"Your paper should be less comp bio and more co-biolog." When these words -- I like to call them revolutionary -- were uttered from Max's mouth with his trademark wink and smile, the other four of us in our group stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before we all cracked up.
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| Max is the Kanye of AP Research |
This anecdote pretty much sums up our group's feedback from last week; we all got some amazing feedback (in the above case, Divya was told to connect her research to the biological implications more) and had fun doing it. The critiques were really helpful, as I got a chance to look at my mistakes and the mistakes of others critically and carefully, and our group's discussions were a really good break from solely working on my project (jk. never... too much HemaDrop = ain't enough HemaDrop).
After meeting with Mrs. Haag, I'm refreshed, prepared, and ready to revamp my lit review and methods combo package. In case you were wondering, some issues I was encountering were detached claims from justifications, lack of credibility descriptions, and a bit of unclear/esoteric parts of both. I will be submitting both in the next 2 weeks.
Since my project involves wet-lab work, I have already begun implementing my methods. I have prepared the coatings of various dilutions, acquired the necessary substrates, and made the pairs of identical samples (one for characterization with 3LCAA, one for blood analysis). I've been really fortunate to be able to get a head-start on this step, so I am excited about that!
However, I am slightly "behind" on analyzing the samples with 3LCAA and RBS because I idealized the process in my schedule slightly and I am waiting on some safety forms at ASU. I have a specific plan for making these up, with the logic that I can perform all the analysis from 3LCAA and RBS in longer session rather than 1 sample at a time. This way, I can standardize my results by limiting potential confounding variables from doing tests and different days, and it is more convenient once I have the apparatus set up on one day. So, rather than measuring a few samples each day, once the third trimester starts, we can perform the experiments in larger chunks, which is nice. Additionally, I can prepare the apparatuses and try to prevent major obstacles for the days until then (including preparing the samples, etc.).
On the point of preparation, Dr. Herbots has always emphasized to me the importance of preparation before conducting an experiment, so I am excited to add that I have been conducting simulations as a way of preparing for the results I will get and establishing what theory predicts the results should be. By doing these simulations on a program called RUMP (Rutherford Universal Manipulation Program -- a program made in the 1980s with FORTRAN), I am preparing myself for the results and will have a good comparison for the experimental data.
So far so good, except for the change in schedule, which made it easier and more feasible. The simulations have been taking up a lot of my time,for a journal paper, so I'm excited to present that data in my project too, since I think it's really interesting to compare simulations to data from the lab (and write up some preliminary results)! So, that's where I'm at...
I'm really excited to start working in the lab 3 times per week and getting some results! Thank you so much to Mr.s Haag, Rema, Kimy, Max, and Divya for helping me edit my methods and literature review.
Here's to another week of great research (IMPLEMENTATION)!
Cheers,
Yash
(625)
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| I'm as happy as Drizzy (featured in this blog in honor of our OChem rap video) |
On the point of preparation, Dr. Herbots has always emphasized to me the importance of preparation before conducting an experiment, so I am excited to add that I have been conducting simulations as a way of preparing for the results I will get and establishing what theory predicts the results should be. By doing these simulations on a program called RUMP (Rutherford Universal Manipulation Program -- a program made in the 1980s with FORTRAN), I am preparing myself for the results and will have a good comparison for the experimental data.
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| Example RBS spectra from RUMP |
So far so good, except for the change in schedule, which made it easier and more feasible. The simulations have been taking up a lot of my time,for a journal paper, so I'm excited to present that data in my project too, since I think it's really interesting to compare simulations to data from the lab (and write up some preliminary results)! So, that's where I'm at...
I'm really excited to start working in the lab 3 times per week and getting some results! Thank you so much to Mr.s Haag, Rema, Kimy, Max, and Divya for helping me edit my methods and literature review.
Here's to another week of great research (IMPLEMENTATION)!
Cheers,
Yash
(625)
Yash -- I'm glad to hear how reflective you are in this whole process. Not only do you reflect on the problems with your writing, but you're also really purposeful in rethinking the ways that your schedule can and must change in order to accommodate your changing research (and it's totally OK that your research is changing -- research typically takes a different shape than we originally anticipate).
ReplyDeleteI would like to see you provide a more robust explanation of the simulations and their function; moreover, I think we should be doing an "update" on the status of the word count, as that's something that's giving me increasing anxiety when I think about your project.
All together, though, I'm so happy with the direction of your project, and so happy to be working with you on it!
YAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to really know where you are going, and I'm glad you were able to find so much help in your group meetings (likewise here!). As Mrs. Haag said above, though it looks like your schedule changed, I'm glad to see that you can easily make up lost time.
(102)
As for the questions I have, they all revolve around the simulations. Will they be used in your results section or are they just some prep work you need to get done before the actual research? Other than that, I feel like you're on great pace, so keep up the work!
Weak comment.
DeleteSup Yash,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to hear that your research is coming along without many complications. The group critiques were certainly beneficial to all of us. Credibility and Relevance are the "Keys" to success within the methodology, but above all else the reader needs to understand. It seems that you are taking the necessary steps to finishing your lit review and methods. Completing your methods in one long sess sounds like a good plan especially when you can play I got the keys the entire time. The word count with always increase with more explanation, so I fear that you may need to cut even more than you already have.
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Ashwath V