I split the PhD into several questions and arranged those to be tackled in a particular order. How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks? I am right at the start of my academic career, so I am probably not the best person to give advice! One thing I would say is to not be scared to experiment in order to find the time, place, set up or workflow that makes you more productive AND to stop messing with it once you found it! Otherwise it turns into never-ending playing with new “productivity hacks”, which is actually counterproductive. What is your best advice for productive academic work? I don’t do any lab work, but I do go away for fieldwork. My home desk tends to be a bit more messy than my office desk, but benefits from a higher quality secondary screen and a tea maker. Being able to work from home also comes in handy when the office is getting too chatty or when I need to catch up on house chores (I can squeeze the chores, one at a time, between pomodoros of work). I do the majority of my work at the office, but every now and then I need a change of scenery so I work from home. I try to keep my desk clear of clutter and I love having two screens dedicated to work. I have a fairly nice set up in the office, although I do wish I had a more comfy chair. I have been allocated a workspace in a mixed PhD office (there are 8 of us, mainly first and second years, all working under different supervisors). What does your workspace setup look like? You can read more about my PhD tools on my blog too I also couldn’t really do without a digital calendar to keep track of my life. I also use it as a Lab Journal, which helps me get closer to working paperless. When it comes to organisation Evernote is my weapon of choice, it is great for note taking during seminars and meetings, for collecting bits of random information and keeping those “must have” emails, lab rotas and event schedules handy. This set up gives me enough options so that I can use the right tool for each job and the majority of the programs work together very nicely, for example the combination of R and LaTeX allows me to create dynamic reports of my analysis (I am a sucker for literate programming and reproducible science). I have recently started using Aquamacs for all my R and LaTeX needs. I use Skim for reading and do data analysis in R. I use Scrivener for scientific papers’ note taking and any work-in-progress that is likely to require substantial changes (especially structural changes), LaTeX for later stages such as sorting out figures/tables, formatting references (from Mendeley) and final output. I do the majority of my work on my laptop. What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow? On the more practical side the project involves analysis of multigenerational long-term dataset, working with pedigrees and statistical modelling, as well as behavioural observations of wild birds during their breeding season. I am trying to understand the dynamics of this system: do females cheat to avoid mating with relatives, with whom they are socially paired? Or maybe they paired up with those relatives because they were going to cheat anyway? The whole group takes care of the chicks, yet due to extreme rates of female infidelity most nests have at least one chick fathered by a male from a different territory – the social male and all those helpers are raising babies who are unrelated to them. It is an absolutely fascinating system! Socially monogamous pairs are often supported during breeding season by male helpers. My work focuses on inbreeding and infidelity in an Australian passerine bird, the cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wren. Due to the nature of my project I also have strong links to the Australian National University. I am an Evolutionary Ecology PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Follow her on Twitter and/or check out her blog.Ĭurrent mobile device: cheapy Android smartphone (not getting much use)Ĭan you briefly explain your current situation and research to us? In her free time she enjoys the great outdoors and is a keen rock climber, when at home she enjoys drawing, as well as food-related things. Beyond that she has a wider interest in wildlife conservation and animal welfare, as well as science communication and the challenges faced by minorities in science and academia. Birds are her preferred study organism and she has a particular interest in the genetic and evolutionary basis of their reproductive and social behaviours. She is currently pursuing a PhD in evolutionary ecology at the University of Edinburgh. Her masters year project focused on the mechanisms of sperm storage in avian female reproductive tract. She has done her undergraduate degree with integrated masters year at the University of Sheffield (MBiolSci in Animal Behavior, graduated summer 2014). Gabriela has a background in behavioral ecology. Today, I am interviewing Gabriela Hajduk in the “This is How I Work” series.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |