43 days to go

I've still got one chapter on the rocks and the front and back chapters to fix. Two papers on the pipeline and a job interview coming up. So much going on.

The big thing for today is meeting with D and A. They briefed me about the HCV project, and how I can apply for it as a proper postdoc. I'll be going through the formal university application via HR, so that has added to my pile.

Fingers and toes crossed.

Seven months later... and Four months until submission

I've got four months left... FOUR months. It doesn't sound like much at all.

I'm doing my best to keep working at a steady pace, or faster. At this point I am scared to the core, so I have a lot of adrenaline every day. I wonder when I will hit a wall? I imagine I will, but I am hoping it doesn't come at an inopportune time.

So what's going on now?

I've got 2 papers being written, hopefully ready for journal submission before December. I've got one project that needs writing up, and one other that hasn't even started.

Thesis writing has been put on hold, but I have to produce a good "complete" draft by first week of December. I've enlisted a couple of friends to do some editing/proofreading for me next week, so I ought to work on it this weekend. I can't do anything else in the next couple of days since I'm busy with work and writing for the other two papers lined up for submission.

That's all I've got at the moment. Hope to sound less somber in my next update.

Papers, papers, papers... !!!

Thinking aloud on which papers I actually do have lined up... Let's see which's sure and which's possible:

(1) Work with F. Review on methods. I'll need to write and collect more literature. Should finish a draft in 2-3 weeks.

(2) Work with boss M. Proposal of a new model. Running experiments which will last for another 3 weeks. I can't say how long the writing will take for this yet. Since this is first-hand work with boss M, he's keeping a close eye on the model, algorithm and code, and that in itself makes it take time as the feedback loop is more frequent. Not that this is a bad thing, it actually makes the work validate itself, though I keep rewriting code more often.

(3) Work with boss M and Z. Estimation of parameters from new model applied to current methods. Just yesterday, boss M pointed out that there is another possible paper out of our work in (2) that can be piped into Z's work. No time frame for this yet as it largely depends on (2).

(4) My own work. Validation of our previously-published method. A project that is on stand-by soon as I can find time for it. Should be open and shut as I've got the framework done.

(5) Possible work with R. Proposed new method for different organism. I've not met with R for a while (since last year). This is all up in the air, and I'm not sure I can think this up in time for the PhD to end.

Ok... now, what are the chances I finish at least ONE before September?!

A conference and a little competition

A conference

I'd been mumbling a while back about not being able to afford attending conferences this year, especially with the "downscaling" of scholarship top-ups (meaning there would be none). Added to that, I've got to save some money for A's application for a visa this midyear.

Good news is, boss M announced that he is setting aside some money for all of us in the lab to attend a conference in late September. The catch is we have to present work there. No big deal, we always expect to give talks in meetings/seminars, so this is actually good!

At least I am sure I'll have at least one more conference to add to my CV without spending too much.

Publishing papers and funding

Every year, we used to receive a constant top-up to our scholarship from boss M. Since the money is scarce, he's set rules on how he's going to allocate it. In fact, he's set up a sort of "competition" amongst us.

So how it goes, is that for every paper we publish, we'll get an *award* for it. Each paper is worth half of the top-up I used to receive yearly. The paper has to be work accomplished with the lab.

The thing is, if we get productive and publish papers more, he's actually going to have more problems with money. That was funny, but he welcomed the challenge and opened even his own pool of money (for his own funding) to us, should we publish more. He's more than happy to oblige. So what came forth from here is not really a solution to the money being scarce. But it turned out to be a better set-up I should say.

I've got at least a couple of papers lined up. Let's see how it goes!