Taking time off
In the past, I've had a hard time taking time off. I would book holidays, or time off, but I would end up working during those days to do some urgent things or sort through emails. An additional challenge for…
Surprisingly easy defense questions
Sometimes, doctoral candidates are taken aback when during their doctoral defense, a committee member asks a surprisingly easy question. There are, however, various reasons why a committee member may be asking you this question. Before we get into the possible…
Blogging nowadays
When I started blogging in 2009, blogging was popular. Nowadays, blogs are perhaps past their peak, and have to share space with various other outlets and social media platforms. Moreover, the text format is now just one way of sending…
PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: How to cold email a professor for information
This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands. These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those…
Finding and honoring our non-negotiables
After more than two years of a pandemic that have taxed us beyond anything we have gone through previously, it is time to take stock of where we are and what we can do for ourselves. If we've learned anything,…
An update to my Fall 2022 weekly template
Sometimes, plans don't work out or change. This semester, my weekly template had to undergo some changes near the start of the semester: I realized right before the start of classes that my Monday-Wednesday class got moved to Tuesday-Thursday. So,…
What examiners look for in a doctoral thesis
Examiners (or committee members) decide on what makes a good thesis based on two aspects: the reading experience, and the technical contents of the thesis - these align with the expectations of the normal reader and the academic expectations. This…
What I enjoy about working in the Netherlands
Due to the pandemic, it's been a while since I was able to work from and in the Netherlands - and I now double appreciate the good things about working from the Netherlands. To celebrate that I could be in…
The challenges of working in two countries
It's been almost a decade since I started to combine my positions in Ecuador and the Netherlands. I've learned a few things along the way that may be of value to those considering a similar way of employment. My arrangement…
Seven best tips for teaching
I have been writing about my experiences with teaching in the past, and how I've developed systems to streamline my teaching. Today, I'm focusing on seven teaching lessons that I have learned over the past years, that I'd like to…