Dr. Stardust

Girl Astrophysicist | Heliophysics | Solar Physics| books ✩ writing/reading ✩ photography ✩ coffee ☕✩

[studyingstardust]

So, a bit of housekeeping, freshening up my "old" study account. It's this time again. I need the motivation.

I have to write a big grant proposal. The biggest so far. Which means... time to hit the books/papers/notebooks hard again.

Let's go!

I'm scared. There is a veeeeeery little chance I will be successful, no matter how hard I work, or how good my work is. (Oh damn, grad school was so much easier than this sh*t). Still, I will rather fail by trying than fail by just not trying.

[studyingstardust]

It's been close to an year since this post. It feels surreal, honestly.

I got the grant! I actually did. I am going to continue doing what I love for the next 2 years and a half. Still, I am not an overachiever. I just really, really like my job.

Sometimes, tho, I need a reminder why I love it exactly. The wonder and beauty of physics, the grandness of astrophysics and space physics. I do believe there are as many ways to love physics as there are physicist. But physicist are difficult people. Me included.

The secret, I believe, is: "take science seriously and yourself - less seriously".

[skelotan]

Dedicated to my cat, who is very vocal about my bed time.

PATREON

[nasa]

That's us, together.

While we're looking up at the Artemis II astronauts journeying to the Moon, they're looking back home at us. 

In this image, Earth peeks through the capsule window, reminding us that a view like this relies on the ingenuity and hard work of countless people back home.

In the second image, we see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere.

Follow the Artemis II astronauts on their journey to the Moon:

[simkaye]

How your email finds me

(prints now available!)

[studyingstardust]

This!

[vexheart]

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[academic-vampire]

𝔟𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢

[studyingstardust]

I wish...

[studyingstardust]

|| 13.07.2025 || Brussels ||

Took me about 4 years of postdoc to finally get it.

I always thought that before you go for something (prizes, grants, positions) you have to be well-prepared, top of your game. But that's not really the case, isn't it. You get better by competing. If you wait too long to feel ready and deserving, the time will pass you by.

Came to this fun revelation, while playing padel with my colleagues. I saw how they compete, in a group of people, with beginners skill level. There were other people next to us, they could crush us, but I realized, my colleagues will still try to compete with them as well.

🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️☕☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭☀️🔭

P.S. I am OBVIOUSLY not talking about toxic, unhinged competing some people engaged in academia, by also playing dirty. No! But doing scientific research is a competitive endeavor. For better or worse, there are efforts that do not withstand the time and peer scrutiny, and so far this is the best way to make research robust. Not all will make it into the books, but that's the point. This is a job not done for the glory, but in service (never mind the weirdos who deem themselves rock stars). And we call self-serving work in science - toxic academia.

[existentialqueer]

The best photo I took at Dashcon 2

[studyingstardust]

Yep! This absolutely applies to academic research. Don't let them put you in a box!

[studyingstardust]

|| 03.07.25 || Brussels ||

9:47 pm

While I struggle to focus on my current task, I also contemplate over the time I decided to switch from philology major to astrophysics...

That was... 16 years ago! My God, how did I get so far with this?

[philosothoughts]

If I ever get a tenure track job I’m gonna have soooo many people and institutions on my vengeance list

[studyingstardust]

I can imagine a few people getting a particularly insufferable email from me, because in astrophysics we do passive-aggressive on a professional level. It's basically a requirement for a tenure.

[studyingstardust]

|| 03.07.2025 || Brussels ||

Working from my actually, university-appointed office makes me more tires than working from home...

I have to interact with people, lead meetings and seminars, just generally pay attention to other people. On every other day, that's fine, but not when I am trying to focus on my own project.

[studyingstardust]

|| 02.07.2025 || Brussels ||

It's soooooo hot...

Radical idea! Not really, but at least for me.

Went to a coffee shop and worked without my work laptop or tablet, or personal laptop, etc. Basically - no devices. Usually, I have to code or write, so I am surrounded by screens, keyboards, etc.

Today, I have to read some papers and take notes. Which, ofc, happen all the time, but with all the checking (of references, concepts, data), going through one paper takes..., well, it can take a day.

So, I decided to go back to the basics: the article and a notebook. Just reading, taking notes and thinking about the content. In the process, I came up with some very basic ideas about for my proposal.

Sometimes, one really has to simplify the process. We are taught to aways be productive and demonstrate this productivity as tangible results: articles, code, even a nice figure. Give yourself time to think and come up with smart concepts.

[studyingstardust]

|| 29/06/2025 || Brussels ||

Working (pre-) heatwave. This is a little trick, I picked up from our Greek neighbors, to stay cool and awake.

Small summary (for the fun of it):

Literature review of Solar-Earth System coupling and phenomenology

Collect papers on prediction techniques (thank you, Zotero)

Making notes and sketching graphs

More tasks:

Literature on predictive techniques and generative models

Drafting first section of the proposal

Add figures and captions to Manuscript #1

Add figures and captions to Manuscript #2

We will have to wing it a bit. Not all papers have to be read top-to-bottom. Manuscripts, most likely, will be left for Tuesday. That is, if I don't overheat tomorrow and decide to do something that requires less thinking. Go with the flow, kids! Sometimes plans change and this is okay.

[joytri]

[joytri]

[studyingstardust]

I am trying to write an effing proposal and my mother is calling me to tell me her predictions for the WWIII.

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Pour-Over Physics

Fluids labs are filled with many a coffee drinker, and even those (like me) who don’t enjoy coffee, can find plenty of fascinating physics in their labmates’ mugs. (Image credit: S. Satora; research credit: E. Park et al.; via Ars Technica) Read the full article

[studyingstardust]

Always happy to read about the physics of coffee <3