iMuslim.tv

Confession: Real Science Scares Me

// September 8th, 2007 // No Comments » // Blog

Alhamdulillah, i have just finished writing my Results chapters. Together with my Materials & Methods chapter, i have 99% completed all the parts of the thesis that directly pertain to my work. Now i am left with the difficult (and hence BORING) task of explaining what everyone has been up to in this “exciting” field of Biology – i.e., i have to write my Intro. Once that's done, i then have to try and figure out how my data fits in with the existing world view, that is, my [likely to be very short] Discussion chapter. Then some blah blah blahing about what i would have done if i had more time (correction: if the people who promised me stuff, had actually delivered on their promises… grr).

The introduction is a little scary, because now i actually have to sound like i know stuff; that i have indeed been keeping an eye on the latest developments *cough* and that i have a deep understanding of my field…. ermmm, yeah. I think i may have to take acting lessons before my viva.

What's really scary is the serious nature of it all. I mean, i can blag on about my experiments just fine – but talking about other people's work is a daunting task, especially when you consider that the guys reading my thesis are professors - flipping experts! How do i fool them into thinking that i actually know what i've been doing for the past four years? That it hasn't all just been a blur, and that i do deserve those two little letters in front of my name THAT NO-ONE ELSE CARES ABOUT?

Sigh.

Was i ever cut out for real Science?

You Know You’ve Worked Too Long In A Lab When

// September 7th, 2007 // No Comments » // Blog

Found a group of the same name on Facebook. From the list of 48, these are the ones i actually identified with (not sure whether to be happy that i'm not alone, or scared that the problem is so widespread!):

You know you've worked too long in a lab when…

(more…)

Controls, Control, & The Lack Thereof

// August 3rd, 2007 // No Comments » // Blog

When conducting scientific experiments, controls are absolutely necessary, in order to establish the validity of one's results. Ideally, you should have both a positive control (something that will definitely give you a result), and a negative control (something that should not). If they both work as expected, then you know the result of your test 'something' – whether this result be positive or negative – can be trusted. Controls also yield important information that can help during optimization and troubleshooting.

(more…)

Fun Sundays, Late Nights, Early Starts, Lazy Bacteria & Heavy Flooding

// July 23rd, 2007 // No Comments » // Blog

That pretty much describes my last 24 hours. Lemme break it down for ya:

(more…)

They Stole My Sleep

// July 16th, 2007 // No Comments » // Blog

(Update: But Allāh Gave Me Hope)

I deleted the original entry of the same name, soon after i posted it at 4am this morning. In it, i basically complained about a pickle of a mess that i am in with one of my PhD projects. I was quite upset about it at the time, so much so, that i couldn't sleep (hence the title), so i wrote about it here, to try and vent. Alhamdulillah, in that sense, it worked, but once i got on the prayer mat a few minutes later, for Fajr (dawn) prayer, i started to regret what i had written, simply because i knew it was an exercise in futility. None of you can help me with my problem, other than to offer a few words of sympathy – but i don't need your sympathy, i need help! And i know that the only one who can help me, is Allāh. Of course, i have to do my part as well (in this case, chase up some people who are messing me about), but really, all along with this particular problem – in fact, with this entire PhD – i have had to turn to Allāh for help, when everyone else is turning away from me; running away, sometimes.

In fact, the two lessons i will, inshā’Allāh, take with me from this whole PhD experience, are:

(more…)

Protected: I Hate To Admit It… [SisOy]

// July 9th, 2007 // Enter your password to view comments. // Blog

The Best Jumu’ah, EVER!

// May 18th, 2007 // 22 Comments » // Blog

My experiment worked, and i received chocolate* in the mail… could Allāh be anymore kind to me?

{massive grin}

I'm in danger of hugging random strangers, that is how happy i feel!

(more…)

ALHAMDULILLAH!

// May 2nd, 2007 // 19 Comments » // Blog

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! <—- excited scream

Something worked.

SOMETHING. WORKED.

It's such a tiny, little thing – but it worked!

THANK YOU, RABBI.

I'm now going home now, inshā’Allāh… :)

Playing the GWB Card

// April 17th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Blog

Every Tuesday lunch-time, my building hosts a work-in-progress seminar. These presentations serve as an opportunity for members of the department to learn about what their colleagues are up to in the labs. Only students and postdocs present, but group leaders are allowed to attend. For the past three years, i have somehow managed to avoid being selected… until today.

(more…)

Leaks in the Pipeline & General Ranting

// April 3rd, 2007 // 14 Comments » // Blog

Why do women remain curiously absent from the ranks of academia?

We conducted focus groups of active, employed geoscientists, including students, and found that nearly half of the women participants seriously considered leaving the geosciences at some point in their career, as opposed to only one-third of the men. The reasons for considering leaving are strikingly different between the two genders: the top two reasons for women were family issues (caring for children or elderly relatives) and problems with advisers (mostly a failure to communicate). By far and away, the main reason males considered leaving was an uncertain job market — a distant second was a tie between difficult classes and choosing the wrong sub-discipline.

Ever since i began my PhD, it became obvious that the life of a research scientist is not family-friendly. Frankly, i believe it is only really suited to crazy, old, single guys, who have no interest in marriage, children, or maintaining any kind of long-term relationship/ social life. Some Christian priests wear wedding rings to signify their life-long commitment to the Church, in God's service. Well, replace the words, “Christian priest” with “balding scientist”, “Church” with “laboratory”, and “God” with… hmm… not sure, actually, and you'll get the idea of the amount of dedication required to get anywhere in this field. I am certainly not prepared to sacrifice my ovaries to the unyielding demi-god of 'secured tenure'.

(more…)