It has now been one whole year since I finished my PhD! It has certainly been an unusual year, and I didn’t expect to be where I am today (not least physically!) but overall am very happy with how things are going. For previous monthly updates see here: Beyond the PhD Series.
How I spent my time in March: Academic work
Publications
No real news on publications this month.
- I’m still waiting to hear back about some minor revisions I submitted for a paper a few months ago.
- The paper I’ve been writing about my postdoc work is nearing completion but hasn’t yet been submitted.
Besides these two, I still have an idea for a paper from my PhD which I’d like to work on, but at the moment there are other things I’d rather be spending my time on. I’m not in a huge rush to start it, I don’t think there is much risk of another group publishing exactly the same thing and while I’m still publishing other things I’m not worried about losing momentum.
Some good news is that a conference abstract we submitted for my postdoc work has been accepted for oral presentation at a conference in Italy (well, online!) for later in the summer. Whether or not I’ll actually still be working at the university is another matter:
Postdoc
The contract for my postdoc position currently finishes at the end of April: eek! We’ve submitted an application for a funding extension from the current funders (the local hospital) but won’t hear back about it until almost the final week of the month. Which of course, is not at all ideal.
I’ve started looking around at other jobs and have made some enquiries but haven’t yet forced myself to actually apply for any. Ideally I’d like to stay on where I am but realise it’s naive to expect our funding extension to be awarded. Either way I’ll have an updated to share next month!
In terms of my current work, I’ve developed a machine learning tool which can help clinicians who are working on certain cardiovascular conditions. The tool is currently just a series of Python scripts and my task for April is to make it all more user friendly. This includes generating automated reports so that the tool can begin to actually potentially be useful for anyone other than myself!
The Savvy Scientist website
New posts
I’ve really dropped the ball recently having fallen behind on a few occasions and got out of the habit of making sure I have a post ready to go every Thursday. In March there were two (!) new posts, and one of them was just a monthly update post:
- Beyond the PhD: March 2021 – Spoiler: I bought a house!
- PhD Profiles: Daisy, PhD Student in Experimental Quantum Physics at University of Surrey
I’d like to get back into the habit but I think realistically this means writing shorter posts. Not everyone wants to read a mammoth post anyway so perhaps it’s a good strategy to go with anyway?
Website traffic
In March this website received 5193 users (+9% compared to February, though the month is also longer!) and 7608 page views (+11%). This was the highest month ever, in spite of not posting much which’ll probably hamper traffic in coming months. I really need to write shorter or more infrequent posts if I can make this sustainable with a job.
Potential business venture
In March someone reached out to me with an idea for a business, and after having some discussions I think it could be an interesting idea so we’re trying it out. Currently we’re doing some prototyping to check feasibility. It’s been difficult to fit this around everything else I’m doing so for now we’ve agreed to reassess after the preliminary feasibility study which will be finished in April. I’ll be sure to share more details in the future no matter how it works out.
Learning new skills
Languages
I’m making progress with both Mandarin and Spanish. My secret is that I’ve got a long streak going on Duolingo (over 160 days) which entices me to sign in and do at least just a little bit of language learning every day. Making learning a daily habit has made such a big difference for creating long term progress!
Courses
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming – I finished this Udemy course in March. It is often available for free, I suggest checking the r/Python subreddit. There is the book which accompanies the course which is also available for free – though I’m sure buying the book is also appreciated!
Despite using Python a lot for my day job, I actually only started learning it in the last year so found it a useful refresher. Both are a nice intro to Python and I picked up a few useful things.
Other stuff
Baking
Now that we have a house to ourselves, we have some room to purchase things which would never fit in a shared kitchen.
My partner had wanted to buy a bread maker and saw one a nice small one come up for sale second hand on Gumtree for only £10. We decided to give it a go and actually it’s just the right size for two people. I don’t expect for us to be buying loaves of bread again any time soon!
Campaigning
One of the many reasons I’ve been less active on this website is that I get stuck in my own head worrying about some of the big issues facing both the world and UK-specific concerns. I’m really struggling with some of it, feeling stifled and not having an outlet to actually do anything useful to help.
For a long time I’ve campaigned for issues I care about which are mostly either environmental or helping fight injustices. Recently it has been mostly cases which fall in to the latter category which concern me. Campaigning can take many forms and doesn’t just mean protesting (but this is one key one, which is why I’m so concerned about the proposals for here in the UK), just a quick conversation with someone could help or even if you see a petition for something you care about, please do sign it. Petitions really can make a difference and I’ve seen U-turns on so so many issues which wouldn’t have happened without this public display or support (or outrage!).
In March I stepped things up a notch and phoned my MP to discuss an issue (the policing bill). I had to arrange the meeting for a few days after my MP voted in favour at one of the initial readings and expected it to be useful even so I kept in in my diary. I was really nervous beforehand but actually found it to be a reasonably productive discussion. I’m under no illusions that they’ll still support it, but the conversation was constructive and the MP seemed to genuinely be listening. If nothing else it’s good to raise issues, not least for your own sanity, and also to make it clear to the MPs that they should be serving their constituents.
House: Green Living Changes
My partner and I bought our first house in February, and we’ve started making a few changes:
- Composting: I love it! Sending food waste to landfill is such a shame, not just as a waste of food but the anaerobic decomposition actually creates way more harmful greenhouse gases than if the food was able to rot near the surface. The food doesn’t just decompose like in a compost bin! Please, if you find yourself with leftover food try to reduce wastage and then consider finding somewhere to compost any remaining food scraps.
- Switching to a green energy supplier. Every time I’ve been in control of the utility bills over the last 8 or so years I’ve tried to switch to a renewable energy provider. Sometimes this has been successful, other times either housemates have been against it or other issues with the property have prevented it. Thankfully now I have complete control!
I like to have as little to do with creating climate change as I reasonably can, and reducing emissions from energy is an obvious change. 100% renewable electricity is easy these days, gas is a lot more difficult beyond just paying for carbon offsetting. It turns out that loads of energy suppliers don’t have great service no matter how nice and green they sound (eg here, they sounded so good until I read reviews!) but I settled on Octopus.
Octopus have amazing reviews and lots of different green tariffs. I went for the most green one (“Supergreen”) which offsets gas emissions: not perfect but the best I could find! As well as being a market leader for green energy they also have a great refer a friend scheme, if you want to switch to them we both get £50 credit each! You can sign up to Octopus with the £50 bonus link here*. This is an affiliate link, please see my referral policy here.
- Using water butts for rainwater collection. They were already here but were never getting used because they’re set back from the path in some bushes so couldn’t be accessed. Buying a few lengths of pipe and some connections now we have rain-water conveniently on tap. It’s so wholesome to collect your own water for watering the plants.
- Fruit plants. I was really keen to start being able to grow some of our own food and make the garden look a bit more green and hospitable for wildlife whilst also being good for the planet. We don’t have loads of space but then I discovered dwarf fruit trees!
They are much smaller than the full-sized versions but still could get to 5-6 feet tall and are supposedly even more productive than their larger cousins. We struggled to find a shop with any in stock and settled on DirectPlants, a bit more expensive than others but the plants are also a lot more established. We bought four fruit trees: pear, fig, plum and cherry, plus a mulberry bush. All of them are self-fertilising. I can’t wait to watch our mini orchard grow!
- Saving materials from landfill. It breaks my heart seeing anything which could be useful unnecessarily meet a premature (and permanent) death in landfill.
Now that I have a bit more space I can actually save at least a little bit of waste. When walking around the area I noticed loads of amazing looking wood in a front garden, thrown out from what looked like a house renovation. I put a note through the door and got a text back saying I was welcome to take it all for free! I must fight the urge to become a hoarder! This wood will help kickstart a few projects around our home. If you have stuff you don’t need or use, please considering donating it to charity, selling it or gifting it to someone before instinctively chucking it in the bin.
Media I’ve consumed
Books
I started reading the Artemis Fowl series of books which my partner has on her book shelf:
- Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer
- Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident – Eoin Colfer
They’re good fun and easy to read which I find it perfect to balance academic work!
Shows
My partner and I recently started watching Schitt’s Creek and are loving it!
YouTube
Though I’m not baking much at the moment, I’m really enjoying watching the Proof Bread channel. The videos are really long and detailed about all parts of running a bakery, despite not looking to do something similar I’m finding it to be a nice thing to have on in the background while doing work which doesn’t require 100% attention.
Monthly finances
Income
Postdoc +£1951.96
Prolific +£15.32 Every so often there are some research studies posted on Prolific with a great hourly rate. Individually they’re not worth much but they could add up if you did lots of them. Read my whole post about my experiences with Prolific.
Matched betting affiliates +£90.96 Last year I wrote a loooong guide to matched betting, and in March started to see some affiliate income from it. I’m very cautious about promoting things, especially where I get a commission. I don’t want financial incentives to dictate what I share, which I only talk about things I have extensively used and believe in: and even then rarely have an affiliate link, such as with Prolific! Matched betting is one of these things I believe is a great way to make money and works particularly great for student life: see my whole post about the top ways to make money as a student.
March Summary & April Plan
March was a bit hectic. Between getting settled in the new house, starting to get a little stressed about my job contract and being in the early stages of a potential business venture I struggled to squeeze in much time for other things including this website and, importantly, relaxing.
When there are constantly productive things I could be doing with my time, I find it a struggle to justify spending time to relax. But I’m need to remember that time spent relaxing isn’t a waste, it can remind us of what is important in life and give much needed balance. I’m not sure what the future will hold but I do know it’s important to think about the present too. I want to ensure I make time to relax and thankfully I have quite a lot of annual leave booked in April to do just that!
A whole year since finishing my PhD and potentially almost the end of my first postdoc position. I’m excited to see what the future holds!
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