Category: English

Preparing for PhD interviews

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

Your name is up. You are nearly the last one to be called. For the last four hours you have been sitting in a seminar room with a dozen other applicants that all seem much more confident and much less nerve-racked than you feel. The excitement of getting offered an interview has long past, and you attempt to go over everything you have prepared during the last two weeks in a split of a second. You take one last sip of water, dry your hands on your trousers, and make sure you still remember your opening sentence. You turn your head, take a deep breath, and swallow your nerves. “That’s me”, you reply, standing up and shaking the hand of Professor Interviewer #1. You smile. “It is nice to meet you”. PI#1 smiles back – “Let’s do this” – and starts walking towards the room where the interviews are being held. 

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Letters from my PhD (II)

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

It’s funny how ideas work. Sometimes a bunch of them come to you at once, and although you may manage to write some down, you usually end up forgetting most of them. Once in a while you are able to turn one of these ideas into a post, and sometimes you even think it might become something regular, like a series. Then two years later you read that post again and you smile at how naively optimist you were. But then you decide to give it a second chance. One and a half months into my PhD at UCL I wrote what I thought would “start a new section in my blog: a place where once a month(ish) I’ll try to write about how this PhD thingy is going”. Two years later, it is time for part two.

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The 2018 UCL Neuroscience Symposium

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

For the second year in a row I’ve had the chance to attend and write about the UCL Neuroscience Symposium. Whether you just came back from FENS and are struggling to remember what did even happen during the symposium or whether you simply would like a glance on what it is like when a big portion of the neuroscience community in London gathers in the same hall, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for my take on this year’s event or, if you are feeling nostalgic, check out the 2017 UCL Neuroscience Symposium.

On Friday 22nd of June, just under 800 researchers gathered at the Institute of Education to celebrate the 9th edition of the UCL Neuroscience Symposium. With two fantastic keynote speakers, six talks by UCL group leaders, and 129 posters spread across three sessions, the event was once again a big success that marked the culmination of another impressive year for the UCL Neuroscience Domain.

Daniel Wolpert

 

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10 long reads to make you think

Oriol Pavón2 Comments

Chances are that if you are a human being that has survived the lingering festive period you will be either patting your back after coming up with a remarkably-self-embettering-yet-very-much-achievable brief list of New Year’s Resolutions, or struggling to stick to them. You are not alone.

Let us assume, for the sake of the argument, that you have resolved to read more this year. Let us assume, just because it is a New Year’s Resolution, that you want this reading to be meaningful, to teach you something. Let us assume, just follow me on this one, that you want 10 long reads to make you think. What a marvellous coincidence, my digital friend! For I was just thinking of writing *precisely* about that.

[Full disclosure: if patience is neither your forte nor an item in your list of resolutions, you can find the links to the reads at the end of the article.]

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Some of the stunning images 2017 left behind

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

Another year has gone by. 2017, a prime one. Too fast paced for my own taste, I must say, but that may also be a product of the many things it brought. Starting a PhD, for instance. Alright, alright, enough about me… After all you are probably reading this because you inferred from the title that you would get to see some really impressive images, hopefully nature- and science-related (not the journals, my friend). You inferred correctly. In this post I’ve tried to gather the photography awards that have blown me away during this 2017, and some of my favourite images therein. I am sure I missed some, so please share any awards you know so I can add them! Read on, read on, and get your eyes ready: enjoy!

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The 2017 UCL Neuroscience Symposium

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

If you happen to be a neuroscientist based at UCL, chances are you have already attended or heard about the UCL Neuroscience Symposium. If for whatever reason you don’t know what I am talking about, or you couldn’t make it this year, fear not and read along for the extended version of my take on the 2017 UCL Neuroscience Symposium. 

On Friday June 16th, the Institute of Education welcomed over 800 researchers from the UCL Neuroscience Domain to what was bound to be an inspiring day full of opportunities to learn about and discuss the science being carried out at UCL. Now in its 8th year, the UCL Neuroscience Symposium is the perfect occasion to get acquainted with new areas of research, catch up with the latest developments of our colleagues, and even establish new lines of collaboration. A gender-balanced line up of speakers was brilliantly put together by the organising committee to deliver some of the exciting scientific breakthroughs that UCL has seen over the past year.Read More »