Mastering Your Ph.D.: Countdown to Your Thesis Defence

Time to prepare for my thesis defense, although it might still be one year away... Gotta plan early!!!

Source: Nature by Bart Noordam, Patricia Gosling, Netherlands, 23 November 2007

For a couple of years, you have been doing research, research, and more research. But now the final deadline for your Ph.D. is in sight, and it's time to transfer your research results into a thesis. Where do you even begin?

You've got a lot of things to do before you can actually start writing, and you will have to work in a more structured way than you probably have been used to for the past couple of years. Here we provide a five-step framework to guide you toward your goal.

1. Establish your achievements.
Presumably, you sketched out a plan for your research projects at the beginning of your Ph.D. program, so now you need to get a clear picture of where you are in that process and see how it will all fit together in your thesis. Start by making a list of the projects you've finished, such as the research you've already published in a journal article that only needs a bit of editing to fit into your thesis.

Next, list the unfinished projects you are working on and identify the steps you'll need to take to finish them, whether it's sorting out the relevant data, writing and running a data-analysis programme, extracting a message from the data you've collected and analysed, writing up your findings, or all of the above. You'll also have to think about how you want to write up these last few experiments: You'll need to balance the short-term benefits of writing it up as a thesis chapter--which will save you the time of finishing a peer-reviewed article--with the longer term benefit of adding a journal article to your list of publications.

Once you have a good idea of what you have accomplished so far and what it will take to finish the ongoing projects, you should verify your achievements with your supervisor.

2. Determine what should be included in your thesis.
Mastering Your PhD cover art

You and your supervisor will likely agree about what you've accomplished so far and what still needs to be done to complete your ongoing projects. However, opinions might diverge when it comes to whether you need additional material for your thesis. You should meet with your supervisor (and thesis adviser, if different from your supervisor) to discuss exactly what should go into your thesis. Perhaps you believe that finishing ongoing projects will provide sufficient content for a thesis, whereas your supervisor wants you to include a minor (or major!) addition, and your thesis adviser wants you to start a new, ambitious project.

Coming to agreement on these issues will not be easy, so you should be well-prepared when you meet to discuss your thesis content. You will need to decide what you believe is a proper balance between the quality and quantity of the content and the time it will take to finish your research and start writing. If there is truly a need for you to do one more project, make a comprehensive and very specific plan for it.

In the course of these negotiations, remember that even if your adviser's motives for keeping you around are self-serving, the extra time and effort you spend to extend and sharpen your work might make a big difference in your career. So don't stretch it out too long but, assuming you can keep food on the table, don't be in too much of a hurry, either.

3. Make a countdown list.
Now that you have established a "still-to-do" list, make a plan for when to do it. This will be your countdown list, a schematic timetable that describes week by week how you plan to finish your thesis by your target deadline. Most of the activities on your list should directly contribute to thesis chapters.

Use your still-to-do list to estimate the amount of time you'll need to finish those last few projects and allocate that time on your countdown list. Then, draft a table of contents for your thesis. Estimate how many weeks it will take to finish each chapter and block off that time on your countdown list as well.

Next, allocate time for other activities, such as arranging for the printed version of your thesis, preparing for the defence, and setting up job interviews. In reality, you will be working on several tasks in parallel, but writing down the tasks sequentially will help you get an impression of the total time the thesis preparation will take.

Finally, toward the end of writing your thesis, you will have to deal with the procedures that come with submitting it for approval. The university likely has a long checklist of these usually extraordinarily complex and often time-consuming tasks. Make sure you know well in advance what needs to be done and when, and include them on your schedule.

Once you've created your countdown list, you may realize that writing your thesis is going to take longer than you thought. Don't panic. This is the time to hone your time-management skills and your ability to focus on what is important. Your schedule is tight, so good planning will count. Try to minimize delays caused by others.

4. Anticipate uncertainties.
It may be difficult to plan how much time you will need for some tasks. Perhaps that one last set of experiments relies on a sample that needs to be prepared by other people, and you can't count on them delivering it when you need it. Without that sample, the project will be impossible to complete.

If you foresee such problems and potential bottlenecks, it may be useful to have a back-up list to your master countdown list. The master list assumes you'll get the samples on time, and the back-up list assumes the research will come to a halt until you get the sample. For this back-up plan, reschedule the order of your activities to make use of the newfound time, perhaps by identifying a (small) project that can replace the sample project. Don't adjust your overall deadline just yet. Estimating these risks up front will enable you to discuss the various scenarios with your supervisor. Most importantly, this type of forward planning will minimize the uncomfortable feeling that you have a potentially critical problem ahead that is completely out of your control.

5. Discuss your planning with your supervisor.
Now comes the tough part. This meeting might feel more like a negotiation than a discussion. At one end of the table is you, the hard-working Ph.D. student who wants to wrap up the work in a reasonable amount of time. At the other end of the table is your supervisor, possibly hungry for more research results that can be used in a future presentation or publication. Hopefully, some disagreements about how much work you need to do can be curtailed by giving your supervisor your proposed table of contents and your countdown list in advance of the meeting. These documents will show your progress and demonstrate how much you already have accomplished.

If there is a major disagreement, try not to get angry. Instead, summarize the issues you don't agree about and ask for some time to reflect on your supervisor's point of view. Sometimes these planning discussions can't be finished in a single meeting, but that's okay; it's worth doing properly. You will save yourself quite a bit of thesis-preparation stress if you can structure a countdown plan on which all parties can agree.

If, during the course of your research, you find that the project is taking much longer than anticipated, your first reaction may be to work even harder and longer hours or to go into denial about how much time you really need to finish. Rather than sticking your head in the sand, face your situation, make a new plan, and discuss it again with your supervisor.

The last year of your Ph.D. is distinctly different from the ones that have come before it, because you'll focus primarily on transforming your hard work into thesis chapters. Moreover, new activities will become more important, such as finishing projects before a pressing deadline or looking for a job for after you get your degree. This multitasking requires a more structured approach than you've probably taken previously, so be sure to plan your activities. Your countdown plan will show you what needs to be done and will force you to prioritize those activities. Effective communication with your supervisor will establish a commitment to reach your final goal together.

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Barcode scanner

今天在玩我的MacBook，發現Mac上面好玩的東西還真不少。

其中有一個很有意思的程式，Delicious Library，這個玩意兒能夠建檔案清單，管理你所有大大小小、從幼稚園到現在買過，在床頭櫃、書架上、電視旁的堆積如山的小說、CD、跟DVD。

能管理書本清單並不是一件大不了的事，Delicious Library吸引我的地方，是他精美與使用者友善的介面，建檔之後，一本一本的書整齊的列在螢幕中的書架上，讓人忍不住驚嘆自己擁有書籍之多、學識之廣博。看著這有質感的桃木書架，好像比拿到博士學位還神氣。

Delicious Library最方便的地方，就是你可以用你那小巧玲瓏的webcam，來充當barcode scanner。稍稍對一下焦之後，書本的條碼立刻被Delicious Library辨識而登錄在你的資料庫中。一眨眼，七本哈利波特就掃描完畢正式進入我的個人圖書館了。

可憐的Windows使用者，Delicious Monster（Delicious Library的製作公司）已經明白表示你們在可預期的將來是不可能享受到Delicious Library帶給你們的便利（還有視覺上的享受）：Delicious Library將會留在Mac的世界朝極致美學的目標邁進。不過沒有關係，來玩個網路版的barcode掃描器過過乾癮吧！拿出你塵封已久的web cam，對準書櫃上離你手邊最近的那本書，享受掃描建檔的樂趣吧。

註：請先按accept開始使用這個程式介面。



延伸影片：David Pogue on New York Times

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自己做yogurt

剛剛跟朋友聊天，他提到他最近的新嗜好：自己做yogurt。
方法聽起來很簡單，只需要牛奶跟一罐超市買的yogurt。跟我們實驗室養酵母菌（或其他菌類）一樣，只要保有一些yogurt菌，就可以不斷的繼續製造新鮮的yogurt。新鮮的yogurt早上加蜂蜜吃應該是一大享受。

這邊是我查到的詳細作法，理想中有一個yogurt maker應該會比叫好控制溫度：

1. Sterilize the milk. Even though your milk has been pasteurized, it will still contain bacteria. Pour a quart of milk into a pot and use a metal spoon. Heat the milk until it is almost boiling. You'll see small bubbles form around the edges and steam beginning to rise. Checking the temperature is a good idea. It should be around 180-185F (82-85C). A candy thermometer comes in handy. Remember to heat slowly and stir often to prevent scorching. A double boiler may also be used.

2. Cool the milk to grow the yogurt. Allow the milk to cool at room temperature or place it in the refrigerator. Stir frequently in order to accurately check the temperature. It should reach 112F (45C). Don't proceed until the milk is below 120F(49C), and don't allow it to go below 90F (32C). 105-110 (41-43) is optimal.
3. Add nonfat dry milk, if desired. If you wish, adding about 1/4cup to 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk at this time will increase the nutritional content of the yogurt. The yogurt will also thicken more easily.
4. Add the starter. All yogurt needs "good" bacteria. The easiest way to do this is to add some existing yogurt. The first time you make your own yogurt, use store-bought plain yogurt. Be certain it has "active cultures" on the label. For each quart of your cooled milk, you'll need 2 tablespoons of yogurt. Let the starter yogurt sit at room temperature while you are waiting for the milk to cool. This will prevent it from being too cold when you add it in. Alternatively, specialty stores may carry freeze-dried bacteria cultures, which are more reliable as starters.
5. Allow the yogurt bacteria to incubate. Pour your milk into clean individual containers. Cover each one tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. Keep the yogurt warm to encourage bacteria growth (between 105F and 122F (41C and 49C) is ideal). Your oven is a great place, just make sure the thermometer is accurate. You'll need to use your candy thermometer and perhaps turn your oven on and then off again periodically or keep the oven light on to warm. Most ovens don't have set temperatures this low. To check the oven temperature, place your thermometer into a bowl of water inside the oven. Wait until the yogurt is thick, about the consistency of pudding. (A simple solution for good results is a large thermos).
* Important: Keep the yogurt still during this process. Jiggling won't ruin it, but it makes it take a lot longer. It can take anywhere from 8-14 hours to incubate. The longer it incubates, the thicker and more tangy the final yogurt will be.
6. Refrigerate the yogurt. Place the yogurt in your fridge for several hours before serving. It will keep for 1-2 weeks. If you are going to use some of it as starter, use it within 5-7 days, so that the bacteria still have growing power. Whey, a thin yellow liquid, will form on the top. You can pour it off or stir it in before eating your yogurt.
7. Add optional flavorings. Experiment until you develop a flavor that your taste buds fancy.

Tips:
* Next time, you can use some from this batch to start the next batch.
* Try whole milk, 2%, 1%, skim, pasteurized, homogenized, organic, raw, diluted evaporated, dry milk powder, cow, goat, soybean, and more!
* Other methods for keeping the yogurt warm are available and numerous. Just use your thermometer and best judgment. Options include hot water in a sink, stove burner, crock-pot, warming tray, heating pad, a sunny window, in your car on a sunny day, etc.
* Placing your yogurt into the freezer to cool it prior to moving it to the refrigerator will result in a smoother consistency.
* If you use skim (or nonfat) milk, add some nonfat dry milk powder for a better, thicker consistency.
* A trick to maintain a consistent low temperature in the oven is to leave the oven light on after preheating it to the desired temperature. The heat generated by the light will usually be sufficient to maintain the temperature.
* Pie filling in a can makes great flavoring.
* Jams, maple syrups, and ice-cream fudges are good choices of flavorings too!

來源：How to make yogurt.

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未來的紐約市容 - 上西城區

想像一下未來的紐約，假如我們可以把所有地面上的交通問題解決，這個城市會變成什麼樣子呢？紐約會是一個行人friendly的好住所嗎？


See more events at: Livable streets

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美國的柚子

很多人以為美國沒有柚子，中秋的時候假如不去Chinatown買就沒有辦法享受吃柚子賞月的樂趣。

其實呢，這是不正確的。在美國超市是買得到柚子的，只是他的形狀跟顏色都和台灣的柚子差了十萬八千里。更不要說看到柚子的英文名字(pomelo/ pummelo/ pommelo)你可以反射想到：「哇！有賣柚子ㄝ！」

這邊我買過的柚子都長得跟保齡球一樣大，標準的圓球狀。賣相絕對比Chinatown那些醜不啦嘰又扁的進口柚子漂亮。口感也不輸記憶中的台灣柚子。

Anyway, 去看看家附近超市有沒有賣pomelo吧！

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烤栗子

先把栗子用水洗一下，再用毛巾擦乾淨，然後用小水果刀往栗子圓圓滾滾的那邊刀尖刺一下，然後小刀向旁邊轉一轉，這樣子栗子殼就開口了。放入烤箱烤到熟之後拿出。怎麼樣是烤好呢？聞到栗子香味就表示好了。

不過這次買的栗子好像不太有味道ㄝ。在Chinatown買的，長得大顆，烤的時候香氣逼人，可是吃得時候就是沒那麼甜。下次還是去Fairway買好了。

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