Tag: PhD

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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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 »

Tips on applying for a PhD

Oriol Pavón10 Comments

It’s that time of the year again. And no, I am not talking about Christmas. I am talking about Graduate School Applications. Chances are that if pursuing a Master’s or a PhD has crossed your mind you will already be in the midst of scanning through dozens of Programmes/Scholarships and trying to figure out a way to make your application stand out from the rest. It’s a very busy, stressful and time-consuming period, but also one that will determine the next few years of your life and career.

It’s hard to believe that only one year has gone by since I myself was going through this process. And I would certainly not be where I am today without the invaluable help, guidance, advice and corrections I got from the friends and colleagues who selflessly answered my many questions and shared their experience and tips with me. The idea behind this post is to try to give back and pass on those tips that helped me the most and write the entry I would’ve loved to read when I was on the hunt for a PhD.Read More »

Letters from my PhD

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

Oh shit it’s November!

This sentence pretty much summarises my experience in London so far. It also entails that it’s been a bit more than one and a half months since I moved to this humongous city to start my PhD. One and a half months that have gone, just like that. So it feels like the perfect moment to 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. You can expect to find things about the Programme I’m in, the science and the life of a PhD student in London, and any other random things I fancy sharing in here.Read More »

The place where lost time goes

Oriol Pavón1 Comment

I am gonna get so much work done today. There is nothing like coming back from holidays with a fresh and recharged mind. Let’s start by catching up with emails from work, maybe there is something of outmost importance I must reply to…

But chances are that there is nothing of outmost importance there, and what usually happens is that one email leads to another, and then a quick peek at Twitter/Facebook leads you to the latest post of that blog you like, which happens to have a catchy title, and next thing you hear is someone asking: “Anyone coming for lunch?” Mother of… Damn! Lunch time already? “I can’t, sorry, I have so much stuff to do. I am so busy today”.

wasted-day

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On something I published

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Now that PhD interviews are over and, with them, this whole process of applying for PhDs has come to its end, I find myself with enough time to do some writing and liven up this blog a bit. And with that in mind, I wanted to share the first piece I have written and has been published in a journal (yay!).

When I was in Oxford I started collaborating as a page editor with Phenotype, a journal of the Oxford University Biochemical Society that every term publishes short articles by students, postdocs, PIs and alumni from a wide range of disciplines. After I handed in my MSc Thesis I decided that it would be cool to write about what I had been doing those six months I spent in the lab, and it would be even cooler to try to get it published so that everyone could read it. So I gave it a go and ended up writing about the method I learned and used in my experiments.Read More »