#phd defence

[reneg-ade]

A little bit of PhD reflection from insta haha. Thanks to everyone who congratulated me about my defence!! 💙

I started this thing in March 2020, right before covid hit and shut everything down - not the ideal time to be in a new lab, in a new city, a new country even. I spent lockdown in the UK and came back to Zurich in May 2020 when things started opening up again, starting in the lab for real this time. The new became routine, time flew by. The first two years were mostly good. The final year was mostly hard. I was originally hoping to defend in spring 2023, but the goalposts moved. I decided to give everything in 2023, trying to get it done. And that’s what I did, working harder than ever before, probably too hard looking back… and yet I still didn’t know if it would be enough. Every time I thought I was really going to be finished soon, it slipped out of my grasp again. By the time I finally had a defence date, I couldn’t believe it was actually happening, because it *hadn’t* happened so many times before. It felt so unreal that I was completely convinced I was going to fail my exam until literally a few days before, I simply couldn’t imagine it all being over. Well, I didn’t fail, and it is over, although it still doesn’t feel real yet. I guess it will take some time to sink in. But I’m pretty proud of myself for all the work it took to get me here, and pretty damn grateful to a few lovely people who helped pull me through. I’m ready to sleep for three months straight now but moving house is somewhat getting in the way of that…

[scienceoftheidiot]

theowlkeeper said: I distinctly remember every single teacher/supervisor/workmate explicitly forbidding any extra goofy text crap in presentations, because it’s unprofessional (amongst all the reasons you stated.) Your supervisor is an idiot.

Thank you for telling me that @theowlkeeper. I had heard all this too, but this supervisor has the knack for sapping my confidence in anything and everything. She is always questionning everything I do and wants to make everything her own way. 

I should know better because I have seen her present things at congresses.... and she’s so bad.... 

She even questionned things that are perfectly scientifically sound, and sourced, just because she has no good background in broad ecology concepts (yes, one species representing 1/3 of an ecological service is ENORMOUS, no matter what she thinks). 

I just copy-pasted a full text legislation into my powerpoint presentation, because she was arguing the text didn’t ban all the molecules within a pesticide family... when the text litterally says “all molecules of this family are banned”. I mean, can she read ?! 

I’ll keep your comment in mind and do my own thing. 

[audhalbritter]

7.4.2017 Ainos PhD defence dinner

[ierkannn]

YouTube

My Channel For PhD Students: 

http://bit.ly/1Tgc9fu

1st Video: I am not a PhD student anymore... :)

2nd: Video:  The importance of conferences for PhD Viva

[gradstudentdrone]

Let The Games Begin (T-16 hours before my PhD Defence)

In the hours leading up to my PhD Defence, I am trying not to be too plagued by self-doubt on how to get my examiners to like me and my work:

I keep exhorting myself to remember the wise words of Haymitch:

And am putting on my game face:

Let the (PhD) Games Begin!  May the odds be ever in my favour!

[gradstudentdrone]

How NOT to answer your examiners' questions during your PhD Defence

Last night, MOTL started asking me questions from a list of 'common defence questions' he found online.  This was a useful exercise because it helped put my mindset on the defence itself - that it is a PhD defence and not a benign Q&A session was important for me to remember.  After answering a round of questions, the two of us started laughing about what would happen if I decide to commit an act of self-sabotage and answer my examiners' questions in a way that would provoke their outrage:

Q. Is there anything you would have done differently during the research process?

Me (smirking): No, everything I did was perfect.

Q.  In what ways does your work respond and differ from research in your field?

Me (again with a smirk): I respond to their work by showing their deficiencies.  Mine is different from their work because my research and my findings are without flaw.

Q. Who are your competitors in the field?*

Me: everyone in this room, especially if you fail me. 

Q. Whose work do you derive most inspiration from when crafting your research project?

Me: No one. I took inspiration from myself.  

* I found this be an extremely odd question but it appeared in a number of lists.  I suppose this question comes up in the most competitive departments.  I sincerely doubt whether this would be a question any of my examiners would ask.