When starting on the path to academia, you generally know, broadly what subject area you like. First you realise you like science. Then you figure out that you prefer biology to chemistry or physics. Somehow a few years later you’re studying the intricate details of spider gait (and realise that Read more…
The undergraduate years remind me of being an adolescent. It’s an awkward stage in which you try to wade through schoolwork while also trying to answer very philosophical questions such as, “What do I want to do with my life?” If your sights are set on doing science, the question Read more…
Finishing up a PhD is hard. I mean, all of it is hard, but the final few months are the hardest. You have an intense focus, a one-track mind – not just during work hours, but 24/7. And inevitably, it always seems like there’s so much else you COULD be Read more…
And now for something completely different. Let’s jump ahead to that (seemingly impossible) point in the future where you’ve spent enough time working on THE graph as well as many other graphs and words, which have themselves come from what feels like millions of experiments. You’ve not slept a full Read more…
Hello! Welcome friend. Pull up a rocking chair and sit down. I am yet another person who wants to tell you what to do and how to do it. But bear with me here – what follows is not your ordinary life advice. It is ‘Claire Murray Life Advice™’ (It Read more…
The big decision has been made, you have picked the right supervisor. They’re going to help you flourish and develop into the perfect, employable graduate student. They’ll always be there to answer all your questions, but wait, what? What do you mean they’re in another country, before going to a Read more…
The UK have had a couple of ‘mini heatwaves’ over the last few weeks. What this means in reality is that big yellow ball in the sky shows itself, we (typical Brits) go bananas and try to get outside at every available opportunity, and remember too late that the hot Read more…
A colleague of mine was sitting beside a senior academic at a conference. A young researcher was giving a presentation on the preliminary results from their doctoral research, and the senior academic was really impressed. The topic coincided perfectly with his research interests. Meeting the young researcher over coffee, the Read more…
Once you get towards the end of your PhD, you’re probably a little sick and tired of explaining it to people. Especially in social situations, where you already feel terribly guilty for not writing, and just want to drink tea/coffee/beer and not think about your thesis for one little second. Read more…
Some of my friends call me Wonder Woman because, according to them, I can do anything and I have achieved many things in my life. The truth is that I wish I had more strength or a superpower to accomplish everything I would like to do in my life. I Read more…