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2017

Another Year Gone, What’s Next?

It was this time last year that I was finishing my undergraduate science degree in physiology, and I had no idea what was next. I was engulfed by exam prep but the constant stress of not knowing what I was going to do the year after made me extremely anxious. Should I stay at Uni and do postgraduate study? Do I have the motivation to continue? Should I move back to Hamilton and get a job?  What job can I get following my degree?

NZBIO Conference 2017: ‘Global Mega Trends’

The NZBIO 2017 Annual Conference was held on 12th & 13th October at Te Wharewaka o Poneke in Wellington. This year, the theme of the conference was ‘Global Mega Trends’ where we gathered to explore some of the biggest opportunities evolving in biotech across the world today. With world-leading entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, and people at the forefront of biotech gathered together, exciting conversations and ideas were shared around the room. Many of us left inspired and excited about the future of New Zealand’s biotechnology industry.

Chiasma’s Career Catalyst series

This year Chiasma ran four workshops as part of their Career Catalyst series. Quite honestly, I was put off workshops in the past due to speakers that would get too technical, or activities during the workshops I did not really find useful. However, being a committee member of Chiasma motivated me to attend these workshops anyway, to help run the evening. And I could not believe how inspired I felt leaving these workshops and how many people we managed to gather for most of them.

Jigsaw puzzles

Having studied a science undergraduate degree consisting mostly of many hours of individual study, which was like hunting as a lone wolf; group work was practically non-existent. It was not until this year upon stumbling across Bioscience Enterprise that I had my first proper experience of group work in the university and a taste of being a pack hunter

Do less, achieve more

I enjoy the moment when I cross out an item from my to-do list. It is like an acknowledgement of my efforts. Having a sense of achievement is helpful to keep motivated; however, chances are also higher for us to be blinded by the number of items accomplished, rather than their importance. As Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?”

How is PhD life different to Bachelor time?

The full name of PhD is doctor of philosophy, or more descriptively “permanent head damage”. Generally, you conduct your own research over three to four years and contribute novel knowledge to the field. At the end of journey, you defend your thesis and get rewarded as “Dr”. As a Bachelor student, you take papers, write reports, assignments and exams, then you pass the course.

Volunteering Makes You A Fun Guy

Once a month I enjoy giving up some time to do volunteer work in the Waitakere Ranges for Ark in the Park. The Ark is a large area of the Waitakere Ranges that is under a pest protection plan that involves the use of traps, poison bait, monitoring, reintroduction of native birds and much, much more.

When ‘she’ll be right’ goes wrong

As a student with my family and friends spread out all across Auckland, I am quite reliant on my car. I drive a (relatively) old car, as I’m sure many of you other students do, and with age tends to come a variety of strange features in the form of odd noises and weird features. Whenever I experience one of these, I usually turn the music up and/or assure my fellow passengers that everything is completely fine, all the while pushing back the ‘I hope I don’t die in this car’ thoughts to the back of my head.

GapSummit: Lessons for young scientists and innovators – Connect, Grow, Challenge

My trip to Washington DC started with me waking up in disbelief one morning noticing that my flight time was within 10 hours. The GapSummit conference was held in between the end of lectures and exam period. Therefore, the thought of being halfway around the world before having exams was very unreal and stressful. However, it turns out the lesson I got out of this trip was more valuable and memorable than the course content crammed just for my exams.

New Semester, New You

It’s that time of year again. You’ve got your semester one results back, have had time to cry in your room for a few days, and then a little more time to realise the error of your ways and promise yourself that this semester will be different.