Friday, January 25, 2013

#January Joy 25: Do something/Go somewhere you have never been before


 Today I will be attending the PhD defense of a dear friend. It will be my first time attending such a ceremony and I have to say I am very curious. We've had other friends (not many) become doctors (in the proper sense of the term) but every time we were not able to get off from work for it.  She studied Chemistry and has some kind of biomedical specialization so I am quite excited about it. Have you ever attended such a ceremony? I hope the jury is not very hard on her.

Later in the day for the "do something" part I will make my very own homemade almond milk, as explained by the great Sarah Britton, from My new roots, in her inspiring Ted Talk. All you need is almonds, a muslin cloth (or an old, washed pantyhose) and a blender.


What will you be up to?

*Image source

13 comments:

  1. I attended one last year when a guy from my department finished, just to see what it was like. But it wasn't the actual ceremony, just the thesis defense (afterwards the now-PhD holder, the advisor and the jury, sometimes close family as well, go to lunch together).
    It was LOOOOOOONG – the thesis was very interesting but it just got way too long, plus then every member of the jury commented for more than thirty minutes each (sometimes for what I thought were stupid things, like "oh this chapter was perfect but I have to comment SOMETHING so..." but what do I know).
    I'm sure you'll have a great time though! What kind of ceremony do they organize? Just the oral defense of the thesis or is there some kind of luncheon/party afterwards?

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    1. Oh wow, this one was not long at all. It took in all maybe 1h, 1h30 min. She first gave a 30 min summary of her thesis and findings. Then there was the actual defense and discussion where the jury asked her questions. Then they went away to pretend to deliberate and came back with the roll with the diploma, the little hat and some kind of stick with bells. All very ritualized, kind of like in a Church.
      Afterwards there was a short cocktail (coffee, tea, drinks, cookies) and then later (at dinner time) she hosted a small party at a restaurant. It was really nice to see. I loved it. Made me think I really want to do research, I hope I will manage to get a position sometime soon.

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    2. Wow, this is all so much more exciting than my Defense. First of all, all of the grilling and debating happened prior to...just me and my committee (jury?). Then after they grilled the hell out of me and agreed that I had passed, I was able to give my defense for the public. About an hour of me speaking about resilience in at-risk Latino adolescents and then boom, that was it. No cocktail hour or dramatic ceremony. What a let down.

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    3. Oh your thesis subject sounds quite interesting! Do you have a pdf or something? Given that I have lots of time to read?
      They do really love drama and ceremony here. I am not sure if she knew the questions beforehand, but some I thought were quite tought, though she reacted quite well.
      And... you can always make a cocktail party right?

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  2. We are going to the oldest pub in Edinburgh for the first time this weekend. It has been on our to-do list for ages, but it is outside the city centre so haven't been before. It has it's own mini bowling alley :-)

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    1. Oh the oldest pub in Edinburgh with a mini bowling alley? That sounds great. Have fun ! And enjoy your weekend!

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  3. Ik ben nog nooit bij zo'n ceremonie geweest of tenminste ik kan me een keer herinneren dat er een hoop toga's waren en dat ik lang stil moest zijn. Misschien was dat toen m'n vader professor word maar toen was ik nog heel klein 8 ofzo, het kan ook zijn dat hij toen iemand promoten was. Wat een super inspirerend filmpje!

    xx

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    1. Er waren wel toga's. Wat leuk, je vader is professor.
      Ik ben super fan of Sarah Britton, ik vind haar echt inspirerende.

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    2. Haha je zou het niet zeggen als ik m'n reactie nu terug lees denk ik spelling spelling spelling! k ga haar blog zeker een keer bekijken lijkt me hartstikke interessant :)

      xx

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    3. Oh, het maakt niet uit. Mijn Nederlands is ook niet perfect.

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  4. Leuk dat filmpje! Zo inspirerend, en zo waar!

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  5. Hoe smaakte de 'nutmilk' trouwens? Ben echt benieuwd, misschien dat ik het zelf ook eens probeer.

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    1. Super inspirerend, Ik hou echt van haar blog (http://mynewroots.org/)-
      De nutmelk is lekker, mijn favoriet is amandel, dan havermout, en rijst. Ik moet het wel met wat honing drinken. Je kan ze ook bij de Eko Plaza, Tuinen en zo kopen, maar ze zijn duur (ongeveer EUR 2 of en beetje meer :s ).

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