Having had a busy (and enjoyable) summer, it’s felt like a long few months since the last post in this series. Still, I can’t quite believe it’s already the start of October!
Read on for what I’ve been up to recently, including papers, grants, conferences, and a bit of life outside of work.
For previous monthly updates see here: Beyond the PhD Series.
Work
Research fellow (postdoc) job
It’s been a busy but productive summer, with plenty of research and writing mixed in.
Papers
In my last update, I mentioned that we had submitted two papers to a workshop at ECML. One was accepted – which meant I got to enjoy Porto in September (more on that below). The other was rejected, but we’ve since reworked it significantly and submitted it to another conference I’m keen to attend. Fingers crossed.
In addition, I submitted a paper as first author to a workshop at the British Machine Vision Conference (BMVC) 2025. At the end of September, I found out it was accepted with really positive reviews – especially satisfying since I managed to put it together from initial idea to paper submission in under three weeks. I wouldn’t recommend working to such a tight timeframe though!
Recently I’ve started using a fancy new supercomputer, and I’m excited to carry this on and hopefully submit a paper about it early next year.
ECML
I attended ECML in Porto in September and had a brilliant time. The Whova conference app was once again excellent for connecting with people in similar research areas and organising meetups. Porto itself was wonderful – good food, sunny weather, and lots of interesting discussions. I’m definitely keen to attend ECML again.
Grants
Not all good news: a £150k grant I was co-investigator on was rejected. Grants are getting increasingly competitive, so this wasn’t too surprising.
On the flip side, at the end of September I was invited to review a grant for UKRI. I’ve agreed – mostly to get a better sense of the process from the perspective of being a reviewer. I may write a dedicated post on this experience once I’ve gone through it.
Spin-out company
We recently started a new grant to push our MedTech software further in regards to deployment and regulatory requirements. More details on our LinkedIn post.
In September I was also invited to give talks at a couple of PhD summer schools about my experience spinning out a MedTech company – one in Bristol, one in Newcastle. This was my first time visiting Newcastle, and it was lovely!
The Savvy Scientist website
New posts
Since the last post in this Beyond the PhD series, I’ve posted two articles:
- Collaborative Research: How to Make & Manage Academic Collaborations
- Signs of a Bad PhD Supervisor: 7 Red Flags to Watch Out For
Website traffic
Overall, traffic this past year has been higher than the previous 12 months. However, it hasn’t been particularly strong since April, when traffic has broadly been lower than this time last year.
Time off
Festivals
Over the summer I went to a couple of UK festivals.
One was the adventure travel festival I’ve been to many times before, and the other was a first for me: Green Gathering.
I had such a good time at Green Gathering that I hope to make it an annual trip – great food, music, invited speakers, and lots of activities – including sketching and trying to play a didgeridoo!
Holiday planning
October will see me heading to Japan for a few weeks! Part of the trip includes several days of cycling, so in preparation I went on a 40km cycle ride to Bath and back. Not huge by cycling standards, but my longest ride so far in a single day.
Media I’ve consumed
Books
Investable entrepreneur – a free book that actually turned out to be a pretty solid overview of the topic.
Films
How to Kill a War Machine – this film was due to be released later in the year, but because of the UK government’s decision to prescribe Palestine Action, the release was brought forward. Needless to say I ended up watching it twice in the days before the prescription came in.
Apps
I’m now using Upscrolled as an alternative to mainstream social media. Worth checking out if you’re curious. Find me @jeff.
Duolingo
I’m still going strong – my streak is now past 1,800 days. Lately I’ve been learning some very basic Japanese ahead of the trip, and also dabbling in chess, which Duolingo recently added. Having never played chess before I have no expectations of becoming good at it anytime soon, but it’s fun nonetheless.
Personal finances
Income
- Day job: £2,328.44 (post-tax) per month from my part-time research fellow role at Bristol.
- Spin-out: Currently I’m drawing no salary.
Savings
My savings increased by £4,257.28 over the past three months, mostly from investments and a very small holding in Ethereum.
Summary & plans
As we approach the end of the year, I’m starting to think about where to focus my energy in my academic and spin-out work for the rest of the year. Outside of work, I’ll be enjoying the Japan trip and hopefully striking a better work–life balance.
I hope you’re also managing to find a good balance in your own life.
If you enjoyed this post be sure to take a look at previous updates in the Beyond the PhD Series.
Keen to be updated on new posts? Subscribe below!
