscript, Txabi demands to know: Why are many reviewers still insisting on anonymity? Dear Txabi, There is indeed such a segment of the academic community, wh ...[Read More]
Hello and welcome back to the EGU Geodynamics blog in 2021! We are starting the new year of blogging with an exciting announcement: We will have a new monthly feature on the first Monday of the month called ‘The PhD Chronicles‘. Just pretend today is the first Monday of the month, please. It was right after New Year’s Eve, okay? I didn’t have time to write this sooner. Actu ...[Read More]
With a fresh start this year, Amaia is trying to forecast her scientific activities for the year. Weary by these thoughts, and considering last year’s efforts, she is puzzled: How do you re-energize yourself for a whole new (academically daunting) year? Dear Amaia, You don’t. Where did you get the idea from that re-energizing yourself is an actual thing for academics? You do realize that a couple ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist has been a very good boy, slaving away at his fume cupboard and diligently hammering his keyboard. He therefore feels justified pinning his letter to Santa on the department noticeboard, putting on his favourite Christmas jumper, and hoping for more than a piece of anthracite in his stocking. What would the Sassy Scientist like for Christmas? Dear Father Christmas, I, the Sassy ...[Read More]
Ahhh analogue models… Those beautiful little (or not so little) worlds inside a box, captivatingly beautiful, impossibly detailed… (sorry, getting carried away, am I?). This week, Alex Hughes gives us the insider’s report on what actually goes on in analogue modelling labs when the “Experiment running, do not disturb!!” sign is on the door. Analogue models have been a ...[Read More]
Looking towards yet another submission extension, Cameron can see the end of 2020, but not of their thesis: After how many chapters and papers PhD thesis can be considered as ‘complete’? Dear Cameron, What do you mean chapters *and* papers?! In my vast experience examining PhD students, when they finally finish, they have chapters *or* papers (barely!). If you are fortunate to publish ...[Read More]
In a world of repetitive home office clean-ups, Freya is teetering on the brink of mental breakdown. Whereas al of our brilliant suggestions, such as cooking, befriending your neighbours, brush up on your programming skills, consider a career outside academia, acquiring new hobbies or wasting your time watching silly movies, have not posed good enough of an answer to alleviate the worries floating ...[Read More]
With real-life water cooler time at a premium, Paul has found that talking about the weather and Emily in Paris just isn’t breaking the ice. By Zoom, he asks possibly the worst qualified person in geodynamics: How can you turn your colleagues into friends? Dear Paul, Why would you want to? You only have a contract of up to three years, so by the time you’ve moved on from Emily in Paris ...[Read More]
In this week’s post, Mohamed Gouiza discusses the challenges of living under constant stress, paralysed by the possibility of failure and self-perceived inevitability of impending breakup. Continental rifting, of course! Oh… did you think I was talking about life as a researcher? Under tensile stress, the lithosphere stretches, the asthenosphere rises, the crust fails, and rifts form. During this ...[Read More]
Hermione has finally completed her graduate studies, with some extra-curricular training that will remain unnamed here and with activities which some will not remember. Now the time has come to use that newly acquired title for good although demands, desires and duties meander through the realm of possibilities, leaving Hermione in a perpetual plight: What to do when obtaining a PhD in geodynamics ...[Read More]