Hey all
This post will be a short post because I am hoping to tell the stories from all the pictures of the night :-). Pictures will come as soon as it will be verified, but in general I just wanted to say it was such a cracking night out. The fancy dress party was awesome and my favourite dress of the night has got to be a person dressing up as a tea cup. That's it for another year from the post-graduate society night out.
Weebster
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Postgraduate society Bar crawl
Hey all
Just to prove/show that scientist do know how to relax and have a good time out. I will be attending a pub crawl organized by the post-graduate society and our team will be dressing up. The dressing up theme for tonight is cartoon characters so we decided to go as a bunch of Where's willy. If you see 50-60 funny looking cartoon characters around Manchester tonight, that will be us! I know, partying hard on a weekday when you still got experiments to do the next day seems to be the new norm at the minute. Probably because most of our supervisors are away on holiday.
Hopefully, I won't get to drunk tonight but looking forward to it. Oh, and there will be a science pub quiz tonight- so we can't entirely forget about science :-)
I update you tomorrow if I'm not too hung-over.
The Scitax.
Just to prove/show that scientist do know how to relax and have a good time out. I will be attending a pub crawl organized by the post-graduate society and our team will be dressing up. The dressing up theme for tonight is cartoon characters so we decided to go as a bunch of Where's willy. If you see 50-60 funny looking cartoon characters around Manchester tonight, that will be us! I know, partying hard on a weekday when you still got experiments to do the next day seems to be the new norm at the minute. Probably because most of our supervisors are away on holiday.
Hopefully, I won't get to drunk tonight but looking forward to it. Oh, and there will be a science pub quiz tonight- so we can't entirely forget about science :-)
I update you tomorrow if I'm not too hung-over.
The Scitax.
Monday, 26 August 2013
A bit about me
Hey everyone
Over the next few months or so, I will be blogging about my PhD studies, my life in Manchester, and the work/study/life balance that comes with studying a PhD. I hope to share my ideas and I also hope you will enjoy reading these blogs as I enjoy writing them.
Firstly, I feel that I should introduce my background and so here are a few words about me. I am 24 and have been in Manchester for almost 3 years. I came to Manchester on the back of an amazing summer placement working for a science institute (PSI) in Switzerland. Anyone thinking of going to work aboard, do it! It looks good on your CV and it will give you a fresh perspective on science in a different country. My undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry with a professional placement at the University of Birmingham.
My professional year in industry was at GSK and it was such a life-changing experience. The experiences into how science operate in big pharmaceutical company was very useful and valuable for me. I learnt how to balance several science projects and how to drive results.
When I’m not studying, reading or working, I like to relax by going to the gym and play as many sports as I can. I’m also a big fan of quizzes, even though we never win, it’s nice to take part. Living in the city centre of Manchester means I have a lot of opportunities to experience Manchester’s excellent social and nightlife scenes, which I do. I'm still looking out for a good Jazz club in Manchester city centre so any suggestions are most welcomed.
Quite a few people have asked me why I wanted to do a PhD. Taking up postgraduate study is a challenging and it is not for all. It can be long hours, weekend holidays even festive holidays, you find yourselves writing reports or reading literature. There are also a plus side to a PhD. Firstly, you get called a Doctor if you make it. Secondly, you pay no council or income tax. Last but not least, you get to control a project and take it from the start to make it your own project with your own stamp. If successful, you will get most of credit as well.
Right, that’s about enough from me for now. I’ll be posting a new blog every week or so (or more often if anything exciting happens to me!) and I’d love to field any comments or questions from those who are thinking of doing a PhD or is currently one.
Cheers
Weebster
Over the next few months or so, I will be blogging about my PhD studies, my life in Manchester, and the work/study/life balance that comes with studying a PhD. I hope to share my ideas and I also hope you will enjoy reading these blogs as I enjoy writing them.
Firstly, I feel that I should introduce my background and so here are a few words about me. I am 24 and have been in Manchester for almost 3 years. I came to Manchester on the back of an amazing summer placement working for a science institute (PSI) in Switzerland. Anyone thinking of going to work aboard, do it! It looks good on your CV and it will give you a fresh perspective on science in a different country. My undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry with a professional placement at the University of Birmingham.
My professional year in industry was at GSK and it was such a life-changing experience. The experiences into how science operate in big pharmaceutical company was very useful and valuable for me. I learnt how to balance several science projects and how to drive results.
When I’m not studying, reading or working, I like to relax by going to the gym and play as many sports as I can. I’m also a big fan of quizzes, even though we never win, it’s nice to take part. Living in the city centre of Manchester means I have a lot of opportunities to experience Manchester’s excellent social and nightlife scenes, which I do. I'm still looking out for a good Jazz club in Manchester city centre so any suggestions are most welcomed.
Quite a few people have asked me why I wanted to do a PhD. Taking up postgraduate study is a challenging and it is not for all. It can be long hours, weekend holidays even festive holidays, you find yourselves writing reports or reading literature. There are also a plus side to a PhD. Firstly, you get called a Doctor if you make it. Secondly, you pay no council or income tax. Last but not least, you get to control a project and take it from the start to make it your own project with your own stamp. If successful, you will get most of credit as well.
Right, that’s about enough from me for now. I’ll be posting a new blog every week or so (or more often if anything exciting happens to me!) and I’d love to field any comments or questions from those who are thinking of doing a PhD or is currently one.
Cheers
Weebster
Saturday, 24 August 2013
i was inspired
It was a warm sunny afternoon in 2006. I was a 16 year old boy stuck in a classroom readying myself for a 2-hour biology lesson. It is these two hours that made me fell in awe of science. Our biology teacher was merely explaining how the discovery of the DNA structure changed the world forever.
Genetics contains 4 simple codes; A,G, C and T and these four bases provided the foundations of human life. My 6th form biology teacher was talking about how Crick and Watson determined the structure of DNA. Their story into the discovery of the double-helix DNA structure was not only compelling and fascinating, but there was a sense of controversy into their life-changing proposal in 1953. Back in the early 1950's, Crick and Watson were not the only group trying to crack the structure of DNA. A talented scientist, Rosalind Franklin was also working on the structure of DNA and had in fact created a few images (from X-ray crystallography) of what DNA looked like in her lab book. With the help of Maurice Wilkins, who was the head of Franklin's lab, Crick and Watson saw the lab book without her consent or knowledge. It was widely acknowledge later in life Franklin unpublished data of the DNA structure provided a eureka moment for the two young scientists from Cambridge University. As you know, Crick, Watson and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962. Franklin was not awarded the prestigious science honor due to the fact that she had passed away, probably as a result of the x-rays she was exposed to when working on DNA. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the structure of DNA has revolutionized modern science. Nowadays we are able to manipulate certain human genes, clone organs and even animals (remember Dolly the sheep!). We can screen those who may be prone to certain diseases as a result of their genetics and provide personalized medicines.
I was inspired after hearing the DNA story and how one single discovery can change the way we look at life. I was inspired how people are still learning about this single event as one of the most important events in the 20th century. I was inspired how a few scientists had crack one of the most important questions in life, how we are made.
Genetics contains 4 simple codes; A,G, C and T and these four bases provided the foundations of human life. My 6th form biology teacher was talking about how Crick and Watson determined the structure of DNA. Their story into the discovery of the double-helix DNA structure was not only compelling and fascinating, but there was a sense of controversy into their life-changing proposal in 1953. Back in the early 1950's, Crick and Watson were not the only group trying to crack the structure of DNA. A talented scientist, Rosalind Franklin was also working on the structure of DNA and had in fact created a few images (from X-ray crystallography) of what DNA looked like in her lab book. With the help of Maurice Wilkins, who was the head of Franklin's lab, Crick and Watson saw the lab book without her consent or knowledge. It was widely acknowledge later in life Franklin unpublished data of the DNA structure provided a eureka moment for the two young scientists from Cambridge University. As you know, Crick, Watson and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962. Franklin was not awarded the prestigious science honor due to the fact that she had passed away, probably as a result of the x-rays she was exposed to when working on DNA. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the structure of DNA has revolutionized modern science. Nowadays we are able to manipulate certain human genes, clone organs and even animals (remember Dolly the sheep!). We can screen those who may be prone to certain diseases as a result of their genetics and provide personalized medicines.
I was inspired after hearing the DNA story and how one single discovery can change the way we look at life. I was inspired how people are still learning about this single event as one of the most important events in the 20th century. I was inspired how a few scientists had crack one of the most important questions in life, how we are made.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Hi everyone
This is my first ever blog so please forgive me if I haven't got the blogging techniques right the first time. I guess I always wanted to start up a blog but my problem has always been on what to write, whether people would take notice and be interested enough to read. This coupled with the problem that I don't actually know what subject I want to write. Well ladies and Gentlemen, I have now decided to write about my journey into science.
Science is something I have always felt very passionately about ever since I was a child. The mystery of how things work, why is it that if you put water in the freezer, it turns to ice. What is in the center of Earth? I was not only fascinated by finding solutions to science problems in school, but I was also quite obsessed and admired the history of science. Great men and women have influenced the world through their science discoveries. This was something that greatly impacted upon my decision to study sciences at Alevel and Biochemistry for my undergraduate degree. Nowadays, I am a PhD student working on understanding the important biological networks and proteins that are involved in cancer.
In the next few blogs, I will describe my journey from being a clueless 16 year old into doing a PhD in Biological Structure and Biophysics to aid the development of new anti-cancer treatments.
Thanks to those who have read my first ever blog.
More to come...
Best wishes
P.S. oh and if you were looking for an answer to what is in the center of Earth? We still don't quite know the answer to that. The best answer so far is that the inner core of earth is made mostly of Iron and it is about two-thirds the size of the Moon.
This is my first ever blog so please forgive me if I haven't got the blogging techniques right the first time. I guess I always wanted to start up a blog but my problem has always been on what to write, whether people would take notice and be interested enough to read. This coupled with the problem that I don't actually know what subject I want to write. Well ladies and Gentlemen, I have now decided to write about my journey into science.
Science is something I have always felt very passionately about ever since I was a child. The mystery of how things work, why is it that if you put water in the freezer, it turns to ice. What is in the center of Earth? I was not only fascinated by finding solutions to science problems in school, but I was also quite obsessed and admired the history of science. Great men and women have influenced the world through their science discoveries. This was something that greatly impacted upon my decision to study sciences at Alevel and Biochemistry for my undergraduate degree. Nowadays, I am a PhD student working on understanding the important biological networks and proteins that are involved in cancer.
In the next few blogs, I will describe my journey from being a clueless 16 year old into doing a PhD in Biological Structure and Biophysics to aid the development of new anti-cancer treatments.
Thanks to those who have read my first ever blog.
More to come...
Best wishes
P.S. oh and if you were looking for an answer to what is in the center of Earth? We still don't quite know the answer to that. The best answer so far is that the inner core of earth is made mostly of Iron and it is about two-thirds the size of the Moon.
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