I’m a night owl. Well, at least, that’s the label I’ve carried for as long as I can remember. Is it just the default option I have or do I have another mode that has been dormant for so long? If I have a night to myself I will stay awake until my eyes can…
A big computer in a chapel, Barcelona
I’ve just finished help co-host a new conference series called EMiT which presents work from developers and users of emerging computing technology. It’s a cool conference, and we managed to squeeze in a tour of the MareNostrum supercomputer. A friend and colleague Dr Michael Bane spun the idea of EMiT up 3 years ago, and…
Battling with time management
How many of you start the week with a rigid plan? Time management is an aspect of my career I have battled with for a while. Having said that, I have only really started reflecting on it since managing my own projects and personnel. Some weeks I have clear objectives that are defined by my…
Physik und Kaffee in beautiful Vienna
I had the pleasure of spending w/c 18th of April 2016 in Vienna at the European Geophysical Union (EGU). I recall first visiting the picturesque city back in 2004 towards the tail end of my Phd. I say tail-end, it was the rough end of trying to finish everything! I have a lot to thank…
Philosophising. Yes, apparently it is a word.
One common theme of my musings on research life is about stepping back a little. Gaining a different viewpoint on your work can reap dividends. Whilst it can happen serendipitously, I’ve found it can be encouraged through discussion between friends and colleagues. Of course, writing research papers forces you to question the true understanding you…
The case for conference attendance
Conferences are part of the undulating fabric of an academics year. The question is, do we attend simply because that’s ‘what we do’? I would argue a conference could benefit a researcher at any stage in their career, in multiple ways. How so? It might be obvious, but when I stopped to think about it,…
Moving around to move forward
If you, like me, spend most of your working life at a desk then you might begin to question how influential this is. My fingers move. The keyboard rattles. The brain flows through cycles on deep and shallow thought. Ok, but what is the role of the environment? I must admit on starting to feel…
Dr David Topping 