Toot

Written by Sterna Paradisaea on 2025-01-25 at 06:38

Just one thing…

Ten years ago in Greenland, I did not imagine I’d still be doing this job-I found myself very much nodding along with the sentiments of the piece, the conceit that

This part also made me laugh in recognition about what makes people persevere in research:

Lesson 1. Every day has to count for something

exhausted you are by non-deep junk hours, the less you progress.

This was a curiously freeing part to read and I absolutely agree with it. Too often what John Kennedy calls Natureorscience papers are seen as the gold standard. And yet as Daniel Nettle eloquently points out:

order to defend its exclusive market position. If we all send everything there, the rejection rate goes up. If we all increase the quality of our science, it still nearly all gets rejected, by the very design of the institution. The idea that all good papers can be in Nature or Science is as ludicrous as the idea that all Olympic athletes can get gold medals, but without the strong link between actual ability and finishing position that obtains in the Olympics.

For what it’s worth though, I do believe this:

Or so I tell myself, admittedly through clenched teeth at times.

Is back to just one thing in a way.

This is why I do field work. But it’s also why I’ve embraced the opportunity to learn more about deep learning and AI/ML methods. Learning new stuff is exciting, it keeps you fresh and helps make new connections. It’s when disciplines cross-connect that the exciting stuff happens and the sparks fly in the brain.

Learning to fly a drone and to process the data is something I’ve been working on the last few years. I have a really exciting dataset now but little time to work on it. Ifyou’re looking for an interesting MSC thesis project get in touch!A note of caution though, it’s always easier to start something new than finish an old project. The best colleagues will help you stay on track and make sure you finish what you started!

I’m going to add one more point, which isn’t expressly mentioned in the original piece that started this ramble:

Lesson 5: Cultivate outside interests.

Far too many of us put families, friends, sports, hobbies and anything else that doesn’t taste of work to one side, in pursuit of the all-consuming. It’s not only not healthy, it’s also limiting. The brain needs time off to churn away by itself. You can’t force that unconscious process. Better to take a long walk to admire the flowers than try to twist your brain in knots when you hit a wall. A good night’s sleep is an amazingly effective part of the research process too.

So there we have it, some thoughts on being a (mid-career) scientist and how I have managed to stay in the game. YMMV as the Americans say.

Finally, all that I have said relies on having a supportive employer and good colleagues. The sometimes horrifying stories (take for example this one) of people being pushed out by bullying colleagues, or structural discrimination is a whole other story. And not one I’m going to take on here, but I would point out that without organisation, labour inevitably gets crushed by capital, so organise, join a union, find out what your rights are and make sure that you have a supportive hinterland to help you get through the bad times.

And everyday, do just one thing to help you advance.

[#]30DayMapChallenge #AcWriMo #blogging #job #Jobs #People #Science

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Toot

Written by Sterna Paradisaea on 2025-01-25 at 06:38

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