Publication metrics

I recently ran a poll on Twitter on which platform is most used for publication metrics. While in my field it seems to be Scopus, the consensus of the poll is clear: Google Scholar!

Here's the wake of the poll

Proof load testing of viaduct De Beek

I recently gave a presentation about a case study of a proof load test at the IABSE event organized by the national groups of Belgium and the Netherlands.

You can find the slides of the presentation here:

Proof load testing of viaduct De Beek from Eva Lantsoght

Two papers on the arched strut

In 2018, I was co-author of two papers on the topic of the arched strut - both were presented by my colleague Dr. Alexander.

The first paper, presented at the conference on Short and Medium Span Bridges in Quebec City, looks at the use of the arched strut for approach slabs of bridges and considers the effect of fatigue. The abstract is as follows:

Strut-and-tie models (STM) are appropriate for analyzing and designing disturbed regions in a reinforced concrete structure. The arched strut is an addition to the STM tool kit. It models the combination of disturbed behavior in one direction with slender behavior in the perpendicular direction. The arched strut is part of the Strip Model, originally developed to model load transfer between a two-way slab and its supporting column.
It is difficult to define the geometry of conventional STM in a slab. One end of the strut is connected to the concentrated load but there is no similar feature to define the position of the other end. The arched strut is a means of addressing this difficulty. The method does not model a failure criterion; rather, it defines an acceptable load path that meets static and material constraints.
This paper summarizes the technique in the context of column-slab connections, develops the modifications needed to model conventional punching of an approach slab under a patch load, and proposes additional modifications to adapt the analysis to fatigue loading.
The principal findings are that, while the analysis for two-way shear given in S6-14 are deficient, the punching strength of a typical approach slab under both static and fatigue loading from a CL-W truck should not be a concern.


The second paper, presented at IABSE Nantes in September 2018, describes the arched strut from a more general perspective and shows how the arched strut can be used as a tool in the strut-and-tie models toolkit. The abstract is as follows:

The arched strut is an addition to the strut-and-tie (STM) tool kit. It models the combination of disturbed behavior in one direction with slender behavior in the perpendicular direction. Common applications for the arched strut are in the design of connections between a reinforced concrete slab and its supporting columns or punching of bridge decks.
The arched strut can be applied to any combination of shear and moment at a column-slab connection. The designer is given clear guidance on anchorage requirements for the flexural reinforcement and the expected ductility of the connection. The method does not model a particular failure criterion; rather, it defines an acceptable load path that meets design objectives.
The paper outlines the basis for the arched strut and presents examples illustrating its use in design.

Getting into the habit... A PhD student’s perspective on data management

Today's post is a guest post by Annemarie Hildegard Eckes. Annemarie is a PhD student in Biogeography at the department of Geography in Cambridge, working with all sorts of data and formats: Climate data in .netcdf, and .txt format. Tree growth dynamics data in .excel spreadsheets. Tree ring anatomical data as images, and later as .txt -files. Her project involves the development of a computer model that simulates how a tree stem grows in width, in response to the environment (temperature, precipitation etc..). The ultimate aim is for the final model to be used in the vegetation model HYBRID, developed by Andrew Friend, to help in projections on how vegetation will behave under climate change in the future.
All this data needed to be described and managed well, for example: who gave it to me? What did I do to it? How to make sure I don’t lose it? How do I version control and document the scripts that use the data and the model that I compare the data against? How will I make sure the data and scripts during my PhD will be shared with the community and what standards should I adhere to, to make reusability really easy? Annemarie didn’t feel that she had enough expertise in this, but wanted to do it right from the start. Before she started her PhD she worked with a database for crop data. That’s when she really learned how poorly documented and poorly organised research data can slow down a research project immensely and she did not want to make the same mistake which she has seen experienced researchers make. Her previous experience and motivation to acquire good habits right from the start got hervery interested in RDM and made me an advocate for it as Cambridge and JISC data champion.

A PhD project is a significant period in a researcher’s life. During the project, we generally must develop our own research question and methodology, generate data and publish our results in papers and as a final thesis. Such a project is meant to teach us how to conduct research. This is the crucial time in which we as early career researchers should pick up the right habits for our future as successful scientists.

Research Data Management (RDM) is an important day-to-day activity for Scientists. Research output, collaborations and productivity depend on it. No surprise, then, that the documentation of a project’s RDM has become a requirement for many grant applications. By writing a Data Management Plan as part of the PhD proposal, we students are not only confronted with the whole data lifecycle of our research data before it is even generated, but we also gain experience in how such a plan is written. Early career researchers such as us PhD students should not underestimate the importance of skills in RDM, which in my opinion are nowadays pretty essential for a good scientific career.

I think “data management” in its most basic form starts with managing your email inbox. To me, it often is simply the act of keeping all information that I deal with in order. We all do it more or less all the time. The tricky bit is how to deal with what we call research data the best way. As we may be new to the research subject of our PhD, we may not know how best to collect, document and manage the data we are dealing with.

PhD students and RDM training
The point of a PhD is to learn how to conduct research and RDM is part of that process. But sometimes it may be important to learn about good practices right from the beginning, rather than getting into bad habits that cause problems later in your research.

I think that training in RDM for us PhD students is useful for two reasons, firstly to learn the right habits and secondly to enhance productivity throughout the duration of the PhD.

Figure 1 RDM-smileys: In talks I give about research data management, I like to use these smileys in my presentations. The first row at the beginning and the second row at the end of the talk. The principle behind these smileys is based on a presentation by the Cambridge office for Scholarly communication.

I conducted a survey and interviews at our department, asking fellow PhD students about their data management practices, the data types they collected and their training needs. Participants at the end of their PhD indicated that they generally felt prepared to conduct data management in their coming research career, while they also say that they would have benefited from training at the beginning of their PhD. In one interview, this came out especially, with one interviewee stating that “the lack of training in research data management slowed me down”. This shows that while we PhD students have ourselves learned more on the aspects of data management during our PhD, early training would have made us more productive - and certainly more happy ( see figure 1)! Please check this blog entry where I discuss some of the survey results.

PhD students and the data tree training platform
An online platform that provides training on RDM for PhD students is in my opinion a much needed resource! I think that at the beginning of my PhD, I would have been happy if Data Tree had existed to provide me with a good overview of RDM.

As an online course it is accessible to all PhD students at any time. And with some of us having crazy schedules and weird working and sleeping habits, doing such training in our own time might help us remain flexible. It’s my experience that people do not spend the time to come to talks or workshops. While my survey showed clearly that PhD students do think RDM is important, the turnout to stand-alone talks, workshops and other events I have organised has been rather low. I hope that such a continuously accessible platform would decrease the barrier to learning more about RDM.

While time and timing might be a barrier to learning about and performing RDM, I wonder whether the main reason PhD for students not attending training courses is the lack of priority. For many busy PhD students, RDM never seems to be a priority- and neither does RDM training. Therefore, PhD students will probably need to be encouraged in some ways to make use of this online platform. One option could be that Universities make this online course count in their PhD training logs.

It will be interesting to see how the platform is taken up and what strategies are used to encourage us busy PhD students to do this online course. I wish this platform a good start, a lot of users and that it makes a significant contribution to PhD students’ success in RDM!

Moving towards more Open Access publishing?

Eleven countries in Europe formed cOAlition-S, with as its basic principle:

"After 1 January 2020 scientific publications on the results from research funded by public grants provided by national and European research councils and funding bodies, must be published in compliant Open Access Journals or on compliant Open Access Platforms.”

I wondered if researchers are planning to move more towards open access, and ran a poll on the topic.

Here are the poll and its wake:

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Activism in academia

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!

Activism in academia is a hot topic. Some argue that our only responsibility is to do the research, and publish our results - and the rest will sort itself out: the right people will pick up on our conclusions and turn this into policies and actionable items. Some go even further, and say that activism is a threat to carrying out research in a neutral environment.

I beg to differ - with more and more voices trying to persuade that science is something almost like a religion (you believe in it or not), I feel compelled to roll up my sleeves and turn my work into more practical and actionable items. The wake-up call for me was the latest IPCC report and the loud and clear alarm bells our fellow scientists are ringing. I spent quite some time wondering how I can contribute. While I'm only exploring these options recently, I wanted to share these with you, and get your feedback on this!

Here are some of the ideas that I collected:

1. Develop case studies
Think about how your cause of interest is affected by your field. For example, in my case, the cement used for building concrete structures is a large contributor to the world's CO2 emissions. Since a while, I've been adding calculations of carbon footprint and driver delays (as a measure of social cost) when I want to estimate the cost of a certain decision (replacement, testing, maintenance...) of an existing bridge. Presenting the results in such a format can shine a different light on the choices we make.

Another example could be that you want to see more gender balance in your field and/or institution. A first step could be to simply gather data: which % of students are female? Which % of faculty members, deans, etc?

2. Use speaking opportunities
When you are invited to give a presentation, and depending on the audience, take the chance to talk about how your cause of interest is related to your field. In the past, I've been taking the opportunity to talk about maintenance of existing structures when invited to speak to a general audience of the construction industry in Ecuador, since I feel that all attention here goes to building new structures, after which we just turn our back to this structure and never give it the maintenance it needs to thrive. At a next opportunity, I would like to talk about steps the construction industry can take to be more climate-conscious and eventually CO2-neutral.

3. Volunteer your free time
If you feel that in your professional life, it is difficult to link your cause of interest and your work, then you can consider volunteering some of your time to contribute to your cause. You can also pledge to give a certain percentage of your income every month to a charity that fights for your cause.

I must say that, even though I would love to go out and do volunteering work in the Amazon, my current family situation is not very compatible with this (my toddler would probably run off into the jungle or eat a poisonous bug). I've been thinking about this option, but haven't been able to realize it yet - nor have I been able to pledge part of my income constantly to a cause; I chip in when I can for now.

4. Take on a side research project that is related to your cause of interest
Sometimes, I feel like I am not doing research in the field that matters most for the future of humanity. I wonder if I could do more if I had been a researcher studying, for example, infectious diseases or climate change directly. For now though, I want to see if I can volunteer some of my research time to developing recommendations for the local construction industry, so that they can reduce their carbon footprint and fresh water use. Once I have these recommendations ready, I need to see how I can communicate these effectively - not with a boring report, but perhaps through infographics and lots of visuals.

5. Lead by example
I once read (and unfortunately forgot where) that as university professors, we have a responsibility to lead by example. Driving to work in a SUV and then talking about carbon footprints sends conflicting messages to our students. In our daily choices, we should show to way forward. I try to set an example by walking my commute (for now, I still live close to campus), eating no animal products, and trying as much as possible to sort out my trash and recycle. I'm also much more conscious about my conference travel, and reducing this as much as possible to limit my CO2 emissions related to air travel (and also because my daughter doesn't do well when I'm away from home).

6. Teach students how to read science
If we want people to make informed decisions, they need to learn how to interpret and analyze information. In the era of fake news, there are sadly predatory journals that have been publishing bogus science (for example, studies supporting antivaxxer claims), which gives even more fuel to those who say that "scientists are in disagreement" on topics such as vaccinations and global warming. It's important we teach our students where to find peer-reviewed articles (and certainly, post-publication peer review and "endorsements" of researchers for published articles can be an extra confirmation of quality), and teach them the basics of the scientific methods, so that they can check if the presented methods are valid. I am even leaning towards saying that this skill should be part of the high school curriculum.

Two papers from IABMAS 2018

My colleagues and I have published two papers in IABMAS 2018. I was supposed to travel to Melbourne to present these papers, but it was very shortly after my return from my annual research stay in Delft, and my baby girl did not take well to my absence and return, so I was adviced to invest time in restoring our bond. I was warned against not traveling after such a short time again, as it may leave her confused. So I canceled the conference (only second time ever I had to cancel a conference, and I did feel bad about it, but I also felt bad about my baby not being well because of my long absence...).

The two papers we published were part of a Special Session that we organized at the conference (it's a pity I couldn't travel and chair the session I spent so much time preparing on, but such is life...).

The first paper is "Monitoring crack width and strain during proof load testing" and the abstract is:
In a proof load test, the applied load is representative of the factored live load, to demonstrate experimentally that the bridge fulfils the code requirements. Signs of distress must be caught with the instrumentation by defining stop criteria. In the literature, several stop criteria for flexure are available. The German guidelines describe, amongst others, a limiting crack width and strain. However, the background of these limiting values is not clear. Therefore, a theoretical approach based on flexural theory is followed. The theoretically derived values are then compared to experimental results obtained from beam experiments. The result of this research work is a limiting value of crack widths and strains that can be used during proof load testing of concrete bridges. The arbitrary stop criteria that were used in the past can now be replaced by stop criteria that are based on the theory of concrete beams in flexure.

The second paper is "Twenty years monitoring of a high strength concrete cantilever bridge" and the abstract is:
In 1997 the Second Stichtse Bridge, a high strength concrete box girder bridge was built in the Netherlands using the balanced cantilever method. At that time, the long-term behaviour of this material (with a cube compressive strength of 75 MPa) was not known. Therefore, it was proposed to monitor the material behaviour and the deflections of the bridge for ten years, and a few properties have been monitored for twenty years. To evaluate the concrete material properties over time, concrete cubes were cast with the segments, and stored inside the bridge at the section locations. These samples have been tested periodically. Also shrinkage measurements were carried out on a concrete sample stored inside the bridge. The deflections of the bridge superstructure have been measured periodically along both edges of the bridge. Based on the available data, it is found that the concrete compressive and splitting tensile strength, as well as the shrinkage deformations, remain constant. The deflections are stabilizing as well.

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Open Access Publishing

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!

You may have heard that a number of countries in Europe recently signed Plan S - so I'm here to help you navigate what this means, and how this may impact your research.

Over the past few years, more and more researchers have criticized the traditional model of publishing, where the author transfers copyright of his/her work to a publisher, who will then charge subscription fees to libraries or individual users so that they can access the contents. One of the largest for-profit publishers, Elsevier (annual revenue for 2017 was 2.48 billion pounds), is often the target of academic protests. Negotiations between Elsevier and the University of California system aren't going to well. The largest boycot to Elsevier is "The Cost of Knowledge". I personally stopped submitted my work to and reviewing for Elsevier journals after receiving take-down notices for PDFs privately stored on my ResearchGate for sending them in private messages to colleagues - which, in my opinion, is the same as sending an email to a colleague and not a copyright infringement.

Certainly, Plan S is not without criticism, and the most notable is this open letter from researchers. My main point of criticism is that it's not very clear what is expected from researchers now - this may be because most of the time I'm outside of Ecuador and have simply missed out on the requirements, but I am missing some sort of handbook for researchers on how to follow Plan S now. For "slow" journals in my field, it takes up to 3 years to go from submission to publication - so that could be a hurdle in starting to publish open access on January 1st 2020.

What is Plan S?
Plan S means that from January 1st 2020, all scholarly publications resulting from public research funding must be published in Open Access journals or on Open Access platforms. So far, 12 countries are supporting Plan S: Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, the UK and the Gates foundation from the USA. China is planning to join soon, it seems. See here for official communication of Science Europe.
Note that "for books and monographs, the timeline may be extended beyond 2020".

What does Plan S mean for academia in the Netherlands?
Research funded by NWO, ERC, and EU Horizon 2020 falls under Plan S. Any work from other funding bodies does not.
However, in addition to the efforts of NWO, many universities have set targets for reaching a certain % of all publications as Open Access publications. For TU Delft, that target for 2018 was 60%, and will be higher for 2019.

How to select the right Open Access journal for your work

Scope
As always, you should make sure that your work fits within the scope of a journal - so read the aims and scope of the journal, and check if they have article collections or special issues that may be particularly of your interest. If you don't know where to start, check recent papers in a journal of your interest, or check where the papers you most recently read and cited are published. You can also check the editorial board of the journal. In case of doubt, write the editor with your abstract to see if the journal would be interested in your work. Check if the journal is not a predatory journal.

APC
A main feature of Open Access publishing is that the authors have to pay for the cost of publishing through an APC (article processing charge) - a cost that otherwise would be covered by the subscription fees. According to Plan S, "publication fees should be covered by the funders or universities, not individual researchers", and "such publication fees should be standardized and capped". Also note that Hybrid open-access solutions (such as an Elsevier journal asking you to pay an APC to make your article open access) are not supported by Plan S. You will find that some countries, such as the Netherlands, have agreements with publishers to cover the Open Access costs, and that some universities (for example, TU Delft)have agreements with Open Access publishers so that the university is charged directly and not the authors. If the journal of your interest is not covered by such an agreement, you can either ask the publisher for a waiver, or see if there are any additional funds at your university (such as an Open Access fund) to cover such costs.

Only some OA journals, that typically have a university sponsoring them, such as ACI Avances en Ciencias en Ingenierias of which I am the editor in chief (shameless self promotion) and which is funded by Universidad San Francisco de Quito do not charge an APC.

Indexing
Since most OA journals are rather new, many of them are working on getting indexed in search engines such as Web of Science / ISI and Scopus. You may need to check where the journal of your interest is indexed to see if there may be a limitation there (for exmaple, if your institution only counts your papers that are published in Scopus-index journals).

Copyright
An important aspect of Plan S is that authors should remain the copyright of their work, so when research should be published under plan S, you should check if the journal you plan to publish in requires a copyright transfer to them, or if you keep your copyright (open licensing model, creative commons). Check for the CC license on recent papers from the journal of your interest.

Papers in ACI SP-323: Evaluation of Concrete Bridge Behavior through Load Testing – International Perspectives

My colleagues and I published two papers in the recent ACI SP-323 "Evaluation of Concrete Bridge Behavior through Load Testing – International Perspectives", of which Dr. Pinar Okumus and myself were coeditors.

The two papers are:

SP-323—1: ASSESSMENT OF SLAB BRIDGES THROUGH PROOF LOADING IN THE NETHERLANDS
Eva O. L. Lantsoght, Cor van der Veen, Ane de Boer and Dick A. Hordijk
Abstract
A large subset of the Dutch bridge stock consists of reinforced concrete slab bridges, for which assessment often results in low ratings. To prioritize the efforts of the bridge owner, more suitable assessment methods for slab bridges are necessary. Research efforts over the past years resulted in the development of several methods, at levels requiring increasing costs, time, and effort for increasing accuracy. The last option, when an analytical assessment is not possible due to uncertainties, is to use proof load testing to evaluate the bridge directly. To develop recommendations for the proof load testing of reinforced concrete slab bridges for the Netherlands, different methods are combined: pilot proof load tests on bridges with and without material damage, a collapse test, tests on beams taken from an existing bridge and new beams with similar dimensions cast in the laboratory, and an extensive literature review. The result of this study is a set of recommendations that describe how to prepare and execute a proof load test, and how to analyze the results. This paper summarizes the research program about proof load testing from the Netherlands and gives an overview of the currently developed recommendations and topics for further research.

SP-323-3: RATING OF CONCRETE ROAD BRIDGES WITH STATIC PROOF LOAD TESTS
Anna Halicka, Dick A. Hordijk, Eva O.L. Lantsoght
Abstract
Nowadays, finite element analyses provide information about the performance of a structure, but they are more or less simplified. Therefore, load tests are the only way to find the “real” behavior of an existing bridge subjected to the rating process. In this paper, the state-of-the-art concerning load tests of concrete road bridges is presented, and the problems of the execution of such tests are specified. It is pointed out that only load tests accompanied with current finite element analyses may result in a proper assessment of the level of safety of the bridge. The authors’ procedure of complex assessment of such bridges combines in-situ examination of the structure, load testing, and finite element modeling.
The paper discusses the following topics:
• Aims and fundamentals of static diagnostic and proof load tests,
• The load application method according to different codes and specifications,
• The basis for proper assessment of the target load: reliability index, partial factors approach, global rating factor approach,
• Establishing the load allowable on the bridge, based on the applied proof load,
• The proposed procedure of assessment of existing concrete road bridges by load testing.

Keywords: codes of practice; field testing; finite element modeling; load testing; measurements; proof load testing; reinforced concrete bridges

Research Counts, Not the Journal

Together with Miguel Abambres, Tiago Ribeiro, and Ana Sousa I've recently published a preprint titled "Research Counts, Not the Journal".

As we're exploring post-publication peer review and the use of preprints, working only open access and bypassing for-profit publishers, this paper is on OSF Preprints and open for discussion on ResearchGate. I'd be grateful if you find a moment to read the paper and share your thoughts with us on its contents!

Here's the abstract of the paper:

If there is one thing every bibliometrician agrees, is that you should never use the journal impact factor (JIF) to evaluate research performance for an article or an individual-that is a mortal sin'. Few sentences could define so precisely the uses and misuses of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) better than Anthony van Raan's. This manuscript presents a critical overview on the international use, by governments and institutions, of the JIF and/or journal indexing information for individual research quality assessment. Interviews given by Nobel Laureates speaking on this matter are partially illustrated in this work. Furthermore, the authors propose complementary and alternative versions of the journal impact factor, respectively named Complementary (CIF) and Timeless (TIF) Impact Factors, aiming to better assess the average quality of a journal-never of a paper or an author. The idea behind impact factors is not useless, it has just been misused.

Ineffective Obsessions in Brazilian Academia and Proposals Towards Meritocracy

Together with Miguel Abambres, Tiago Ribeiro, and Ana Sousa I've recently published a preprint titled "Ineffective Obsessions in Brazilian Academia and Proposals Towards Meritocracy".

As we're exploring post-publication peer review and the use of preprints, working only open access and bypassing for-profit publishers, this paper is on OSF Preprints and open for discussion on ResearchGate. I'd be grateful if you find a moment to read the paper and share your thoughts with us on its contents!

Here's the abstract of the paper:

Albeit its constitutional claim for quality, Brazilian academia has largely been referred to as unmeritocratic and academic hiring is still inward-oriented. Lattes platform, a public curricular information system, reflects elements of this protectionism. This article assesses two ‘obsessions’ in Brazilian academia: (i) the ‘mandatory’ Lattes CV, and (ii) the candidates’ assessment criteria in public tenders for faculty positions. Several pros and cons (mostly) of the Lattes platform are identified. The following improvements are proposed: (i) evaluations in public tenders based only on candidate’s CV, interview, and a sample lecture, (ii) the dismissal of Lattes CV as a mandatory format, and (iii) the use of platforms as Microsoft Academic, Google Scholar, ORCID or ResearcherID for curricular information. With these recommendations, Brazil can move towards a more meritocratic academic hiring system.

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: How to start a new research topic as a post-doc

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!

As a post doctoral researcher, you can be hired on a project for 1 or 2 years, on a topic that is different from the topic you worked on during your PhD years. It may feel daunting to start all over again, and do it in less than half of the time you needed to do your PhD. As I've worked on a number of different topics during my post-doc years in Delft (including my "new" research line on load testing), I'm here to demystify the process.

First of all: remember that you are trained to do research. Your PhD years were the years in which you learned how to do research. Writing your dissertation and/or first journal articles were the training you needed to grapple with your writing style, find your identity as a scholar through writing, and learn the ropes.

Does that mean that when you start a post-doc, you can make a plan from start to finish of the post-doc project and simply execute? No - research is never a straight line. You will get stuck, you will struggle with your scholarly identity in writing about a new topic, and you will have to start over new when something doesn't lead you to discovery. Just as for the PhD trajectory, it is difficult to plan a research project - but allowing for plenty of buffer time in your planning and having an overall idea of what is expected from you, should help you draw a blueprint for your planning.

Since the general steps of a post-doc project are similar to a PhD trajectory, I will here discuss the particularities only of a post-doc project.

1. Topic description
A post-doc project usually comes with a more specific description that a PhD research project, since for the PhD it is expected from the candidate that he/she comes up with a significant novel contribution. This contribution is often required to be in the form of a new theory - and many supervisors will leave it open to the candidate to see how he/she will develop such a theory.
For a post-doc project, there is often a more specific description of the problem, as well as of the expected deliverables and their deadlines. The topic description is a good starting point to define your research question for the post-doc project.

2. Literature review
A post-doc project doesn't give you the time to spend a year exploring the literature, as you may have done during your PhD years. You'll need to be able to set up the literature review in a reasonable amount of time. If the post-doc project is part of a larger research project, you can collaborate with the other researchers (post-doc and/or PhD) to develop your literature review. If not, you can take the topic description as a starting point (this description will typically have literature references that can help to get you started).
As a post-doc with a limited amount of time, you need to delve into the literature with a purpose. While I generally encourage reading broadly for your general interest, you won't be able to read and reread all interesting articles on your topic and then decide what you want to do with these. You will need to start turning the literature directly into elements for your deliverables. If you need to study a new theory, take the seminal papers on the topic, and work your way through these by taking plenty of notes and/or deriving the formulas yourself. Document this work in a background document for yourself. If you'll need the formulas later, program them in a spreadsheet. If you need to set up a database of experiments, start developing this database while you read the articles - don't make the mistake of reading all the articles first, and then processing the information. Similarly, start drafting your literature review report right as you are reading the articles. Take screenshots of interesting information, type discussions of what you read, and place this information within a report that has an outline which you can either shape as you read or set up from the beginning.

3. Planning
During your PhD years, you may have been able to devote 80% or more of your time to your research project. As a post-doc, you can be balancing your new research project with writing papers about your dissertation, taking on service appointments, supervising students, and perhaps you help with some of the teaching in your department. Planning is more important than ever. If you need to balance a number of responsibilities, try out using a weekly template.
Your long-term planning should focus on the deliverables of your project - make sure you plan towards them and leave plenty of time for dealing with setbacks in your research.

4. Research
As I mentioned earlier, research doesn't become "easier" as you move through your research career. The very essence of research is dealing with the unknown, so just as during your PhD trajectory, you will iterate towards a solution. You may be expected to handle the same amount of experimental data as during your PhD in a shorter amount of time. If you have a number of responsibilities, make sure you can carve out the time you need to think and do deep work. Your PhD credentials already show that you can do research - now make sure you make the time and have the headspace to crunch numbers and do the work.

5. Publications and deliverables
Post-doc projects typically require you to submit a certain amount of reports to the funding body, or submit a certain amount of papers for review by a certain date. Besides the publications from this project, your post-doc years also can be the right time to turn your thesis into journal articles. Make sure you put writing on your calendar to move your publications forward - these are incredibly important for your future career.

Modelling of the proof load test on viaduct De Beek

My coauthors and I recently published a paper "Modelling of the proof load test on viaduct De Beek" for the Euro-C conference that was held in Bad Hofgastein in Austria. The paper discusses how finite element models of a bridge that was load tested can be updated with the results of the bridge test, and how this influences the assessment of the bridge.

The abstract is:
In a proof load test, a load corresponding to the factored live load is applied to a bridge, to directly demonstrate that a bridge fulfils the code requirements. The case of viaduct De Beek, a four-span reinforced concrete slab bridge that did not fulfil the requirements for bending moment after an inspection survey is studied. The middle spans, located above highway lanes, which could not be tested in the field, are the criti-cal spans of this structure. Therefore, the observations from the field are used to check the finite element model, and improve the rating of the critical middle spans. The proposed method can be applied and further extended for proof load tests where the access to the site and the critical position of the viaduct is limited. This improvement will allow for an optimized combination of field testing and modelling, reducing the costs of field tests.

Long-term material and structural behavior of high-strength concrete cantilever bridge: Results of 20 years monitoring

My coauthors and I recently published a paper titled "Long-term material and structural behavior of high-strength concrete cantilever bridge: Results of 20 years monitoring" in Structural Concrete. In this paper, we report the results of material and structural behavior based on twenty years of measurements on the Second Stichtse Bridge. This bridge was the first highstrenght prestressed concrete bridge built with the balanced cantilever method in the Netherlands. Of course, I did not carry out the measurements over the last 20 years - I only got involved with the project in the summer of 2017. My colleagues have worked on the measurements and the analysis of the behavior of this bridge for more than twenty years, and it was very interesting to work with them and learn from their experience.

The abstract is as follows:
In 1997, the Second Stichtse Bridge was built in the Netherlands using the balanced cantilever method. The use of high-strength concrete was proposed. At that time, the long-term behaviour of this material was not known, and no code provisions were applicable. Therefore, it was proposed to monitor the material behaviour and the deflections of the bridge. To evaluate the development of the concrete compressive strength and the concrete splitting tensile strength over time, concrete cubes were cast at the same time as each of the cantilever segments, and stored inside the bridge. These samples have been tested at different points in time to study the development of the strength as a function of the elapsed time. Creep and shrinkage measurements were carried out on samples stored inside the bridge as well as in the laboratory. Temperature and moisture were monitored as well. The deflections of the bridge superstructure have been measured periodically. These measurements can be compared to predictions from finite element models. Based on the available data, it is found that the concrete compressive and splitting tensile strength remain constant. The deflections are small, and the advanced finite element models resulted in good predictions.

You can find the paper online here.

Two presentations at IABSE 2017

At IABSE 2017, my colleague presented two papers of our research. I didn't travel to IABSE, because the conference fell right in the middle of my maternity leave.

The first paper is titled "Proof load testing of the viaduct De Beek" and the abstract is as follows:

Proof load testing can be a suitable method to show that a bridge can carry the required loads from the code without distress. This paper addresses the preparation, execution, and analysis of a proof load test on a four-span reinforced concrete solid slab bridge, viaduct de Beek. The bridge has one lane in each direction, but was restricted to a single lane, since an assessment showed that the capacity is not sufficient to allow both lanes. For this proof load test, the bridge was heavily equipped with sensors, so that early signs of distress can be seen. The difficulty in this test was that, for safety reasons, only the first span could be tested, but that the lowest ratings were found in the second span. A direct approval of the viaduct by proof loading was thus not possible, and an analysis was necessary after the field test. The result of this analysis is that only by allowing 6.7% of plastic redistribution in the second span, sufficient capacity can be demonstrated.

You can find the slides of the presentation here:

Proof load testing of the viaduct De Beek from Eva Lantsoght

The second paper is titled "Recommendations for proof load testing of reinforced concrete slab bridges" with the following abstract:

Proof loading of existing bridges is an option to study the capacity when crucial information about the structure is lacking. To define the loading criteria for proof load testing, a review of the literature has been made, finite element models of existing viaducts have been made, and on these viaducts, proof loading tests have been carried out. These bridges were heavily instrumented, to learn as much as possible about the structural behaviour during proof loading. Additional laboratory experiments have been used to develop controlled loading protocols, and to identify which stop criteria can be used for which case. As a result of the analysis and experiments, recommendations are given for proof loading of bridges with respect to the required maximum load and the stop criteria. These recommendations have resulted in a guideline for proof loading of existing reinforced concrete slab bridges for The Netherlands.

This paper was presented in a poster session, with a short pitch. The pitch is as follows:

Recommendations for proof load testing of reinforced concrete slab bridges - presentation from Eva Lantsoght

The poster is:

Recommendations for proof load testing of reinforced concrete slab bridges - poster from Eva Lantsoght

Field assessment of a concrete bridge

I recenlty published a chapter titled "Field assessment of a concrete bridge" in the book "Eco-efficient Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Infrastructures", edited by Fernando Pacheco-Torgal, Robert Melchers, Nele de Belie, Xianming Shi, Kim Van Tittelboom, and Andres Saez Perez. This book is part of the Woodhead Publishing series in Civil and Structural Engineering.

The description of the book is as follows:

Eco-efficient Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Infrastructures provides an updated state-of-the-art review on eco-efficient repair and rehabilitation of concrete infrastructure. The first section focuses on deterioration assessment methods, and includes chapters on stress wave assessment, ground-penetrating radar, monitoring of corrosion, SHM using acoustic emission and optical fiber sensors. Other sections discuss the development and application of several new innovative repair and rehabilitation materials, including geopolymer concrete, sulfoaluminate cement-based concrete, engineered cementitious composites (ECC) based concrete, bacteria-based concrete, concrete with encapsulated polyurethane, and concrete with super absorbent polymer (SAPs), amongst other topics.

Final sections focus on crucial design aspects, such as quality control, including lifecycle and cost analysis with several related case studies on repair and rehabilitation. The book will be an essential reference resource for materials scientists, civil and structural engineers, architects, structural designers and contractors working in the construction industry.

The abstract of Chapter 9 on Field assessment of a concrete bridge is:

Chapter 9, Field assessment of a concrete bridge, presents a case study of the field assessment: visual inspection and load testing of a reinforced concrete bridge, with cracking caused by alkali-silica reaction. It encompasses the preparation, execution, and post-processing of the load test. It also includes a discussion of the cost-savings (economic, environmental, and social) that are obtained through this procedure compared to a replacement of the super-structure.

Research and breastfeeding: My story (part 4)

Before I start to tell you my story about how I combine research and breastfeeding my baby girl, I need to tell you that it is my deepest wish that all parents are respected for whatever choice they make to feed their child. Breastfeeding, exclusive pumping, donor milk, formula… if your choice is what you want, it is the right thing to do for you and your family. In my opinion, choices empower families, and there is no “one size fits all” solution. I hope that in the future policy makers will enable a wide range of choices to accommodate the different needs of different families.

With that said, my goal from the beginning was to breastfeed my baby. I had no idea what this would actually be like, and how this would work out practically as I’d return to work. I’ve been blessed to have great support in the hospital and at home with a midwife to start with breastfeeding, and I was lucky that my husband could bring me the pump I needed when he went on a trip to the USA. I fully realize that I am speaking from a privileged position.

There’s been challenges along the way. My baby wasn’t gaining enough weight in the beginning for us to get cleared to travel with her, and we supplemented with formula for a while. I had mastitis 10 days postpartum. The first two pumps I bought (a manual and electric one) didn’t work very well for me. I never managed to extract a single drop with the manual pump, and the electric one didn’t give me good results at the beginning. I read every possible website out there and watched every youtube video of pumping moms to learn how to make it work. It had to work, as right at the end of my maternity leave, after 12 weeks, I had to travel to a conference, so I had to freeze enough pumped milk to feed my baby. I ended up getting up at stupid-o-clock to pump in the middle of the night, as that was the time when I could pump the largest volume.

Besides these challenges, it has been a beautiful journey. It took me some effort, but by now I have established good routines. Here’s what has helped me to keep breastfeeding my child after returning to work and while I was separated from her for a conference:

1. A good pump and fitting (spare) parts
After struggling with pumps that didn't work well, getting a double electric pump suitable for pumping several times a day was a life-changer for me. It also came just in time before my trip abroad for a conference. I can't imagine sitting in between meetings for an hour with a single electric pump. Make sure you have spare parts with you when you travel. Get the right size of flanges. This may be a small (and cheap) detail, but it will make all the difference in terms of comfort.

2. Start pumping early
If you will need to pump at work, don't wait until your first day back at work to pump. Start pumping early to get used to it, and to start building your freezer stock. Don't panic if the first few times you pump very little at all. Just relax, and know that you have time to get used to it. It's a different sensation and your body needs to get used to it.

3. Get help when in doubt
When in doubt, consult a midwife or lactation consultant. In Ecuador, there is less support for breastfeeding working moms, so I read a lot online, asked a friend of mine for advice all the time, and went through a lot of trial and error. Inform about who you can turn to when you have questions, and also inform what your insurance can provide you with. Some insurances in some countries cover the cost of a breastpump.

4. Find out where you'll pump at work or when traveling
Find out in advance where you will be able to pump. You'll need a clean space to pump (pumping in a bathroom is uncomfortable and significantly increases the risk for mastitis - nobody should shame you into hiding in the bathroom), somewhere to clean your pump parts, and a fridge or cooler to store the pumped milk. When you travel to a conference, ask if they have a nursing room available. Don't be afraid to ask - the organizers can't think of everybody's needs.

5. Plan your breaks
How often does your baby eat at home? You will have to pump more or less with the same frequency if you are not around your baby. For me, that means pumping every 2 hours, otherwise I will get uncomfortable. Plan your schedule around your pumping breaks, and figure out if you can do something while you pump, for example: replying emails, or reading articles. I credit the fact that our breastfeeding is going well mostly to planning for pumping and pumping for the future. I also *like* being able to plan ahead and calculate how much milk she will need for when I'm away, and steadily working towards building supplies for her.

6. Eat and drink enough
It should be a no-brainer, but the lactation period is not a time for drastic diets. Feed yourself so you can feed your child. It takes 85 kcal to produce 100 ml of breastmilk, so you need your calories. You also need to drink enough fluids. Eat a variety of foods rich in micronutrients to support your body - producing and feeding for your child is hard work, and your body needs all the help it can get.

Lesson Learned: Writing Peer-Reviewed Research Articles

Today, I'm hosting Dr. Rasheda Weaver, who shares with us what she learned about writing during her PhD. Rasheda L. Weaver, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Community Entrepreneurship at the University of Vermont where she teaches classes and conducts research on social enterprises, businesses that seek to combat social problems. She conducted the first large-scale study of the social, economic, and legal activities on social enterprises in the United States. You can email her at Rasheda.weaver@uvm.edu and follow her on Twitter @RLWeaverPhD.

After graduating with a PhD in Public Affairs from Rutgers University in May 2017, I wanted to take some time to reflect, discuss, and share some of the lessons that I learned about writing for peer-reviewed journals throughout my doctoral program. The lessons are organized below by the following three themes: 1) The Writing Process, 2) Organization and Interpretation, and 3) Peer-Reviewed Publications and the Job Search.

The Writing Process
* Binge vs. Incremental Writing
o Binge writing consists of writing for large amounts of time (e.g. several hours), but people tend to do this periodically. Incremental writing involves writing for short time periods (e.g. 30 minutes a day) on a regular basis, usually daily. When I entered my doctoral program, I thought that I was a binge writer. However, after taking the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity's 14-Day Writing Challenge, I realized that incremental writing helped me in various ways. It made writing a more reflective, inspirational, and stress-reducing practice for me. As an academic, writing is an essential part of my career and thus should not be a struggle. Developing a daily writing habit enables me to feel comfortable and at ease with my writing, research, and my daily life as an Assistant Professor. Writing, usually at the beginning of, every workday enables me to feel accomplished every day and to enjoy my weekends off.
* Using a Research Diary
o Using a research diary for taking methodological, theoretical, reflective, and observational notes can be useful for logging important information about a manuscript. Research diaries may be an actual notebook or an electronic notebook like those in Evernote. However, I usually use Google Docs because I can access it from everywhere and many of my files are already stored in Google Drive. I use my research diary for keeping track of reflections on my writing and research over time, which has helped me write new papers and to ask new research questions. I also use it to track information that I delete from a manuscript over time. This has helped me retrieve information that a reviewer asks me for during the review process. I learned this strategy while working on research with Rutgers University-Camden Professor Stephen Danley (Twitter @SteveDanley) and it is consistently useful.

Organization and Interpretation
* One Subject Per Paragraph
o Focusing on 1 subject per paragraph can be difficult, but it increases the clarity and flow of a manuscript, which makes it easier to understand the knowledge being disseminated to readers.
* Making Every Sentence Count and Getting Peer Feedback
o Proofreading manuscripts thoroughly and sending them to friends, colleagues, and/ or research assistants can help eliminate filler, redundant sentences. They can also provide important feedback on ideas within manuscripts. During my PhD program, I had two go-to proofreaders that were also students in my program and one outside of my program that is a friend that works outside of my field. Now, as an Assistant Professor, I ask my research assistants to proofread and critique my manuscripts before I send them to journals. If the people that know my work cannot figure something out or feel that there are grammatical errors and redundant sentences, then journal reviewers will likely feel the same way. Thus, I am a big believer in getting peer feedback, even if it is just for proofreading. However, I only send my manuscripts to people I trust in an effort to prevent plagiarism.
* Illustrations and Tables are Essential Communication Tools
o Using illustrations such as graphs, logic models/flow charts, and tables aid in communicating important concepts and results. I try not to write any manuscript without visual aids. This is extremely important for manuscripts that some may find particularly difficult to read or that discuss esoteric concepts.

Peer-Reviewed Publications and the Job Search
* The Number and Timing of Manuscripts
o Peer-reviewed publications are extremely important during the academic job search process. Many applications for assistant professorships require the submission of several articles with the application, which serves as writing samples and as proof of the applicant's productivity. Some doctoral students delay sending manuscripts to journals until their later years without realizing that:

• Journals may take months to review your manuscript and even when they do they may still reject you.
• There are several stages to getting a manuscript published (e.g. desk rejection, revise and resubmit with major/minor revisions, proofing). Scholars should expect that even if their manuscript gets past the desk rejection phase, it may be returned for revise and resubmits on multiple occasions, which can take months.
• One of the main requirements to even applying for assistant professorships is a PhD and thus that only qualifies scholars to APPLY for such positions. Many, if not most, universities use publications as a key indicator of whether or not applicants will be successful at their institutions. Thus, having one or more publications will help you in the job search, but you have to make sure you set aside time to write, reflect, and revise them and to go through the publication process to increase your chances for success.
• Having peer-reviewed articles under review or forthcoming helped the search committee assess my potential productivity and indicated that I understand the realities of the publication process (e.g. long wait times, revise and resubmits).

I hope you enjoyed reading about these lessons that I have learned about writing peer-reviewed research articles. Please feel free to share some lessons that you have learned in the comments.

Research and maternity leave: My story (part 3)

In previous posts in this short series of entering motherhood as a research, I described the challenges I faced during my pregnancy. Even though I had a textbook-perfect pregnancy, and quick and painless labor and delivery, I had my share of struggles: I was so tired during my pregnancy, and it took me some effort to accept that I would not be seen lifting heavy barbells while being very pregnant - which had always been what I expected from myself.

Just like I had some misconceptions about pregnancy, I did not know what to expect for my maternity leave. I had 12 weeks of maternity leave, and they flew by. The first weeks I spent in my home country, arranging my daughter's paperwork, before returning to Ecuador for the remainder of my leave. My expectation was that, since I wouldn't be that tired anymore, I'd be able to resume workouts right when my gyn/ob gave me the green light. I did not expect that I'd be planning (well, planning is not a good word here, as there was little to plan) my entire day around the feeding times of my baby (sometimes just 20 minutes apart), that I'd still be very tired, and that leaving the house without the baby would be a logistic nightmare, involving sitters and figuring out where and when to pump.

Returning to the box did not happen - and it still has not happened. I joined a 30 day yoga challenge during my maternity leave, and managed to find some time for yoga (with the baby) while I was on leave. As I returned to work and my days got even busier, that time for myself went through the window. My maternity days was filled with growth spurts and cluster feeds and nappy changes and accidents and endless laundry. I thought I'd have time for leisurely strolls with the baby and coffee dates with friends, but very little of that came into existence. I thought I'd have time for pampering myself in the spa.

Clearly, I had no idea of what to expect of life with a newborn. I've nominated myself for the title of the world's most clueless mom. To my defense, I did not have younger siblings, my sister does not have children, and babies were always a very abstract thing to me. I had never changed a diaper until my baby's first diaper change in the hospital. I positively know nothing about parenting. I thought newborn babies were boring because all they do is eat and sleep - never did I imagine I'd have so much fun with my baby. But here I am, momming around as best as I can.

As I didn't know what to expect for life with a child, I had informed all my students and coworkers about my maternity leave, and told them I coudn't promise I would work on anything during my leave. That was a smart move, since somewhere between weeks 3 and 10, Adeline did not sleep and would nurse up to every 45 minutes at night, so my brain was very foggy. I had to do some work though - journal editors can't wait a few weeks when they send you the print proofs of your article.

My first work-related activity after my maternity leave was a conference in the USA, so I had to prepare my presentations and revised version of my paper during my maternity leave. It was nearly impossible to get anything done with my baby around, so at some point I had to ship her off to my sister-in-law to get any work done. I also had to make sure there was enough food for the baby for the days I'd be gone, so I spent a few weeks trying to get the hang of pumping and building a stockpile of frozen milk for my absence. Double electric pumps are extremely hard to find in Ecuador, so I struggled with a single electric of poor quality until somebody could bring me a better pump from the USA. I found that pumping at 4 or 5 am ("stupid o'clock") was the only thing that worked for building the stockpile, and it was exhausting.

Since I also wanted my maternity leave to be a special time to spend with my little human, I enrolled in a baby massage class and took some postnatal mommy-and-me yoga classes. I'm glad I did so, as I wouldn't have had the time for these when returning to work. I tried to enjoy spending time with my cloud of love as much as I could, but sometimes I felt the pressure of all the work accumulating in my mailbox. Some people were kind enough to reply to my out of office reply notifying them about my maternity leave that that is very nice and everything, but that they have something really urgent that I need to take care of right now. I never deactivated the notifications of my mailbox on my phone, and in hindsight I probably should have done so.

Research and pregnancy: My story (Part 2)

This post starts where my previous post about my academic work throughout my pregnancy ends. For your reference, I also wrote a post with some advice related to doing academic work while being pregnant, and here you can read my reply to a reader who worried when would be the right time to have a child if you want an academic career.

As I am writing this post, my wonderful little baby is already four months old - and I finally manage to write about the third trimester of my pregnancy. I was planning to write this post towards the end of my pregnancy, and since everybody told me that a first child usually comes past his/her expected date, I thought I still had plenty of time.

When I went for my checkup at 39 weeks of pregnancy (on a Thursday), and she was still in breech, the doctor said I would have to go in for a scheduled c-section next Wednesday. He told me to confirm on Sunday, as my husband would be arriving from Ecuador on Saturday. Breech delivery is forbidden for a first child in the hospital where I go. I was worried, especially because of the amount of paperwork we'd need to take care of before returning to Ecuador with the baby. I couldn't imagine running around government offices while trying to recover from major abdominal surgery, and then dragging 10 suitcases to the airport while not being allowed to lift anything.

But my little rebel decided otherwise. With a speedy labor and delivery of less than 2 hours, she was born less than half an hour after I arrived to the emergencies of the hospital. Originally, they planned to do an emergency c-section, but things moved along so fast that there simply was no time to get started before Adeline arrived. Sorry hospital policies! Looking back on that day, there were some signs that something was happening, but since I didn't really experience pain or discomfort, I didn't pay much attention to it. In fact, I wrote a conference paper while I (apparently) was in labor *___* By the time I got settled into my hospital room with my newborn, I had the proofs of a paper in my mailbox and the notification that another paper had been published. So far for combining academia and pregnancy/childbirth.

Most of the third trimester of pregnancy was uneventful. I went to a conference in April, and while I thought I had a red face and was wearing maternity dresses, nobody made any comment about it - they must not have noticed. Then, in May, I returned to Delft. By then, I had become a bit 9OK, a lot) clumsy in my movements. We had to furnish my studio in Delft, and let me tell you: assembling IKEA furniture when you have a rugby ball sitting in your abdomen is not very practical. But somehow it all worked out.

From mid May to mid July, I worked on my research in Delft. I was more tired than the other years, and didn't work out at all, besides biking my commute (10 km in total) every day. I couldn't do lab work or field work, but there was some nice desk research that I could do. I also had to take the long train ride to Belgium frequently for medical checkups. Towards the end of my annual research stay, I was extremely tired though. I remember that the last 3 weeks were tough. At some point, I went home at 4:20 pm. And even though I had been at work since 7:30 am, and thus had a regular workday behind me, it felt like slacking. During those weeks, I took a nap of about an hour right after coming home from work. I literally walked in the door, dropped my backpack, and crashed into my bed. The tiredness of pregnancy, combined with the discomfort at night, had exhausted me.

During the third trimester, I didn't worry about reactions of colleagues anymore. The last conference I attended was when I was 34 weeks pregnant, and it was nice to have many international colleagues come to congratulate me on the pregnancy. It also turned out to be a conversation starter - people telling me about the maternity leave rules (or lack thereof) in the country where they work, or tell me about the adventures of their kids. It was heartwarming.

What I did worry about during those last weeks was my baby's position. I must have read every website that mentions "breech baby". The doctor told me to be on hands and knees as much as possible, so I spent my entire evening on hands and knees. I kept trying to feel where her head was positioned. More than anything, I wondered if I had done something wrong: Did I not exercise enough? Or did I exhaust myself too much on the bike? Was it my personality (there's a theory that claims some moms have a "breechy" personality)? Is it just because I, too, was a breech baby and it runs in my family? I tried everything possible to make her turn, and everything my gyn/ob said there was no medical reason for her to be breech and that she would turn, but at every appointment she was still sitting happily with her head close to my heart. Admittedly, I was so obsessed with her position, that sometimes at work I had difficulties concentrating.

In the end, all went well, and on July 22nd 4:28 am Adeline was born with perfect (10/10) Apgar scores. She's been the light of my eyes ever since she was born, and the love that I feel for her, since that first moment when the midwife passed her on to me, is beyond words. In a next post in this series, I will write about my maternity leave, and after that, I'll chronicle my adventures as a working academic mom to a newborn.