Category: Graduate School

Finding a Passion for Physics and Virtual Reality Headsets

Haxhi Pantina: "To this day, I still like reading about stars and the universe, but quantum mechanics, quantum optics, and quantum information contain the largest part of my daily routine."

/ September 7, 2021

My Career Path Following Water from the Mountain to the Sea and Across an Ocean

Jeeban Panthi: "My professional and personal journey to understand water continues to unfold, and I was a part of a multi-year collaborative research project on climate and water in Nepal."

/ July 8, 2021

Sleeping Astrocytes: Failures and Successes on the Journey to Publication

Laura Bojarskaite: "I want to be honest and tell you the story of how science actually happened for me and not how science should have happened according to all the rules, supposed-to’s, and textbooks."

/ April 12, 2021

Limits to Perfection: Searching For Order in Chaos

Kumaresh Krishnan: "Understanding when the details of a model are satisfactory for the research questions being asked is one of the most critical steps in my work."

/ March 20, 2021

Crisis After Crisis During Pandemic Field Day Experiments

Catalina Mejia: "Whether to a friend, a colleague, or another graduate student, make the small efforts to reach out and ask for support if you are in need of it."

/ March 16, 2021

Flickering Lights in the Darkness: How Microscopy Shaped My Scientific Path

Natalie Nannas: "Watching those flickering green dots shuttling around the cell convinced me that my future was in research."

/ November 30, 2020

From Picking Grapes to Treating Cavities

Ramneek K. Batth: "I came to recognize the importance of research and it’s need to advance almost every, if not all, aspects of life."

/ September 22, 2020

The Little Boat of “Why?”

Catherine Lockley: "As soon as this voyage is over, it will inform another and yet another. I signed up for the endless seas, but I stand at my bow and salute my fellow voyagers as they sail by on their...

/ July 28, 2020

Ice, heat, science, and acting

Morgan Dundon: "I think we should be more accepting of our many dimensions, both academics and actors alike. In my world of materials science, there are solid materials that can exist in more than one form or structure."

/ July 1, 2020

Crossing the finish line

Divya Shiroor: "By trying to make a mad dash to the finish line we run a very solid risk of not making it at all. In the long run, taking a moment to stop and smell the roses might go...

/ June 20, 2020

Be your own Cartographer

Divya Shiroor: "I think of the IDP as a roadmap to the destination of your choice, with the difference being that you build your own road as you go along. It is a tool that helps assess which career you...

/ June 14, 2020

Academia: My forbidden love?

Divya Shiroor: "As happens with all relationships, my honeymoon period ended soon after commencing graduate school. Seven months into my first year, I now realize that my once perfect boyfriend can be complicated, demanding and potentially unstable."

/ June 8, 2020

Humans of HBI: Rockwell Anyoha

Rockwell Anyoha: "I just love animals. I grew up surrounded by nature and spent a lot of time interacting with both wild and domestic animals. We are always taught how “special” humans are, but in my childhood experiences of being...

/ March 5, 2020

Growing Up in Science: David M. Schneider

David Schneider: "When I finished my masters, I applied to 11 PhD programs and was rejected by all of them. The next obvious step (to me) was to cold-call the director of graduate studies at Columbia (where I had just...

/ December 27, 2019

Building Self-Confidence Through Science

Lauren Tereshko: "I realized I had stopped putting positive energy into myself, and grew angry and restless. Ashamed of my stagnation, in a moment of catharsis, I made the decision to apply for grad school."

/ October 27, 2019

From Poverty to Science: Becoming a Scientist Amidst Financial Adversity

Gabriel Reyes: "Part of me wants to be angry and frustrated that no matter how hard I work or how enthusiastic I am, the socioeconomic class I was born into will be a hidden barrier."

/ October 15, 2019

The Uncertainties of Life

Jaqueline A. Picache: "One of my few regrets is not standing up for myself back then. Instead, I found other people to stand up for – specifically, the rare disease community through my research.  I advocated for the underdog because...

/ August 26, 2019

Open Heart Surgery: Let Me Tell Y’all A Quick Story

Dr. Jenn Jackson - I grew up in Oakland, CA with my single mom. My dad was in and out of my life. Mostly out. We struggled a lot. My family struggled and continues to struggle.

/ June 14, 2019

Marisa Carrasco: Official and Unofficial Stories

Dr. Carrasco is a Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU. She grew up in Mexico City and earned her Licentiate in psychology, specializing in experimental psychology, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She writes: "Juggling research,...

/ May 4, 2019

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Around half of all Ph.D. students across fields don’t complete their program. I never thought I would be one of them.

/ March 19, 2019

I am a Neuroscientist in Training: Explore My Developing Neural Story

"My parents never finished college, so I know how privileged I am to study at a renowned institution like Harvard. Although I never saw becoming a scientist as a possibility, I now understand I have always had the curiosity, creativity,...

/ March 14, 2019

#PhDart — Flower Development Matters

Being a plant lover since I was little, I have always been fascinated by the enormous diversity of floral architectures. Now in the Kramer lab at Harvard University, I began to explore this diversity by asking how Aquilegia species build their flowers....

/ January 29, 2019

Using the ‘fear of missing out’ to my advantage in science

Priscila is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Molecular Genetics at The Ohio State University (OSU). She was born and raised in a rural town in Puerto Rico. She is interested in science communication, biomedical and plant research. She...

/ October 30, 2018

PhD or Family? Does it have to be one or the other?

Aditi Deshpande is a scientist at Allena Pharmaceuticals in Newton, MA. She is a biochemist and a chemical engineer by training. Dr. Deshpande is motivated to transform emerging science into products suitable for commercial development and also bring first-in class...

/ August 24, 2018

From Juvenile Detention to Neuroscience

Raul Ramos shared his inspiring personal journey into science with high school students from Waltham High School as part of the series, The Brandeis MRSEC and WHS present: Science Pizza Talks. AAAS provided additional support for this event.

/ August 22, 2018

The PhD Delusion

My parents were still on cloud nine about their daughter having finished a PhD at a highly-ranked university, doing ground-breaking research on cystic fibrosis. They were talking about it as if I had been on a wonderful, noble mission which...

/ May 28, 2018

How My PhD Training is Empowering Me

Teresa Ambrosio: "I wasn’t aware I was suffering from depression for so long and I blamed chemistry for missing out on all the other aspects of life. I suddenly realized that my whole world was my 1x2 square meter desk...

/ May 11, 2018

My Kaleidoscopic Journey in Science

If you observe carefully, you’ll find a similar pattern in science and life. Both teach you the same lessons. The lessons that you learn from science help you solve problems in life as well.

/ April 5, 2018