Last week, I did last edits to my dissertation draft and got it printed, this week, I handed it in. All I have to do in the two months I have left at my current university is prepare for my defence. It's a good time to look back at the four years I spent here.… Continue reading What I learned by writing a dissertation
Category: Personal
Scientific presentations and the art of storytelling
How many talks have you attended in the last year? And how many of those did you enjoy? Even when the topic itself is interesting, one often leaves disappointed. Some speakers spend too much time on technical details and do not have time to discuss the main results; others are not well prepared and keep… Continue reading Scientific presentations and the art of storytelling
Changes
Building a new habit is hard. I saw that with blogging twice already. I started and stopped and started and stopped. Now, I am starting a third time and hoping that my blogging routine will stick. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Does that mean I'm insane? Not at all.… Continue reading Changes
What I learned (and didn’t) from a year of blogging
It has been a year since I started blogging. It did not go quite as well as I hoped it would but also not as badly as I was afraid it might. I started full of determination with a clear plan, wrote posts… and then stopped. It took me seven months to start again and… Continue reading What I learned (and didn’t) from a year of blogging
The end is nigh. Well, not really
It is beginning. Earlier this week, I downloaded Scrivener and yesterday, I started outlining my dissertation. I still have a lot of time to finish -- I am currently planning to submit early next year and defend in spring, though that might change -- but I think it is a good idea to start now.… Continue reading The end is nigh. Well, not really
A new start
I am at the point in my PhD where I am truly becoming a researcher and am no longer just a student. How can I tell? I just finished a project I worked on basically since I started my studies more than two years ago. It was my supervisor's idea to study this particular problem,… Continue reading A new start
The joys of theoretical physics
Have you always thought mathematics is dull and complicated? You are certainly not alone. But there is a lot of beauty hidden in it and in the way it describes our world. Theoretical physics is all about using maths to describe nature. As the universe we live in is vast and filled with myriads of… Continue reading The joys of theoretical physics
New page on the basics of quantum physics
Do you have absolutely no knowledge about quantum physics? Do you want to get at least a basic understanding about what it is, why it is important, or how it can be relevant to everyday life? I just added a new page that tries to explain some of these basic questions in (I hope) an… Continue reading New page on the basics of quantum physics