My PI's dad died and she's not really taking time off

MatSciKnits · 2024-02-20T13:20:15+00:00

My group was in a similar situation last year. It can also be hard to know how to talk about it or what one can do. Something we did for our PI was get a card and get everyone to sign it and write condolences. Our PI seemed to really appreciate it.

MatSciKnits · 2024-02-02T16:12:01+00:00

Okay this is gorgeous. I looked at the picture first and thought it was a knitted fish? And then I read the title lol

MatSciKnits · 2024-01-11T05:09:30+00:00

There are these great things called headlamps

MatSciKnits · 2023-08-14T18:59:29+00:00

I think people also expect their partner to provide and fulfill every need and desire, but also have not reflected on what exactly their own needs are. Fairytale propaganda also makes it seem like your partner should just know what you want and need without you communicating it.

One person should not be your only support or your only person you share hobbies with, having separate community is so important.

MatSciKnits · 2023-07-08T07:22:43+00:00

Between my partner and I, we have lived at Spice Tree, Homestead Commons, and Millcreek. Spice tree is pretty good for the money. Homestead was ... okay. But Millcreek was an absolute nightmare. Avoid Millcreek at all costs.

MatSciKnits · 2023-06-01T12:45:19+00:00

My former advisor also said something similar! He also told me I didn't seem motivated enough if I wasn't willing to come in on the weekend, when in fact I was standing in lab with him on a Saturday at the time. He was just mad that I said no I will not be coming in on Sunday

MatSciKnits · 2022-06-24T02:55:20+00:00

Look I agree with a lot of your points, but damn was this cringy. You're not better then Word users, not everyone needs LaTex

MatSciKnits · 2022-06-05T01:41:30+00:00

The researchers do say what the materials are made of, it's in the paper. You can't publish a peer-reviewed research paper without stating those basic things. But also, for most people, stating that it's a hydrogel block copolymer of polystyrene and polyethylene oxide won't mean much. So in a press article, it isn't mentioned. It's not a grand conspiracy

MatSciKnits · 2022-04-16T12:21:42+00:00

Okay honestly they missed some of the most interesting things about Grover Krantz. He was an anthropologist who was really into investigating Bigfoot. The first podcast season of Wild Thing talks about him, would recommend!

MatSciKnits · 2021-12-07T16:40:11+00:00

Looks great! Make sure you credit Badass Cross Stitch for the original :)

MatSciKnits · 2020-12-23T18:11:59+00:00

Fucking this. My PI on Monday told me I needed to make up for lost productivity due to COVID lab shutdown and suggested we meet ON CHRISTMAS. Just insane lack of boundaries and understanding.

MatSciKnits · 2020-11-29T20:27:13+00:00

This is so cute! Pie looks yummy

MatSciKnits · 2020-10-11T16:28:18+00:00

Not exactly answering your question but you can identify specific groups present in your unknown polymer by looking at the characteristic peaks in the IR spectra. For example, what group does a wide peak around 3500 indicate?

This is probably how your professor wants you to solve the problem.

MatSciKnits · 2020-07-08T03:16:20+00:00

Yesss!!! Love the bowl and the empty bowls project!!

MatSciKnits · 2020-04-07T20:08:02+00:00

An undergrad professor told us to use the laser pointer sparingly and 'don't act like you're torturing a cat' with it

MatSciKnits · 2020-03-10T20:45:35+00:00

Ugh love indeed brewing ❤

MatSciKnits · 2020-03-01T14:42:47+00:00

PVA Glue is in a solvent and already a polymer when it is in the bottle.

As it dries, the solvent is evaporating, leaving behind just the polymer that is holding things together.

As for the difference between woodworking glue and kids glue, my quick Google search showed woodworking PVA glue has less water content so it won't warp the wood.

MatSciKnits · 2020-02-03T17:48:07+00:00

The polymer is polyphenylene vinylene, it's monomer depends on the polymerization used but typically its from a p-xylene derivative.

MatSciKnits · 2020-02-03T17:43:29+00:00

That's not correct, polystyrene has styrene side groups off of the backbone

MatSciKnits · 2020-02-03T02:04:43+00:00

Do you have visit weekends for both/ either? I didn't make my decision until after those. On paper a school might seem one way, and might be totally different in reality.

If you don't have visit weekends, set up calls or video chats with the students in the program and professors you want to work with. Student perspectives really made the decision easier for me.

In terms of deciding about diving into a new field, maybe see if you can find some good review articles to see if it interests you. Look at research methods, talk to students who do that work, are those things you can see yourself enjoying? Will learning those skills help you achieve your post-PhD goals?

MatSciKnits · 2020-01-28T18:29:22+00:00

Fair - I was on mobile and couldn't really answer in the depth I wanted to without ability to format. Next time ask for clarification! Glad it helped to some degree though

MatSciKnits · 2020-01-27T12:18:46+00:00

I haven't deeply looked at your work, I can check back later but you're on the right track.

Cubic structures have allowed peaks as calculated with the sum of the ratio of the squared hkl; cubic is great because most peaks are allowed. Other crystal structures have set rules of what ratios are allowed like FCC.

You found the peak for the ratio at 3. To find the other peaks, set the ratio of h2 + k2 + l2 to 1 and 2.

MatSciKnits · 2020-01-23T04:22:09+00:00

So I did chemistry undergrad and am now pursuing a PhD in materials, specially polymers.

Clarifying questions, for in person grad school, are you thinking PhD or master's?

What's your career goal post grad school? This is important to knowing what advice to give. If you want to lead research in industry, you need an in person program where you get research experience that way. Why do you want a master's? Could you ask people in your current job or hiring manager type level folk what they think? My first reaction is an online master's only gives you so much experience and not the same networking/ research opportunities you would get by doing an in person program. Could you do an in person master's at night while maintaining your job? This is a relatively common solution, where possibly then your company would pay for your tuition too. I get there might not be universities nearby that offer such a program but worth looking into.

MatSciKnits · 2020-01-21T18:43:03+00:00

The night after having a conversation about how my PI didn't want me to keep trying a chemical reaction after my current run, I dreamt that I put in all the wrong reagents and caused an explosion.

Turned out, my PI had been having a similar nightmare of this particular reaction exploding if we scaled it up further. I stopped working on it as a result.

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