PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Creative thinking for the 21st century

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

One look at any news website will teach you this: we are facing major challenges over the next decades of the 21st century. Global warming research shows a bleak and unstable future ahead. Nonrenewable resources will be depleted. Increasing human population on this planet will place even a larger demand on the resources of the planet...

While some countries are taking the lead to move towards a circular economy in the low-carbon and most likely degrowth era, the global community and political leaders are hesitant to flip the switch and change the status quo.

Now, you may wonder if Auntie Eva is on a political rant today. Don't worry - I am here to raise awareness on how you as a researcher can use your creative skills to make a small contribution to what the 21st century will look like. Regardless of your field of study, you can contribute. If you are a full professor, not shackled by tenure restraints, I would like to invite you to set aside part of your time to work on tackling these big challenges. Climate scientist, political scientist, engineer, psychologist - your point of view is necessary, and I firmly believe that we will need interdisciplinary solutions to solve the challenges ahead.

It's unlikely that you will wake up tomorrow with The Idea that will solve one of the major issues. But with deliberate practice, and setting aside time frequently to think about how you can contribute, we may all inch forward to solutions. Here is what you can do on a regular basis to use your creative thinking for the greater good:

1. Look at the bigger picture
Place your research in the bigger picture. Besides your field, where else could your methods be applied? Can your research results be turned into policy recommendations? Which greater good does your research serve, and how can you make sure the outcome of your research will actually be set to work?

2. Serve locally
Be active in your community. Don't try to be Professor-Messiah, but see how you can gain the trust of a larger group of people around you. Can you help them understand popular science claims in the news, or debunk a fake science article that is going viral on social media? See how you can put your knowledge to work at the local level, and inspire those around you.

3. Serve in committees and working groups
At a professional level, see if you can join interdisciplinary working groups or committees, where you brainstorm together on how to tackle bigger problems. You can work together with colleagues at your institution to see how to reduce the footprint of your institution as a whole. You can work in local groups, to see how you as a team can come up with solutions for pressing issues at a local and/or national level.

4. Read broadly
Be informed about the state of the world. Read broadly about topics related only tangentially to your research. Remember that reading sparks creativity - you may get a good idea to combine your work with something from another discipline. Use smaller side projects to explore different possibilities for interdisciplinary solutions.

5. Educate
Serve those around you and your students by educating them and, if necessary, help them trust science and scientists again. See if you can educate at different levels - by visiting schools, writing blog posts about topics related to science, or by giving a well-funded perspective at a speaking opportunity.

6. Link your research to the sustainable development goals
If you want to better frame your research in the recommended pathways for the future, check how your work can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. Read about the goals, and think about how you can frame your work within these goals, and how you can contribute to sustainable development through your research.

7. Question the status quo
Things don't have to remain the same forever. Question the choices we make because "everybody else does this" or because "I've always done things like this". You don't need to work on the same research topic your entire life. You can explore more interdisciplinary collaborations to see if you find that this work gives you more satisfaction and leads to more actionable items. You can question the way your institution uses natural resources. You can prod politicians about the decisions they have made in the past and continue to support. Keep a fresh mind and stay creative - at all levels.

Life as a Dissertation Committee Member

Today, I am hosting Dr. Steve Tippins from Beyond PhD Coaching to share his thoughts on being a committee member. You may also remember that I recently interviewed Dr. Tippins for the "How I Work" series.

The reason that most of us serve on dissertation committees is for the V.I.P. flights to exotic locations, passes to all Hollywood premiers, and unlimited free dry cleaning. Actually, none of that has ever happened for me or anyone that I know. We serve on dissertation committees because we like to help people and the job is interesting. That said, there can be challenges.

Every committee member that I know goes into a committee assignment hoping that things will go smoothly and the student will finish quickly. Sometimes that happens and other times hopes are not met. I will share here some things that help and hinder the relationship.

It's important to start the relationship off properly. At many institutions, students get to ask faculty members to serve on their committee. If you get the opportunity to choose committee members please take this responsibility seriously. As a faculty member, it is frustrating when a student who has not done their homework about me asks me to serve on a committee that my background and publication history do not match in any way.

After serving on over 80 dissertation committees several things stick out as practices for students to follow.

1. If a committee member makes a comment, make sure you address the comment in the next draft - it is frustrating to take the time to comment on a student's work and then not have the comment addressed. It can feel like a lack of respect.

2. Do not ask a comment member to just tell you what they want you to write - your dissertation is just that, your dissertation. Committee members are there to guide you, not tell you exactly what to do. Part of earning a doctorate is learning how to work with others who have opinions about various topics.

3. Do not assume that you know everything about the topic or school procedures - it is frustrating when you tell a student that, for example, their literature review needs to be 15 pages longer and the student says that the length is sufficient. A committee member only asks for things like this if there is a school requirement or if the literature has not been thoroughly explored.

4. Follow all school requirements - I once served on a committee as the second committee member where the student never got approval for his proposal and went out and did the actual study (no IRB approval either). The committee was presented with a completed dissertation. It was hard to tell the student but his original idea was flawed and the research was not acceptable. He wasted time and thousands of dollars by not following requirements.

5. Back statements up with references and don't write to impress - academic writing is a skill and must be learned. Write like they write in the articles that you read. And, don't use big words just to sound impressive. You want the reader to understand what you are saying.

6. Don't get tired in Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 is where you get to tell the reader what your research means. It is frustrating to see a Chapter 5 where, after a year of hard work, a student writes two paragraphs about the implications of the work. Take some time and really explain what you study means.

7. It is OK to hire people like statisticians to help you but it is your work - but when asked a question at your defense you can't say "my statistician did that, I'm not sure". If you hire people to help you, make sure they also teach you so that you can talk about your work.

My best advice regarding your defense is to be prepared, treat your committee members with respect, and do not read your slides during the presentation. Take time to have practiced your presentation and, if possible, have people stand in as committee members and ask questions. Breathing is good too. Your presentation should not be one long sentence.

It is frustrating as a committee member to see slides filled with words and then have the student read the slides. We can read so keep us engaged.

Finally, answer all questions honestly. If you do not understand what is being asked ask for clarification. Do not make up answers, we will know. It is OK to say you don't know and engage in a conversation with committee members.

You should never be allowed to schedule your oral defense if the committee is not ready to accept and pass your work. Keep that in mind as you prepare your slides and your talk. This is the last hurdle to earning the title Dr.

I am Munirah Al Ajlan, and This is How I Work

Today, I am interviewing Munirah Al Ajlan for the "How I Work" series. Munirah is an English Language Instructor in the College of Engineering and Petroleum in Kuwait University. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and recently finished her PhD in Sociolinguistics from King’s College London. Her research interest falls into linguistics, sociolinguistic, and STEM, specifically engineering. Munirah has presented and published in both local and international conferences/ and proceedings.

General: I am an English Language Instructor at Kuwait University. I have just finished my PhD in Sociolinguistics from King’s College London. I am currently working on few research projects and studies concerning engineering, education, linguistics, and culture.
Current Job: English Language Instructor, College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University
Current Location: Kuwait
Current mobile device: IPhone
Current computer: Mac

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I have just moved back to Kuwait after spending five years working on my PhD in London. I am currently teaching English for Specific Purposes to Engineering students in Kuwait. My PhD research investigates women studying engineering, their stories, their gender, and how they navigate their identities in a taken for granted male dominated field.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I enjoy working on researches, specially the ones that are directly related to my workplace and interests. For researching purposes for example, I have used SPSS in my Master research. However, this tool deals with quantitative analysis. I tried, for my PhD research, to focus on qualitative data rather than quantitative as it yields fruitful results. I mainly used Nvivo as main software for my research.
For teaching purposes, I definitely use my laptop in classroom. I believe that technology in teaching language, and teaching in general is essential. I prepare my material on slides using pictures, videos, audios and sometimes links to programs that students will enjoy. I believe that teaching should not follow the traditional conventional way. Nowadays, and I see that teachers still depend mainly on the books, strict curriculum, and tests. Teaching can always be creative, and we as educators should be using these innovative tools for teaching. These tools will facilitate learning and integrate fun in classroom activities.
I also use an App called MyU. This App is invented to be used for educators and students. Teachers can use this application to communicate with their students, take attendance (either manually or automatically using a barcode for attendance). I have used my own social media account; Twitter to communicate with my students before. However, MyU is a medium, which is completely dedicated for student- teacher communication. I would totally recommend this App to be used.

What does your workspace setup look like?
As an educator and a researcher, I try to look for the best workspace. As this is not always available, and since I got back to Kuwait, I managed to get my own personal space which I call reading/study station located in my house. I also spend quite long time in my own office in the university. I have a spacious office with large windows, good internet connection, desktop, and all my papers around. The only drawback of researching in my office is students going coming in and out. In general, I like to change spaces because this gives me positivity. Coffee shops and libraries are vibrant places for working.


What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Focus. Focus. And Focus. Point out what your academic targets are. Plan well and study the need of your students. I refuse being tethered to traditional books. I try my best to let my students think outside the box. Academics should learn what students really need.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I mainly use a diary to record my appointments and meetings (sometimes, my phone calendar). I work better under pressure. Submission deadlines will always keep me working better. The less time I have, the better I work.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
For teaching purposes: Projectors. I integrate the use of the data show in the classroom. However, this is not always available in the university (or could be there but does not work at all), so I manage to use IPads or Tablets.
As my daily life, I only use my personal mobile device and my laptop.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
Creativity. I always ask my students to ‘think’ ‘don’t only answer’ ‘think outside the box’. I have managed to get my students to watch a movie in class and visit the science museum. These activities are not counted in their marking scheme. These activities help them in the scientific and engineering knowledge in general. I have also asked them to write a narrative essay about their experiences: watching movie and museum visits). Although they were aware that there is no mark for these activities, they were enthusiastic about it and they wrote their essays beautifully. I believe if we as academic motivated our students in such fun activities, their love in learning new knowledge will increase.

What do you listen to when you work?
Music. Music has a powerful influence on the work I do. I cannot work without playing music: Jazz, classics, pop, and country. All genres are welcomed to make me productive.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
End of March I have managed to get into a challenge, which I found through social media suggesting reading four books in April. I remember last April, I finished reading six books, and that was the biggest number I have ever read in a month. This April, I managed to read three books in the first nine days of April (Pistachio Seller, Tourist Guide, and Professor Hana all by Dr. Reem Basiouney). Currently, I am reading Angel by Elizabeth Tylor. Time is very difficult to find, specially, when I am a full time teaching and researching. I squeeze in few pages here and there, even sometimes, when I workout at the gym. The book is always carried in my purse.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I always believed I was an extrovert. I love socialising with people, networking in conferences, I have even made friends through social media. However, I consider the workplace to be a very sensitive context. I try to be very careful with my colleagues. People think of me as an introvert, arrogant, or weird, but for me, drawing lines and limits will help me in my academic career and profession.
Don’t get me wrong, I love teamwork and I think working in a community of practice is essential for effective results. However, we cannot always guarantee people’s work and we see memes on social media making fun about one person work turns to be labeled as teamwork, which I consider not fair.

What's your sleep routine like?
I plan to sleep 7-8 hours per night. However, this is not always the case. Some days I pull an all night to work, mark exams, or prepare materials for the classroom.

What's your work routine like?
I go to work at 8:30 in the morning. Teaching three classes a day is very overwhelming. My friends know me as I am always the last to leave the office even during my student life in London. In Kuwait University, sometimes, even the security comes and asks me if I need to stay more and whether I’ll be okay working till 23:00 sometimes.

What's the best advice you ever received?
I remember when I was applying to start my PhD, my professor in Kuwait University, told me to not sink under the books during my study. I remember him very well saying, enjoy Britain, and always make time to have fun. My friend also told me to let go of the things that put you down. Life moves on whether we are sad or happy. Never take things seriously and personal.

I am Dominique Maciejewski, and This is How I Work

Dominique Maciejewski did her bachelors in psychology in Wuppertal, Germany. In 2011, she came to the Netherlands for an internship at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It was supposed to be a 3-month internship, but Dominique really liked the Netherlands and so she stayed to write her thesis there. She graduated in 2014 from her research masters “Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology”, after which she started her PhD research. In 2016, she received her PhD Degree for her thesis about the development of mood variability during adolescence. In 2016, she went to the United States (Virginia Tech) for a postdoc on neurobiological determinants of adolescent psychopathology. After 6 months, she got offered a job as a postdoc and project coordinator for a large project – the Mood and Resilience in Offspring Project (MARIO; www.mario-project.nl). In 2017, Dominique and her colleagues received 1.4 million euros to set up the MARIO project, a project in children of parents with mood disorders to better understand, detect and prevent depression in those children. Dominique lives with her boyfriend in Amsterdam and enjoys yoga, playing guitar, meeting her friends, and drinking beers on her sunny balcony.

General:
Current Job: Postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator at VUmc and Erasmus MC
Current Location: Amsterdam (VUmc) and Rotterdam (Erasmus MC)
Current mobile device: Samsung Galaxy A5
Current computer: HP at work, at home lenovo laptop

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I am a postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator for a large project called MARIO – Mood and Resilience in Offspring (www.mario-project.nl). Children of parents with mood disorder have a higher chance to also develop a mood disorder, although there is a large percentage that stays resilient. This is a project in which we want to better understand, detect, and prevent depression in children of parents with mood disorders. As a project coordinator, I am doing everything that is needed to supervise the project, for instance our data management, fieldwork and two PhD students, who all do an amazing job. I have weekly meetings with them to discuss the progress, but also with other working groups and the principal investigators. In the past months, I have for instance prepared the application for the medical ethical committee, selected instruments, wrote a codebook, discussed contracts for an app that we want to use, and had a lot of meetings and e-mails. We are now planning to start data collection next month, which is super exciting.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
R and Mplus (statistical software), ToDoist, Google Calendar, Outlook/Gmail, Mendeley, Dropbox/Drive (for sharing papers)

What does your workspace setup look like?

Usually, it is full with papers. My most important thing is my little green notepad. I am still quite old fashioned. I need to take notes on paper. All my meetings and thoughts are in there. Of course I also type them in documents and save them later. I cleaned my desk a bit for the picture.
I work 2 days in Amsterdam and 2 days in Rotterdam. In Amsterdam I share a room with another postdoc and in Rotterdam I work at a flex place. I usually work from home 1 day. I have an own office room, where both my boyfriend and me can work from home if we want to (he is also a researcher). When I work from home, then this is my dedicated research day, because the other days I am so busy with coordinating the project, that I do not find a lot of time anymore for writing my own papers.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Use to do lists and make realistic goals for yourself. ALSO: Do not plan in anything 1-2 hours per day, because there is always something coming up you did not anticipate.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I use ToDoist and Google Calendar, which really helps me, because all tasks I put into ToDoist, automatically appear in Google calendar and I can easily plan things. Moreover, it is also on my phone, so if I quickly think of something that needs to be done, I can just add it to my list. I can also assign it a specific project (but I do not do that anymore, because it costs me too much time).

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
No

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
That I am truly enthusiastic about research and that I love to learn new things. And I can do that quite efficiently (must be my German roots).

What do you listen to when you work?
Usually nothing. If I do tasks that do not require a lot of thinking, I listen to music (currently I am into Hop Along and Florence and the Machine). Sometimes I also listen to audiobooks.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
Currently I am reading Harry Potter (again). It is my favorite book as I read it for the first time when I was a kid. So it is a nice memory. I usually read before bed, but fall asleep after 5 minutes already.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
Depends. I think more an extrovert. But I usually need some time to get used to people. Once, I do that, I never shut up and am very energetic and engaging.
I definitely became more extrovert since I am project coordinator. This is because I often have to call completely random people that I do not know. And if people do not meet their deadlines I have to remind them of them and sometimes I have to be pushy. SO, being extrovert helps.

What's your sleep routine like?
I really try sleeping 7-8 hours every day. For me this is personally super important, because I have bipolar disorder and any drastic change in my sleeping pattern could be associated with an increased risk for mania.

What's your work routine like?
Usually, I work between 8-10 hours. My contract is for 36 hours per week, but recently I found myself working in the evening and weekends. Now, I am practicing more self-care and try to leave office at 6.30 pm the latest and resist the temptation to continue working once I am home.

What's the best advice you ever received?
It is totally fine if you make mistakes. Everybody does and you really will learn from then. If you once fail super hard, then you probably won’t make that mistake again.
Also, there is no shame in getting help if you need it! There are multiple resources available, so make sure to use them.

Defenses around the world: a PhD defense at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Dominique Maciejewski did her bachelors in psychology in Wuppertal, Germany. In 2011, she came to the Netherlands for an internship at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It was supposed to be a 3-month internship, but Dominique really liked the Netherlands and so she stayed to write her thesis there. She graduated in 2014 from her research masters “Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology”, after which she started her PhD research. In 2016, she received her PhD Degree for her thesis about the development of mood variability during adolescence. In 2016, she went to the United States (Virginia Tech) for a postdoc on neurobiological determinants of adolescent psychopathology. After 6 months, she got offered a job as a postdoc and project coordinator for a large project – the Mood and Resilience in Offspring Project (MARIO; www.mario-project.nl). In 2017, Dominique and her colleagues received 1.4 million euros to set up the MARIO project, a project in children of parents with mood disorders to better understand, detect and prevent depression in those children. Dominique lives with her boyfriend in Amsterdam and enjoys yoga, playing guitar, meeting her friends, and drinking beers on her sunny balcony.

On May 2016, I defended my dissertation at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My dissertation was entitled: Keep your mood stable! Adolescent mood variability: Measurement, development, and association with adjustment”. Specifically, we followed around 500 adolescents from 13 to 18 years. During this time, they filled in internet diaries about their emotions 3 week as per year. We were interested about how mood fluctuations developed during adolescence and how they were related to adolescent adjustment. Short story: Adolescent’s mood is most unstable in the beginning of adolescence, but gradually becomes more stable. However a subgroup develops more unstable mood and those also show more psychopathology. If you are interested in the thesis, you can check it out here:

In the Netherlands, a PhD defense is a big event. My defense took place in a large hall with my family, friends and colleagues. Before going into the big hall, you sit in a room that is literally called the “sweat room”. Here you wait until the committee comes to pick you up to explain the procedure to you. The first person going into the hall is a person from the “pedel”. In my case this was a nice lady with a large golden stick. She made sure that everything is running smoothly. Then my supervisors and reading committee entered. Lastly, I came together with my two “paranimfen”, which are two people of your choice who support you during preparations and your defense. I chose two colleagues and close friends of mine and I was happy they were there to call me down, because I was quite nervous.

I had a reading committee consisting of 5 researchers, ranging from assistant to full professors. They had already read my thesis and approved it 5 months before. I started my defense with a 10-minute talk about the results of my PhD research (see a video of that talk here). This is called the “lekenpraatje” and you are supposed to summarize your research over the past years to a lay audience. So, I tried my best that even my parents understood what I was talking about all these years. Although I was really nervous, as soon as I stood on the podium, all my anxiety was gone and I was really ready to defend my thesis.

After my talk, the questioning began and took about 45 minutes. Each member of the reading committee asked me questions about my dissertation. They ranged from broad questions (“why should we study emotions?”) to very technical questions (“what are degrees of freedom?”). I even had a member who did similar research, but found completely opposite results. I was initially scared of her questions, but it turned out to be a wonderful scientific discussion!

After 45 minutes, the lady from the pedel came in with her golden stick, put it on the ground and said “Hora est”, which is Latin for “the time is up”. Then, I left the hall again with my paranimfen, supervisors and committee. The committee went into a separate room and I sat outside with my paranimfen. That was the moment that they decided whether I would receive my PhD or not (although to be fair – if the reading committee approves of your thesis, you generally also pass your defense). Then, they called me in and told me, I received my PhD. Together with them, we went back into the big hall, where the dean told everyone that I officially received my PhD and that I graduated cum laude (i.e., with distinction), which I did not know before and did not expect. This is a really big thing in the Netherlands, as it does not happen a lot. My supervisor then held a really nice speech and I was given my official diploma.

After that, it was time for a celebration. The weather was amazing! I had an official reception and invited my supervisors and family to a dinner. In the evening, I rented a bar and I celebrated with my colleagues, friends and family until 3 in the morning. I can seriously say that this was the best day of my life.

Favorite social media platform for research

I recently ran a poll on Twitter about social media platforms for research. For a long time, I kept both my ResearchGate and Academia.edu profiles up to date, but I always preferred the interface of ResearchGate, even though I've had my Academia.edu for a longer time. I wondered if this is just a matter of personal taste, so I ran this poll and learned that for many researchers, Twitter has everything we need. The winning platform of the poll was ResearchGate, and it looks like Academia.edu is pretty much abandoned.

Here's the poll and its wake:

Minimize worry and maximize writing your dissertation

You may remember that time ago, I invited Dr. Yvette Williams, CEO of The Esteemed Scribe, LLC, for a guest post on Improving weaknesses with your dissertation..

This is a quick service announcement to let you know that Dr. Williams is organizing a webinar, titled Minimize worry and maximize writing your dissertation on September 17th and 24th.

The description of the webinar is as follows:

If you find yourself tired, stressed out, and maybe even worried about finishing writing your dissertation, then this webinar is for you!

In this 30-minute webinar,* you learn:

Three strategies to address weak areas in your dissertation
Three ways to organize the last chapter of your dissertation
Four tips for finding the best editor for your dissertation

A Q & A session will follow the presentation.

As a bonus, participants will receive a special offer at the end of the presentation.

After participating in this webinar, you'll become better at managing the process of writing your dissertation which means you'll write more confidently and efficiently.

Go from stress to successfully finishing writing your dissertation!

Space is limited to 20 participants so sign up today!

*This is an online event. Registered participants will receive a confirmation email within 24-48 hours of the scheduled event date with instructions for how to use the Zoom webinar platform.

You can register for free here.

I am Steve Tippins, and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Steve Tippins. Steve has worked for insurance companies and banks and done consulting for numerous firms, both for profit and not-for-profit. He has been a professor in various forms for 30 years. His true passion lies in helping people achieve their goals.
In graduate school, at Florida State University, he was the only student in a new degree program. All of his classes were one-on-one. He is well aware of the lonely journey of a PhD student. After graduate school he worked at Indiana State University for one year then 10 years at Howard University followed by 9 years at Roosevelt University and 6 years at the University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse. He also worked for Walden University for the last 15 years and spent 4 years on the graduate faculty at NorthCentral University. He has broad experience at both traditional and online schools. He has been granted tenure twice and promoted several times. Holds a Professor Emeritus position at Howard University. Been a Department Chair and served on many search committees and promotion and tenure committees. Steve has published over 50 times in academic journals and presented at many conferences. He has written one book that was translated into Japanese. He has Chaired over 80 dissertation committees. With these accomplishments his biggest joy is in working one-on-one with individuals at beyondphdcoaching.com. He enjoys helping people define their goals both related to school and after school and setting up programs and plans to help them get there.

General:
Current Job: Owner/Coach at www.beyondphdcoaching.com and Contributing Faculty at Walden University
Current Location: Eugene, OR
Current mobile device: Iphone 6
Current computer: Macbook - I don't like it as I prefer to be hardwired to the internet yet there is only one port for connecting. There are after market devices that accept the internet connection and the power adapter but they tend to break easily

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I currently teach online and coach doctoral students and recent PhD graduates about their careers. Five years ago we had the chance to move to Costa Rica so I resigned from my job at the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. After 3 years of Costa Rican life (we really enjoyed it) my wife decided to get a graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy so we moved to Eugene. I miss the classroom but I love working with my coaching clients and helping them reach their goals.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
The Microsoft suite of programs, my website, and coaching management software (I am just installing this and hope that it really works out). The internet provides everything else that I need at this point.

What does your workspace setup look like?
My workspace is anywhere that I open my laptop. Most days I sit on the couch at home but have been known to work from a tent at a campground, in a coffee shop, or even in my car.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Keep at it! Knowledge grows in incremental steps and our work gets done in small pieces. If you get discouraged take a moment to see how far you have come instead of looking at how far you have to go.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I am a big list maker and and calendar user. Everyday I look at what needs to be accomplished today, this week, and this month. I am a plodder, I like to get a little bit done every day instead of waiting until the last minute. I also like to be finished a few days before a deadline and let whatever it is sit for a day before I submit anything. That gives my mind a day to let it sit there and see if anything else arises.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I am pretty much a Luddite, I find that my computer and phone are enough.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
I have been successful taking complicated topics and making them easy for students to understand. As a researcher I figured out a long time ago the review is an outlet for just about anything and not to take the comments of reviewers personally. This has helped me move forward if an article gets rejected.

What do you listen to when you work?
I like Folk music and sometimes Classical or Rock. If I need to be creatively inspired the tight harmonies of the Indigo Girls always seem to help me.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I make sure that I read every night before I go to sleep. My wife and I have been reading to each other before we go to sleep for over 20 years. I find it helps us connect and sleep. On my own I am currently reading Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva and a biography of Winston Churchill.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am basically an introvert but in some situations have extrovert tendencies (usually not work related). I like to let ideas come to me so I need time alone to let this happen. I have come up with many ideas while running, biking, or wandering around. I find that I need to give myself space and then ideas/solutions come.

What's your sleep routine like?
I like to be in bed by 10:00 pm every night (many nights earlier) and am up by 5:30 am.

What's your work routine like?
I like to start work by 7:00 am and finish up by 2:00 pm if possible. I do set aside time for phone calls throughout the day.

What's the best advice you ever received?
"Take a moment to listen to your inner voice - you really know what you want"

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: How to find papers when you do your literature review

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

When you start your literature review, you may feel intimidated by the quantity of work that you should go through. You may as well be worrying where to start in the first place.

In today's post, we look at different places where you can find (references to) papers that could be of your interest. Not all papers will eventually be equally important for your thesis. Depending on the article and its contents, you may simply browse the article for the main findings in less than 20 minutes, or you may sit down with the article for a week, pulling apart all its calculations and equations. But of course, you can't know how important a reference is until you find it and have a first look at it.

Here are nine different places where you can find (references to) papers that you may want to check:

1. Ask your supervisor where to start
If your supervisor gave you your thesis topic, he/she may already have a folder with information on the topic. Especially when you are hired on a funded project, your supervisor must have already been doing some preliminary work to write the proposal. Your first destination for your literature review is thus to ask your supervisor for references that can get you started.

2. Read up on the basics in a textbook
If you are new to a topic, there is no harm in reading a textbook. While a textbook may not have the depth and information of a journal article, it can provide you with the basic concepts that you need to understand to start reading in more detail. In addition to this information to get you started, textbooks also typically have extensive lists of references. You can check out these references and download the relevant articles.

3. References from the research proposal
If you're hired on a funded project, then the references to the research proposal are a good place to start familiarizing yourself with the work that supported the proposal in the first place. Download the references cited in the proposal so that you have all relevant background.

4. Find a good review paper on your topic
An excellent starting place for finding good references as well as getting a broad overview of your research topic, is by reading and analyzing a review paper on the topic. The references cited in the review paper can then be next up on your reading list.

5. Look for technical reports, theses, code documents etc
Don't limit yourself to research papers to find references to other papers. In technical reports and code documents on your topic, you can find important citations (as well information of practical value). When it comes to depth and extent of analytical work, nothing is as complete as a PhD thesis. Look for theses from students who worked on your topic, and see which references they cited.

6. Google Scholar
Google Scholar can help you find relevant articles by using the search function. In addition, you can subscribe to updates of colleagues in your field, so that you have the latest references accessible. Depending on the publisher of a journal paper, Google Scholar may also be faster in reporting a certain article in their database than other database, which can take up to 2 years to include an article.

7. Scopus
While Scopus has strong searching functions, and help with identifying the relative importance of a paper in its field with the published metrics, it may be slow in including articles (for my own publications, I have noticed it may take up to 2 years before an article is included).

8. ResearchGate
ResearchGate allows for "traditional" searching for publications, but it also allows you to do the following: 1) follow researchers in your field so you can see their updates, 2) follow research projects of other researchers to receive updates, and 3) interact by commenting on publications, asking questions, and sending direct messages.

9. References of papers
Just as for the list of references of a good review paper, the list of references of any paper you read can be a good starting point to find more papers to read. Make it a habit to carefully check the list of references and see which publications you have "missed" so far.

Presentation about Load Testing of Structures

The ACI USFQ Student Chapter organized a session with presentations last October. I gave a general introduction to the session, as well as an overview of load testing of structures. You can find my slides here:

Load testing of structures from Eva Lantsoght

Selecting your research topic is the first step for a successful career

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Dr. Moustafa Gabr with a guest post about selecting your research topic. Dr. Gabr is a recent PhD graduate in chemistry from University of Iowa. He completed his undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences in Egypt. After earning his Master’s degree in medicinal chemistry in a joint program between Georgia State University and Mansoura University, he pursued a PhD in bioinorganic chemistry. Moustafa has more than 25 publications in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. His ORCID is 0000-0001-9074-3331. Moustafa has a strong passion for utilizing chemistry tools to answer long-existing questions in biology. His Twitter account @gabr2003

There is no question that choosing research advisor is the most important decision graduate students make during their doctoral training. Now you have chosen an advisor who you think can provide a mentoring style and healthy environment that would lead to your success in graduate school. The step that you should be considering at this point is the selection of your research project. Since you have joined this specific research group, you are already interested in more than one line of research pursued in this group. Most likely, your advisor has given general guidelines for your proposed project as well as recommendations for specific start points. Now it’s on you to pursue your own research path which will start with selecting a research topic.

Let your reading in literature guide you. The more you read about relevant research problems and the proposed solutions for them, the more you are capable of proposing alternative solutions to the existing research questions as well as identifying new questions. In your first year, try to focus on literature relevant to your current research. However, reading in other research areas will be very helpful starting from your second year in graduate school.
Scientific progress is incremental. However, that doesn’t mean that it lacks innovation. You can start with trying to use previous findings from your group or other groups to find a novel connection or a new research direction.

Be realistic. There are many interesting research projects, however, you need to choose a project that is feasible. As an early graduate student, you have a heavy course load and numerous skills to develop. The last thing you want to add at this point is a project with limited feasibility based on research costs, time needed and required facilities. With the level of experience of a first year graduate, this information can be obtained by communicating with senior graduate students and your advisor.

Consider your career goals. Indeed the research project you are choosing now will affect your progress in graduate school. Importantly, this research will set the stage for your postdoctoral experience as well. Research projects that address questions related to broad-ranging problems are most likely to attract opportunities for you in both academia and industry. A trending research topic at the moment might be outdated research in the near future. When you are selecting your research topic, keep in mind that you should select a project that has the potential to be a hot topic in the next few years when you are in the job market.

Collaborative versus independent research. A main objective for you as a junior researcher is to be an independent thinker and build expertise in your field. However, seeking what current or potential collaborators can add to your research might be a pivotal factor in furthering your career motives and objectives.

Now you have your research topic: Write and talk. The first thing you want to do is to write your primary research question in one sentence. Summarize your proposed approach in few sentences. Putting your idea into words will develop clearer vision which fosters more ideas. Talk to peers about your proposed research and see if they are convinced with the significance of the research problem. Pay attention to their questions which can guide you to reorganize your thoughts.

Stop Criteria for Flexure for Proof Load Testing of Reinforced Concrete Structures

My collaborators and myself recently published a paper titled "Stop Criteria for Flexure for Proof Load Testing of Reinforced Concrete Structures" in Frontiers in Built Environment - Bridge Engineering.

The work in this paper was sponsored by my Chancellor grant of 2016. Three years later, and I finally managed to wrap my head around the topic. Sometimes, we need to let our ideas stew for a while and revisit them every now and then until I have a good idea - this paper was such a situation.

The abstract is as follows:
Existing bridges with large uncertainties can be assessed with a proof load test. In a proof load test, a load representative of the factored live load is applied to the bridge at the critical position. If the bridge can carry this load without distress, the proof load test shows experimentally that the bridge fulfills the requirements of the code. Because large loads are applied during proof load tests, the structure or element that is tested needs to be carefully monitored during the test. The monitored structural responses are interpreted in terms of stop criteria. Existing stop criteria for flexure in reinforced concrete can be extended with theoretical considerations. These proposed stop criteria are then verified with experimental results: reinforced concrete beams failing in flexure and tested in the laboratory, a collapse test on an existing reinforced concrete slab bridge that reached flexural distress, and the pilot proof load tests that were carried out in the Netherlands and in which no distress was observed. The tests in which failure was obtained are used to evaluate the margin of safety provided by the proposed stop criteria. The available pilot proof load tests are analyzed to see if the proposed stop criteria are not overly conservative. The result of this comparison is that the stop criteria are never exceeded. Therefore, the proposed stop criteria can be used for proof load tests for the failure mode of bending moment in reinforced concrete structures.

Database of Shear Experiments on Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams without Stirrups

I recently published a paper in Materials titled "Database of Shear Experiments on Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams without Stirrups". This is my first paper as a single author, of one of my new research projects in Ecuador related to the shear capacity of steel fiber reinforced concrete.

The abstract is as follows:

Adding steel fibers to concrete improves the capacity in tension-driven failure modes. An example is the shear capacity in steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams with longitudinal reinforcement and without shear reinforcement. Since no mechanical models exist that can fully describe the behavior of SFRC beams without shear reinforcement failing in shear, a number of empirical equations have been suggested in the past. This paper compiles the existing empirical equations and code provisions for the prediction of the shear capacity of SFRC beams failing in shear as well as a database of 488 experiments reported in the literature. The experimental shear capacities from the database are then compared to the prediction equations. This comparison shows a large scatter on the ratio of experimental to predicted values. The practice of defining the tensile strength of SFRC based on different experiments internationally makes the comparison difficult. For design purposes, the code prediction methods based on the Eurocode shear expression provide reasonable results (with coefficients of variation on the ratio tested/predicted shear capacities of 27–29%). None of the currently available methods properly describe the behavior of SFRC beams failing in shear. As such, this work shows the need for studies that address the different shear-carrying mechanisms in SFRC and its crack kinematics.

What do you do when you receive a review invitation for a very poorly written abstract

As I recently received the invitation to review a paper of which the abstract was poorly written, I was pondering what I should do:

- I don't like slogging through a poorly written paper - it makes review so much harder.
- The topic is of my interest, maybe their work is good even though the writing is bad.
- They should get help on the writing first before submitting it, it's not my job to help them with this.
- The editor should have caught this.
- Maybe another reviewer will reject it, and maybe this is good work, and that would be a pity for the authors.


I usually end up taking the review and trying to provide constructive comments, but I don't like it (poorly written work is simply really hard to read and understand).

So, as I was wondering what others do in that case, I ran a poll on the topic.

You can find the poll and the discussion below:

Tools for planning your PhD: the PhD Planner

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know that I think planning is an essential skill to get work done. I plan at different levels, and the tools that I use for this are my Google Calendar, ToDoist, and a BulletJournal style notebook (which doesn't follow exactly the BuJo system).

I set up my spreads in my notebook myself, but if you want a preprinted planner for academic success, there is the PhD Planner. I learned about this planner from its creator, who was kind enough to send me a free copy.

So what does this planner have:
- half-year spreads to help you plan long-term and note down important deadlines
- weekly spreads, which you can use for writing down priorities and appointments
- paper planning spreads, to help you get your manuscript out
- conference planning spreads, which facilitate all the actions you need to take care of before and after a conference
- a deep work tracker to help you get into the habit of making time for and doing deep work
- quarterly progress spreads, to identify your goals per quarter



I must say, that I haven't come around to using this planner (even though I've been dragging it to my office every day) because I already have a BuJo system in place that works very well for me - and as a faculty member, my responsibilities are a bit more distributed than for a PhD student. One thing I also noticed is that the paper on which the journal is printed is not very friendly for those of us who write with a fountain pen (for my BuJo, I use a Moleskine, and their paper is soft as butter for writing).

Nonetheless, if you don't have a fixed, well-working time management system in place, or you feel your system could need a refresh, I strongly recommend you check out and try out this planner.

This planner is a great tool for PhD students. As you may be getting ready now for the start of the academic year, do yourself the favor of ordering your planner now :)

The Desks of Academia

I recently ran a poll to see if most of us have clean or messy desks - or something in between.

I work at four desks: my home, my office in Ecuador, my office in the Netherlands, and my room in the Netherlands.
My desk at home is in a room that also has the baby's changing station and other baby stuff. Bay stuff easily migrates to the flat surfaces of my desk. I'm trying to clean in up and redesign it as a work spot, not a random dump-stuff-here place, but that's work in progress.
My desk at my office in Ecuador is clean (the desk itself), but stuff spills over on my meeting table and side table.
My desk in the Netherlands is spotless - when I'm not there, I want to have the space available for any temporary guest who may need a place to work. Similarly, my desk in my room in the Netherlands is clean.

Here's the poll and its wake:

10 Planning Concepts I Wish I'd known Before my PhD

On March 14th, I gave a presentation for the opening of the academic year as part of the XV week of Postgraduate Studies for the School of Engineering at Universidade de Sao Paolo in Sao Carlos. The topic of this presentation was time management for graduate students.

I couldn't make the trip to Brazil (the Toddler Empress did not approve), but I gave the presentation by videoconference. I'm grateful to USP - Sao Carlos for hosting me.

Here are the slides of my presentation:

10 Planning Concepts I wish I'd known Before my PhD from Eva Lantsoght

The recording of the presentation is on YouTube:

How do scientists react to take-down notices?

Lately, I've been receiving emails from Elsevier, telling me that they are sending take-down notices to ResearchGate for papers that I have privately stored on the RG servers. These are not papers that are ready for download at one click - if somebody wants the paper, they need to send me a direct message, and then I can reply with the paper. For convenience, RG gives me the option to store papers privately on their server, to make sharing easier.

I must say, I wasn't too happy with these notices, and really think Elsevier is taking this too far. As a reaction, I am not taking on any new review assignment from Elsevier journal, but send a message to the editor that I am displeased with these actions from Elsevier, and I am moving towards submitting my work mostly to open access journals.

I wonder if I reacted too strongly to these messages about take-down notices. Did Elsevier just rub my the wrong way? Do other scientist feel the same? I ran a quick poll on Twitter.

The results of this poll and its wake are here:

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Defining thesis topics for undergraduate students

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

Depending on the requirements of your institution, undergraduate students may need a thesis to graduate. In some institutions, the thesis is optional, and students can chose between an exam or a thesis.

If you are a new university professor, you may give overly ambitious topics to your undergraduate thesis students. Try to place yourself in their shoes before you try to simply plug a student in one of your research projects. While I do think including undergraduate these students in research projects can be very beneficial (for the project as well as for the student), you cannot simply shove off part of your research to an undergraduate student.

I have, by now, directed a number of undergraduate thesis projects at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (12 students have graduated under my supervision), and I can share my best advice with you here on how to define a good thesis topic for an undergraduate student.

1. Case study
Given the short duration of an undergraduate thesis, a case study can be an excellent topic for a thesis. If your student is planning to go to the industry after graduation, then a case study may serve his/her needs more than a research topic. You can identify a case that fits within your current research projects to keep the outcome related to your work, but it's not a must. Again, not every student should do / wants to do / needs to do a research project for their undergraduate thesis.

2. Well-defined research project
If you do want to venture into research with an undergraduate student, and you have talked through the options very well and clearly with your student, then you may find yourself in a enjoyable position. Nothing makes me as happy as seeing how students get a first taste of research when working on their undergraduate thesis. And for some students who continue in research, they may also have forever fond memories of working on research with you for the first time in their life.
So, if your students decides to take on a research-related topic for the undergraduate thesis, then you should keep in mind that the research question should be limited. When you come fresh out of your postdoc, give your student a research topic that does not require much additional skills beyond what he/she has learned so far, and work that you could finish in about 1 month if your student has a year to work on the undergraduate thesis.

3. Consider planning
Depending on your institution, the time period available for the undergraduate thesis project ranges between a few weeks and a year. Make sure you know the requirements well before you talk with your student about your planning. Know when your student will be defending (if there is a defense), and when preliminary and final documents need to be submitted.
Then, invite your student to identify the required tasks during the thesis period, and to make a planning. When he/she has a draft list of tasks and planning, sit together, and discuss the options and feasibility of the planning - your student does not know how to plan research yet.

4. Start writing early
As the undergraduate thesis report may be one of the first pieces of academic writing of your student, make sure he/she starts writing early. Request document at the beginning of the second half of the time period for the research, and give constructive feedback to the work of your student and his/her writing. Of course, you should already have a good idea of the work itself (I meet weekly for 30' with my thesis students to discuss progress), but it is in writing that certain things may capture your attention, and where you may find parts of the work that need strengthening.

5. Involve students in research before the final semester
If your institution only gives one semester or quarter for the undergraduate research project, you can invite students to work with you on a research-related topic already before the final semester. For some of the more extensive projects that I have worked on with my students, I have worked with them for up to 1,5 years. I invite them to see if they are interested in research in the first place, and if so, I try to work with them for a slightly longer amount of time. My goal here is not to overload students in terms of workload, but if we want to do experimental work, for example, the time it takes to import instrumentation is often very long, so that experiments are simply not an option for a 1-semester project. If we start to work earlier, we may be able to do something fun in the lab.

6. Consider their career plans
I've mentioned this advice already before: always talk with your student about their interests and their career plans. Our work as university professors is not to have a battalion of minions doing our research work for us. Our work is to guide young people on their career path: finding their interest and helping them sort out what they want to do after graduation. Don't limit your possible topics to elements of your research. Try to broaden your horizon and open up to a larger variety of topics.

7. Publishing?
I have published with my undergraduate students: conference papers, and I have a few papers in review of which the first author is a former undergraduate student. Publishing certainly is not a must. But if your student is interested in continuing studies after the undergrad years, then why not? Again, make sure your student understands the expectation and the extra workload this implies. And on your side, make sure you understand that you will need to teach your students how to write a paper. If both are clear on the expectations, then you can discuss if you should pursue this option.

The Shallows in academia

While I was reading The Shallows I ran a poll on Twitter to see if others recognize themselves in what this book mentions: that all the reading we do online results in us being unable to concentrate on long stretches of text. As for myself, I read a lot on an e-reader, but I don't find the experience all that different from reading a print book. I read a fair amount, and I don't feel like I lost the ability to read long stretches of text - but perhaps that is because I read daily. In fact, 41% of the respondents of this poll do agree that they have more difficulties reading long stretches of (print) text.