Unrestrained by thoughts about work, deadlines, and the chores of everyday life, and stimulated by all the new things I see every day, my mind has been able to wander and wonder much more freely during our travels. There’s so much freedom in simply having the curiosity and energy to ask very simple questions, inspired… Read More Travel: a time to wonder

As a traveller, costs matter – one might or might not be able to afford a longer stay in a less/more expensive place. But of course it also matters for the locals, especially in relation to their income. Traversing different countries, I have wondered quite a bit about the cost of living, income, and income… Read More Travel numbers: costs

A 6-month trip certainly provides ample time for reading, right? 4.5 months in, I have managed to read 18 books, mostly fiction, and lots of it fantasy, plus some – such as George Orwell’s 1984 – that have been on my list for a long time. I have also tackled a few non-fiction books, and… Read More Travel: A time to read

Nudged by my partner, I am taking the opportunity to take some time out after my PhD and travel (of course together with my partner ;-)). Whether I look for a job directly after my PhD or 6 months later doesn‘t matter that much (hopefully). So we came up with some areas of the world… Read More Post-PhD travels

Already, my PhD seems like it happened a long time ago. A year ago, I was writing up, and unlike what I hear from quite a few of my colleagues, I did not struggle (much). It definitely helped that I had two published papers and one finished manuscript to work with! I therefore ‚only‘ had… Read More PhDone

Since I have some time on my hands these days – I’m currently between handing in and defending my PhD thesis, which takes months at my university – I decided to up my programming skills, and am currently taking courses on coursera. One of them is on data visualisation (the next one will be on… Read More Look – data is beautiful

An article in the Atlantic by Ed Yong called ‘How brain scientists forgot that brains have owners’ reports on critics and criticisms of current neuroscience and the BRAIN initiative specifically. You should read it, it’s short! The main criticism is – and with this I whole-heartedly agree – that it’s all about the behaviour. The brain… Read More It’s the behaviour, stupid

Writing a blog post on Hans Rosling’s terrific work has been on my to do list for weeks. Sadly, he died of cancer last week, which gave rise to a whole range of articles, obituaries and tributes about him, which makes my blog post appear late. On the other hand, there are many worthwhile articles… Read More Look at the evidence – a tribute to Hans Rosling

Originally posted on GSN Munich:
https://twitter.com/PHDcomics/status/809444316649132037 Yes, it will be that time next year: when I need to figure out what I’m doing with my life. Academia? If not, what options are there? Since I have spent some time looking for other options, I will share the resources I came across – maybe you also…

I came across two interesting papers recently which both dealt with why ‘bad’ science persists – it has been known for a long time that many studies are statistically underpowered, leading some people to famously state that ‘most research findings are false’. But why – when we as scientists know better – do we not… Read More Screwed scientific incentives