On Friday last week I signed my contract and started my job as a postdoctoral researcher at the IFT in Madrid. It feels extremely good to type that. I have also been waiting a very long time to write this post. I was offered this job on the 12th of April 2020 — when the…… Continue reading The road (back) to Madrid
Britgrav21
It turns out my goal of writing a post every day for thirty days was indeed too ambitious! I’m both time- and content-poor at the moment, so I’ve revised the five posts I did make into a new “daily” category, to which I’ll add short updates on my work and what I’m doing on those…… Continue reading Britgrav21
Visa application
I am starting to regret this resolution of writing a blog post every day for thirty days. I’ve already missed a few days so the thirty will no longer be consecutive and perhaps my days are not as interesting as I anticipated. I suppose that’s mainly because this week has been a week of admin…… Continue reading Visa application
A manifesto, rugby tickets and a haircut
Today was a positive day in terms of research — a sad rarity in recent times! I firstly had a short meeting with my new postdoc bosses and we discussed a kind of manifesto they have put together, in which they have explained their expectations for me in the role and presented their individual working…… Continue reading A manifesto, rugby tickets and a haircut
Using a Jupyter notebook to make presentation slides
I’m in a strange kind of limbo at the moment. I’m not being paid, since I can’t sign my new contract without being physically present in Spain. And, until the 30th of March, it was physically impossible to enter Spain unless you were a Spanish resident, since the borders were closed due to Covid restrictions.…… Continue reading Using a Jupyter notebook to make presentation slides
Running, paper revisions, talk writing
I started this morning in unusually energetic fashion, by going for a run before starting work. It was a bit chilly but the sky was clear blue and the sun was shining. The birds were singing and the blackthorn blossom has topped the newly green trees and hedges with a creamy white glaze. The daffodils…… Continue reading Running, paper revisions, talk writing
Philosophy and cosmology
I’ve decided it’s time to improve the consistency of my writing and practice makes perfect, as they say. So, starting from today, I’m going to a write a blog post every day for thirty days (excluding weekends and holidays). By my calculation, this means the last post in the thirty day sequence will come on…… Continue reading Philosophy and cosmology
My PhD viva
In this post, I’ll discuss how I prepared for my PhD viva exam in cosmology, what the viva itself was like and what happened next. I submitted my PhD thesis on the 4th of January 2021 (which also happened to be my birthday) and had my viva exam on the 3rd of February. This is…… Continue reading My PhD viva
The end (and the beginning)
Last week I passed my viva and consequently I have finished my PhD! I have to make some very minor corrections to my thesis, but my three year and three month journey in PhD-land has come to an end. I thought I was going to be fairly melancholy after finishing, for a number of reasons.…… Continue reading The end (and the beginning)
Writing my PhD thesis
How do you write a PhD thesis? This question sounds like the start of the old joke: “How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time”. A PhD thesis is a document which must explain, summarise and defend three or more years of research in your chosen field, often running to 40,000 words…… Continue reading Writing my PhD thesis
