Career planning is easy with the right tool. In the EU, such tool is supposed to be the ResearchCOMP … well, I have just made it interactive and useful at https://vladislavivanistsev.github.io/researchcomp.
You can make a self-evaluation of your skills and competences. Then you can copy, email, download the summary to use it in planning your career.
This week, I have repeatedly discussed the same topic with many peers: What is the first step in starting a new project? Like … a PhD project. For me, it’s about lowering the barriers that prevent beginning the research in the first place. It is all about setting up the right environment, which I call “infrastructure.”
Sometimes, my infrastructure gets disrupted, which slows me down. For example, my new laptop was a major annoyance for some months already. The fan was running at 100% RPM constantly after a software update. It made me worry instead of focusing on the work. Finally, this Saturday morning, I managed to fix it. I am not sure which solution worked – perhaps it was “fan control” – but now I can calmly work in silence.
Additionally, while troubleshooting, I learned more about my CPU and GPU setup. Interestingly, my laptop has two types of CPUs (performance and efficient), totalling 10 cores and 12 threads. I added commands for GPAW Python to run my DFT calculations on 4 and 8 threads accordingly. Yes, I enjoy running tests on my laptop before syncing them via Git and running them on an HPC. Also, I have finally set up the second build-in SSD to store large amounts of data. Hurray!
alias gw8="taskset -c 4-11 mpirun --use-hwthread-cpus -np 8 --bind-to core python"
alias gw4="taskset -c 0-3 mpirun --use-hwthread-cpus -np 4 --bind-to core python"Calculations run twice faster in 4 performance threads than in 8 efficiency ones!
Feels so good when an infrastructure works for you (and not the other way around).
P.S. The problem returned in a while. This time I installed ProcessLasso to set CPU affinity of most of the processes to energy efficient CPUs.
The new Framework for Researchers is a cool tool for planning your career. However, it is so hard to understand and remember. That is why I suggest using the following tree analogy.
ResearchCOMP is an essence like a tree. Roots of critical thinking (1) with trunk of self-management (2) and branches of collaboration (3) hold leaves as research (4) and fruits as impact (5). Water = management 6) and sun = tools (7) nourish the research tree.
The following illustration has been prepared by my son:
ResearchCOMP, Like a Tree
Roots of critical thinking, deep and strong,
The trunk of self-management keeps you moving along.
Branches of collaboration, reaching far,
Leaves of research, showing who you are.
Fruits of impact, growing bright,
Water of management keeps it right.
Sunlight from tools makes it thrive,
Nourishing the research, keeping it alive.
“Content created with assistance from ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.”
With this analogy it is now easy to explain what a PhD. student should focus on.
Cognitive Abilities (Roots):
As a Ph.D. student, you first build your thinking skills like problem-solving and creativity. These skills are like roots that hold you on the ground.
Self-Management (Trunk):
You need to manage your time and stress, set goals, and balance your workload. This helps you stay focused and handle challenges, like a trunk.
Working with Others (Branches):
Collaboration is key. Branch with supervisors and teams, seek feedback, and build connections to grow your research.
Managing Research (Water):
You manage your PhD project. This includes organizing resources, meeting deadlines, and planning your work. It is like a flow.
Managing Research Tools (Sun):
Learn to use research tools like data management and software. These help keep your work organized. It is like external source of energy = sunlight.
Doing Research (Leaves):
This is your core work – running experiments, analyzing data, and writing papers to build expertise in your field. Leaves are as dynamic as your research.
Making an Impact (Fruits):
Your research creates impact. Publish, attend conferences, and share your findings as fruits to the society.
And now you can compare a young tree to a mature one. The difference is that the young one is expected to “bloom”, whether the mature one is expected to give “fruits”, as illustrated below.
This post describes ways of pushing MS outlook and Google calendars to Nextcloud.
My main working calendar is the Nextcloud app because I can easily sync it is my Sailfish phone. I also use Google calendar (for sharing family events) and MS outlook calendar (for work). Today I decided to merge all these calendars into a single one that I can sync on all my devices. Here is how.
MS to Nextcloud
Use outlookcaldavsynchronizer as recommended in the Nextcloud blog.
Google to Nextcould
By Iuliia:
“””
I have been collaborating with the Electrical Double Layer group from the University of Tartu since the beginning of 2016. I had been to Tartu once, in March’2016, and this August I have visited the group again. During this visit, I was accompanied by Dr. Marco Preto, Researcher in Novelmar Project from Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto.
The host institution received us very warmly. There was no need to settle any bureaucracy procedures – Estonian efficiency does not cease to amaze me. Everything was taken care of in advance, and we immediately got out a working spaces, keys or anything we could need for work. I think such attitude is very important for these short visits.
In Estonia we spent two wonderful weeks with work and leisure interconnected. Most of the time in Tartu we worked closely with Dr. Vladislav Ivaništšev and his team, where very productive work was carried out, with social activity interludes that recharged us with a relaxed exchange of ideas. During this visit, the work on developing of an approach to an analysis of electrical double layer in ionic liquids systems was conducted, and an article on our previously done work was prepared for submission.
Among all the Master and PhD students, that are being trained at the group, Meeri Lembinen must be acknowledged especially. Meeri, besides being a brilliant student, is a perfect manager. I suspect, due to her care and attention we have not got a single problem at the university and during the whole stay were accompanied by her and felt like at home.
I hope, our fruitful collaboration is to be continued!
“””
Thesis writing and, in general, academic writing is a skill. Not everyone has that skill, but certainly most can get it. To develop an understanding of the behaviours associated with successful writing, we organized a workshop with the help of AVOK – Centre for Academic Writing and Communication. Under the supervision of Djuddah A. J. Leijen, we started this four-hour workshop with Q&A followed by sessions about time management, in particular how to avoid procrastination, and, of course, grammar.
Landscape wall calendars are useful for tracking the work progress. It is like a live Gantt charge, only better. Also one can buy a calendar online, unfortunately, I could not buy such in a regular bookshop UK or Estonia. So I created my own, very simple design, and printed in on a plotter for a modest fee. The original design is kept on in a github repository: github.com/vladislavivanistsev/walendar
