and a possible back-up plan, too
Jan. 15th, 2020 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaSo, I don't recall if I told you guys that, after working on it I finished my project proposal for the Full time, fully-funded, move-to-Durham Doctoral Studentship (DDS). I had been working on it since pretty much Christmas, and, by the final few days was working 8 to 14 hours a day on it (which is why I haven't been posting much). I turned in on Monday.
From here I am told that first Durham's administrative office reviews all of new PhD application packets to see which ones also want to be considered for the DDS funding, and then those will be passed on to their individual departments. Each department will review the stack of DDS applications they got, and choose two (no matter how many they received, they only choose two) to be passed on to the next stage. That will happen mid-February (and my supervisor tells me that she will be able to let me know then if my application goes further or not). Then the University looks at all of the applications from across the university and chooses which ones they will award the funding to. That announcement will be made mid-April. If accepted I would need to move there on time to start on 1 October.
My primary supervisor tells me that she thinks I have a very good chance. However, I know that when it comes down to it, it really depends not only on what I turned in, but what other people submitted as well. It doesn't matter how good mine is, if they think someone else's is even better. Therefore I have been looking around for back-up plans.
Monday evening I saw an ad for a job at the University of Umeå (a city located three hours south of here, and where a very high percentage of my closest SCA friends happens to live): Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry focused on Inorganic Geochemistry.
This ad caught my eye, since geochemistry has been a huge part of my research ever since I started my PhD project, in 2005. However, I also wondered a bit--in the kinds of geology I normally do, no one ever says "inorganic geochemistry", that would be kinda redundant--we are talking about the chemical reactions that take place at extremely high pressure and temperature where new minerals are growing.
But, of course, the kind of geochemistry I do isn't the only kind out there. Indeed, geologists who try to discover petroleum are even doing organic geochemistry, so I understand why they need to specify "inorganic" if they are the "inorganic chemistry" research group of the chemistry department.
However, this left me wondering exactly which type(s) of geochemistry they have in mind, and if I could be a good enough fit to be worth applying? So I tried calling the "for further info call" guy, and he let me know that the Inorganic Chemistry group is looking for a new person to join the team, since a few people have been retiring, and they thought a geochemistry focus would be good. In their research group "geochemistry" isn't at all what I describe above--instead it is more often dealing with ground water, and what is dissolved therein, and how that interacts with the solids it is passing through. This concerned me a bit when we were talking, because I wasn't thinking of any way to tie that in to my own research interests.
As we spoke he encouraged me to have another look at their page, to see what the individuals in just the Inorganic Chemistry group does, and see if I can find a place where my own research will complement (but not overlap too much) with what they do, because when they evaluate the applications, the most important part will be looking at that aspect--is the proposed research cool sounding, and will work well with what they already do--using strengths of both the new researcher, and the existing team?
Therefore, promptly after hanging up I went to the computer. I wasn't so hopeful when I first sat down to look. Then I found this guy whose research group "is focused on investigating the properties of sheet silicate minerals and their surface chemistry. The goal of our research is to understand and be able to predict structural changes and dynamical processes occurring at the mineral–water interface on the molecular scale, which often requires the use of both theoretical molecular dynamics simulations and different experimental methods."
No, I don't expect you to understand all of that, but I have added emphasis to what leapt out to me as the important bits. Why are those bits important? Well I will direct your attention first back to the PhD research project I mentioned at the start of this post, the project proposal for which I shared the other day., and from there to what I didn't include in that project proposal, for reasons of space, but that I have been thinking of for a long time:
I have long wondered if the process of cooking with soapstone pots could possibly change the composition of the minerals in the pots? If so, it could complicate the whole "match archaeological artefacts to a source quarry" thing that is the focus of my research project. Indeed, other researchers have, in fact, indicated that they have encountered difficulties with the matching to a source step. I am not saying that cooking with the pots is a factor, but it is worth considering.
But what does that have to do with the above mentioned researcher in Umeå? Well, his research has to do with sheet silicate minerals and what happens when they react with water. Looking at his publication list, the sheet silicate minerals he is dealing with are the clay minerals. Clay minerals aren't interesting to me (they form at much too low a temperature and pressure for my tastes). However, talc, the principal component of soapstone, is also a sheet silicate mineral (except it is one that forms at quite high temperature and pressure). That guy researches what is happening to the molecules on the surface of the minerals in water. I have been wondering what changes, if any, happen when the pots are heated in the presence of water (containing food, which happens to be organic, but I am willing to bet that the organic parts of what is in the water isn't participating much in any chemical reaction happening in the minerals)
Therefore I have written an email to this guy in Umeå, introduced myself, my current PhD project, this side research question, and explained that I had planned to approach that question from the experimental archaeology side--carve a soapstone cooking pot, analyse it, cook with it for a couple of years, and cook with it again--has it changed? But then pointed out that he might know of theoretical ways to actually predict the changes before doing the experiment, and wondering if he might be interested in collaborative research on this topic? I indicated that I would like to either have this as my research topic for the job application, incorporate it as part of my Archaeology PhD project.
So this afternoon I went from "Gee, I don't know if I should even apply, they are doing stuff too far from what I am interested in" to "gee, I am excited to apply, if this guy is interested in collaboration I hope he replies tomorrow, as it would make a huge difference. The application deadline is 24 January, so there isn't so much time to try to put together a good proposal.
However, I have one local potential source of help with my application. I mentioned to one of my friends about the job ad, and where, and which department, and she replied "My dad used to work for Umeå university in the inorganic chemistry department". So I will be joining her family for dinner on Friday to discuss it with him.
From here I am told that first Durham's administrative office reviews all of new PhD application packets to see which ones also want to be considered for the DDS funding, and then those will be passed on to their individual departments. Each department will review the stack of DDS applications they got, and choose two (no matter how many they received, they only choose two) to be passed on to the next stage. That will happen mid-February (and my supervisor tells me that she will be able to let me know then if my application goes further or not). Then the University looks at all of the applications from across the university and chooses which ones they will award the funding to. That announcement will be made mid-April. If accepted I would need to move there on time to start on 1 October.
My primary supervisor tells me that she thinks I have a very good chance. However, I know that when it comes down to it, it really depends not only on what I turned in, but what other people submitted as well. It doesn't matter how good mine is, if they think someone else's is even better. Therefore I have been looking around for back-up plans.
Monday evening I saw an ad for a job at the University of Umeå (a city located three hours south of here, and where a very high percentage of my closest SCA friends happens to live): Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry focused on Inorganic Geochemistry.
This ad caught my eye, since geochemistry has been a huge part of my research ever since I started my PhD project, in 2005. However, I also wondered a bit--in the kinds of geology I normally do, no one ever says "inorganic geochemistry", that would be kinda redundant--we are talking about the chemical reactions that take place at extremely high pressure and temperature where new minerals are growing.
But, of course, the kind of geochemistry I do isn't the only kind out there. Indeed, geologists who try to discover petroleum are even doing organic geochemistry, so I understand why they need to specify "inorganic" if they are the "inorganic chemistry" research group of the chemistry department.
However, this left me wondering exactly which type(s) of geochemistry they have in mind, and if I could be a good enough fit to be worth applying? So I tried calling the "for further info call" guy, and he let me know that the Inorganic Chemistry group is looking for a new person to join the team, since a few people have been retiring, and they thought a geochemistry focus would be good. In their research group "geochemistry" isn't at all what I describe above--instead it is more often dealing with ground water, and what is dissolved therein, and how that interacts with the solids it is passing through. This concerned me a bit when we were talking, because I wasn't thinking of any way to tie that in to my own research interests.
As we spoke he encouraged me to have another look at their page, to see what the individuals in just the Inorganic Chemistry group does, and see if I can find a place where my own research will complement (but not overlap too much) with what they do, because when they evaluate the applications, the most important part will be looking at that aspect--is the proposed research cool sounding, and will work well with what they already do--using strengths of both the new researcher, and the existing team?
Therefore, promptly after hanging up I went to the computer. I wasn't so hopeful when I first sat down to look. Then I found this guy whose research group "is focused on investigating the properties of sheet silicate minerals and their surface chemistry. The goal of our research is to understand and be able to predict structural changes and dynamical processes occurring at the mineral–water interface on the molecular scale, which often requires the use of both theoretical molecular dynamics simulations and different experimental methods."
No, I don't expect you to understand all of that, but I have added emphasis to what leapt out to me as the important bits. Why are those bits important? Well I will direct your attention first back to the PhD research project I mentioned at the start of this post, the project proposal for which I shared the other day., and from there to what I didn't include in that project proposal, for reasons of space, but that I have been thinking of for a long time:
I have long wondered if the process of cooking with soapstone pots could possibly change the composition of the minerals in the pots? If so, it could complicate the whole "match archaeological artefacts to a source quarry" thing that is the focus of my research project. Indeed, other researchers have, in fact, indicated that they have encountered difficulties with the matching to a source step. I am not saying that cooking with the pots is a factor, but it is worth considering.
But what does that have to do with the above mentioned researcher in Umeå? Well, his research has to do with sheet silicate minerals and what happens when they react with water. Looking at his publication list, the sheet silicate minerals he is dealing with are the clay minerals. Clay minerals aren't interesting to me (they form at much too low a temperature and pressure for my tastes). However, talc, the principal component of soapstone, is also a sheet silicate mineral (except it is one that forms at quite high temperature and pressure). That guy researches what is happening to the molecules on the surface of the minerals in water. I have been wondering what changes, if any, happen when the pots are heated in the presence of water (containing food, which happens to be organic, but I am willing to bet that the organic parts of what is in the water isn't participating much in any chemical reaction happening in the minerals)
Therefore I have written an email to this guy in Umeå, introduced myself, my current PhD project, this side research question, and explained that I had planned to approach that question from the experimental archaeology side--carve a soapstone cooking pot, analyse it, cook with it for a couple of years, and cook with it again--has it changed? But then pointed out that he might know of theoretical ways to actually predict the changes before doing the experiment, and wondering if he might be interested in collaborative research on this topic? I indicated that I would like to either have this as my research topic for the job application, incorporate it as part of my Archaeology PhD project.
So this afternoon I went from "Gee, I don't know if I should even apply, they are doing stuff too far from what I am interested in" to "gee, I am excited to apply, if this guy is interested in collaboration I hope he replies tomorrow, as it would make a huge difference. The application deadline is 24 January, so there isn't so much time to try to put together a good proposal.
However, I have one local potential source of help with my application. I mentioned to one of my friends about the job ad, and where, and which department, and she replied "My dad used to work for Umeå university in the inorganic chemistry department". So I will be joining her family for dinner on Friday to discuss it with him.