Comments for Microbe Matters

Comment on Surviving the Comprehensive Oral Exam by kdshives

kdshives — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:27:08 +0000

Thanks for commenting Melissa!

Your take on the “don’t know” is spot on; it is so much better if you can tie it into something related and demonstrate the breadth of you knowledge.

I did something kind of similar to that where I ended up referencing the work of an invited speaker who gave a seminar on our campus just 6 days earlier. Somehow I managed to tie his work into supporting an alternate hypothesis of what might be happening in my system while on my feet instead of just saying “I don’t know”. That was one of the very few moments during my oral exam when I thought “you know, I might just actually be cut out to be a scientist, I can do this.”

Good reason to go to seminar, you never know when or how you’ll use that information.

Comment on Our genome is not ours alone by A newly discovered means controlling viral infection | Microbe Matters

A newly discovered means controlling viral infection | Microbe Matters — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:08:54 +0000

[…] Immunology, they demonstrated that endogenous retroviruses (I’ve written about these previously here) in the model organism Drosophila (a fruit fly) can produce the reverse transcriptase protein. […]

Comment on Surviving the Comprehensive Oral Exam by Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:53:40 +0000

Great tips for the oral exam. Mine was grounded in coursework and then extended to hypothetical research situations. These tips would have worked for me as well.
I also found the hand written notes extremely useful. We were also allowed to have a blank notepad so that while we were being asked a complex question we could make notes to ourselves and organize our thoughts. Sometimes I just doodled to buy time to collect my thoughts.
Definitely agree on the “don’t know” response, but we were trained to try to relate it to something we did know. “Sorry, I’m not too familiar with that technique but perhaps one could use this other method instead…”
Great write-up and congrats on completing your exams!

Comment on Microbe Matters Book Club: “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman” by jkmhoffman

jkmhoffman — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:18:34 +0000

Reblogged this on kjmhoffman.

Comment on Microbe Matters Book Club: The Coming Plague by Laurie Garret by grittonsci

grittonsci — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:11:56 +0000

I read this when it first came out and loved it; I have re-read it since and although it is dated, it is still a good book. I also recommend “The Forgotten Plague” by Frank Ryan about how we lost the war on tuberculosis.

Comment on The Concept of Quasispecies by Understanding How Viruses Replicate & Mutate « Life is Mysterious

Understanding How Viruses Replicate & Mutate « Life is Mysterious — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:48:36 +0000

[...] The Concept of Quasispecies (kdshives.com) [...]

Comment on Rock Your Recruitment by Preparing For Your First Teaching Interview - Degreeify.com

Preparing For Your First Teaching Interview - Degreeify.com — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 02:54:39 +0000

[...] Rock Your Recruitment [...]

Comment on Rock Your Recruitment by Robert JR Graham » Are You Making a Good First Impression?

Robert JR Graham » Are You Making a Good First Impression? — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 02:06:58 +0000

[...] Rock Your Recruitment [...]

Comment on Rock Your Recruitment by I’ve got work to do… « I don't know if you heard but…

I’ve got work to do… « I don't know if you heard but… — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 04:15:03 +0000

[...] Rock Your Recruitment (kdshives.com) [...]

Comment on The Concept of Quasispecies by The Concept of Quasispecies | Viruses and drug resistance | Scoop.it

The Concept of Quasispecies | Viruses and drug resistance | Scoop.it — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:37:27 +0000

[...] Today’s topic is directly related to my own research with RNA viruses and is what I consider a very interesting topic: quasispecies. Many of us are familiar with the concept of a species at the mac… [...]