I spend most of my time in the laboratory to destroy slabs - but before doing so, we first have to make our specimens.The slabs I'm testing are reinforced concrete slabs, which are cast in timber formwork in the laboratory…
I've recently attended two PhD thesis defenses at Georgia Tech, which were quite different from a PhD thesis defense at TU Delft.One of the first differences, is that the thesis itself is not fully completed and printed yet at Georgia…
Before I went on holiday last summer, I read this inspiring post (in Dutch) about how you can keep that "holiday feeling" a longer.That feeling was described as:"This feeling is associated with peace, energy, creativity, inspiration and relaxation"This made me…
Have you ever been in the following situation?You have selected a conference you would like to attend, and you have all the information you need for writing the abstract (the conference topic which suits your work, the maximum amount of…
This book is written for any student undertaking research for the first time. Although the book seems to be written from the perspective of social sciences, there is good information for science and engineering students in it as well.The first…
I've been experimenting with Focus Booster over the past days, and wanted to share some of my thoughts on this.Focus Booster is a simple software tool to use with the Pomodoro Technique . You can start a Pomodoro with this,…
Here's the list of what I currently have in my Google Reader:About writingAliventures: Ali Luke's blog in which she shares ideas and strategies for better writing.Explorations of style: On academic writingUseful tips and adviceaddictivetips: Useful tips and tricks with regard…
I recently heard someone complain about the amount of time it takes to write out formulas in a Word report. My response to it was to frown and say: "It's not that bad, right?". She then told me it takes…
I have to admit something: I continuously question myself, asking "Who am I to speak up?".- Who am I to write a blog and give advice on the process of doing a PhD? I'm just a second year PhD student…
Writing a doctoral dissertation is a large task, but not the only large task to face during the PhD. A few examples include:- writing an article,- preparing a research report,- the literature review itself,- developing a method,- ...One way to…
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