Category Archives: Science

The Mediocre Scientist

On The Serious Side, Science

I will be attending an international conference next week, where I will be presenting an invited talk. Nothing earth-shattering about it; as I am a scientist by profession, I am expected to attend scientific conferences to network with other nerds fellow colleagues and present my bit of knowledge, and whether the said knowledge will have a measurable impact on the society at large, well, who’s to judge? While this activity in itself is not necessarily an accomplishment, it will be summarily included as an additional entry in my CV.

“A Highfalutin Title with Ambiguous Results,” Presented at the International Conference of My Field, known only to those in the field, unknown to the rest of the world.

In this particular conference, there will be plenary talks to be delivered by Nobel laureates and other academic luminaries who in one way or the other have made this world a better place through their relentless pursuit of knowledge. As to be expected, their brief bios are mind-blowing: 500+ or 1000+ papers published, held various positions so-and-so, and multiple awards from award-giving bodies which I am mostly unfamiliar with (and this is obviously because I am not from that class of scientists).

Which got me into thinking, I can only consider a handful of people I know who I would consider as scientific “celebrities” of sorts. Myself, and indeed most of the people I meet and interact with at conferences have accomplishments which are nowhere near those of the plenary speakers.

We’re the mediocre scientists. We publish, attend conferences, apply for grants, churn out a string of reports to justify the use of public money. If we get lucky, perhaps one of us may even stumble upon a major discovery that will actually change the world.

One of the pitfalls in the academia today is evaluating how good scientists are by the number of their publications, how high the “impact factor” of the journals they get published in. I don’t think it’s that easy to evaluate the quality of science; I think the ultimate test is how our lives and those around us can be changed for the better through science.

We can’t all be celebrity scientists, but I would like to believe that we all share the same goal.

Realities

Random Thoughts, Science

Is it just me, or am I now getting spammed lately by invitations to become an “editor” of some journal or book edition, or as a distinguished “invited speaker” for some conference I haven’t heard of before? Don’t get me wrong, nothing would be more flattering than being recognized by your peers in the field. But, dyosme, as I am a scientist, wouldn’t you expect me to have a fairly objective idea of my own relevance? I am way past the point where I jump up and down with glee each time I get a paper published, or merrily float to cloud nine whenever I get acceptance for my paper to be presented in some exotic location somewhere in the world (perfectly understandable if it’s your first time, but after the nth time, you sort of outgrow it). It is just routine now, all part and parcel of the profession which I have chosen for myself. Admittedly there was a time when it seemed perfectly valid to brag about it to my peers, or even to close friends who did not even understand what my work is all about. But years have taught me to be aware of exactly where I stand, and as far as I could tell, there is definitely still a long road ahead of me. If you have been around for as long as I have, then you will understand exactly what I mean.

So, yes, I get suspicious whenever invitations like those appear in my inbox. My first thought would be: what exactly have I done to deserve it? Someday, sure, when the time is ripe.  And I’m fairly sure that by then,  those invitations will come from someone I actually know. Sometimes a career in science is not a race, but a marathon. Matira matibay.

What would it take to actually be considered successful? Number of publications? Prestige of journals published in? (I know there are those who merely list the number of their papers published in Science and Nature as a measure of how important their achievements are. Fairly objective, wouldn’t you say?) Amount of grant money received? Number of students advised? Election into elite societies or groups? All of the above, perhaps.

Unfortunately we can’t all be superstars, despite our sincerest aspirations. Some of us are meant for stardom, some of us are meant to remain in the shadows wearing our old dirty lab coats and doing mediocre work. While working really hard may give us a fairly good shot at attaining some degree of success, the reality is that there are also serendipitous factors that are simply outside our realm of control. Sometimes we just get plain lucky. We get to work with the right people, be in the right environment, and on top of it all, the right opportunities presented themselves at the right time. It just doesn’t work that way for everybody.

But as I have said in an interview for a magazine some years ago (no, I was not interviewed because I was famous in any way, and yes, there were other women scientists who were interviewed for the same article!), no mother would ever say on her deathbed, “I wish I had written more papers.” Substitute any of the success parameters I mentioned above, and it boils down to essentially the same thing: those which may make us proud in our lifetimes are not necessarily the ones that can make us happy.

Cambridge Science Festival – Part Two

Life in Cambridge, Science

The Cavendish Laboratory is located in the West Cambridge Site – the newer (modern!) buildings are located in this area. It is quite a distance from the City Centre, so we drove there on our car and parked at a road nearby. It wasn’t as crowded as in the previous venue, there were plenty of spaces to move around, and had arguably more interesting setups and experiments.

Here are snapshots on our second time at the Cambridge Science Festival:

March 21, 2009

West Cambridge Site

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Cambridge Science Festival – Part One

Life in Cambridge, Science

We are indeed privileged to be in Cambridge this year, just in time for its 800th Anniversary year. There are various events organized by the University throughout the whole year to mark the occasion. Additionally, there is also an annual event called the Cambridge Science Festival, which is held in March each year. The Science Festival held this month had over more than 160 events for all ages over two weeks, with the theme "Centuries of Science."

image Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to expose my daughter to such events – hoping that she will get the impression that not only is science interesting stuff, but that it is also fun and engaging (and definitely not just for the geeks and nerds). I think it’s just wonderful that there are events like these where children and adults alike would get an exposure to science. There are several such events in Tsukuba, but we have yet to attend one (too lazy; Japanese language was too daunting; Aya was too young, yada yada yada). So one could aptly say that this was our first experience together. Not just us, actually, because Lola was also here to enjoy the festivities. Just imagine, my Mom, a senior citizen and who is not a science-person herself, having fun doing experiments with us! Kudos to the organizers and facilitators of the event — superbly done!

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Rethinking Darwin

Science

This evening I was finally able to attend one of the Darwin lectures sponsored by the University of Cambridge, in celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. The lecture was delivered by Prof. Jim Secord, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project.

Charles Darwin in 1881
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/2262636867/

I got to Lady Mitchell Hall (LHM) – the venue- at about ten past five, but was promptly told at the door that the hall was full – and this was a good 20 minutes before the lecture’s schedule! Instead, I was told to go to the "Little Hall," which was directly opposite LHM. Even Little Hall was almost full, but I managed to squeeze-in in one of the pews. It was my first time to attend such an event – and was quite surprised at how many attendees there were. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air. However, instead of a stage, in front of the room was a large projection screen. Latecomers had no choice but to content themselves with a digital broadcast of the actual event unfolding at the other hall.

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Disillusionment

On The Serious Side, Science

I probably woke up from the wrong side of the bed this morning. For some reason, I woke up with an intense feeling of homesickness. It was something I haven’t felt in years.

I felt homesick – but not for Japan, the place I have called home for twelve years now. Instead, I felt homesick for the country of my birth. I woke up and felt rather odd that I was buried beneath layers of clothing and a duvet, instead of roasting in the sweltering heat and waking up to the sound of mosquitoes buzzing near my head. I woke up and felt rather puzzled that the sun was nowhere in sight. And, instead of shouts from early vendors hawking their pan de sal in the wee hours of the morning and the familiar hum of tricycles on the street, I woke up to the noise of cars passing by on the road. I looked out the window and saw the barren trees around and remembered how trees in my country never shed their leaves, ever. How one never has to undergo the cruel, harsh cold of the winter season. How the place is always teeming with life.

I suddenly felt out of place.

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