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]
Kamal is happy, trotting around academia with a laptop in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and a faint grin on his face as he contemplates how to tackle the next big questions in geodynamics. Amazed that others do not consider academia as a radiant beacon on the horizon of potential career pathways, he is curious: If you were not a scientist, what would you be? Dear Kamal, I suppose I would ...[Read More]
Tatiana feels the pressure. A never-ending workload, a busy home life and unparalleled expectations of her own devising leave her with this: Why does everything have to be last minute in academia? Dear Tatiana, Last minute? Don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing is last minute in case you’ve mapped out your activities properly beforehand. Do you find it difficult planning your to-do list an ...[Read More]
