The once green fields have been stripped of their will to live. After many months of being denied of their need of quenching, they will be saved by being awo…*thud*…*thud*… HE IS BACK!…
Hellooo fellow Astrogeeks,
Why yes, it has been a very long while since I last graced you all with a blog post. I only hope you are still keen to read the ramblings of a would-be astronomer. For clarification, and just in case your memory is terrible, an astronomer. Not, and I repeat, not an astrologer. Sadly the arbitrary alignments of planets are not causing the crappy events across the world we are currently seeing. So you (well, not all of you) put down that horoscope.
But you have been gone so long my mind has melted into acceptance, and blind following of alt-facts. It was all I had.
*Grumbles and sighs*… Urgh! Let’s, let’s not get onto that topic for now. I am dreadfully sorry though for not keeping you engaged through the eyes of a scientific mind. I can see why the last 12 months alone would have ultimately led to the ‘great purge’ of any good I did to your mind…
Well, I guess you could start by telling me where you have been? What’s happened in your world of academic-ness? Did you finish your M.Phil?
Hmm, well, aside from most of the last year being all blurry as it whiz-banged by with a crap load of stuff happening all at once, I did complete my M.Phil. After a grueling few months writing my M.Phil thesis I submitted it in May. The scary bit however was the oral examination, the more posh Latin way academia puts it is ‘viva voce’, or just ‘viva’ for short. This is made up of a panel of an external examiner from another university/institution, an internal examiner and a chair Eventually a date was set for my viva, 12 August 2016, and the day came round rather quickly.
Sounds rather daunting, were you not cacking yourself?
That is a rather crude way of putting it, but yes, yes I was absolutely “cacking” it. So, suited and booted to impress my examiners I did nothing but pace back and forth so as to gather my thoughts. I knew in my anxiety I would forget things, as it has always been a strong inhibitor in my recall. However, I was successful in defending my work and confirming I did do everything, which is the point of the whole thing. With minor corrections needed I got to work on, well, correcting! Before a final version was accepted and then bound into a lovely book. I do to occasionally like to caress it, as sad and weird as that may sound… Anyway, after handing in my bound copies I was awarded the M.Phil and received my certificate in December. If you’d like to see it, then look below! I also get another chance to dress up and get robed in June.
So, is that it? What are you doing now? I thought you would be going onto a PhD?
Well, I am doing exactly that right now. At the beginning of 2016 I was hunting around for PhDs, and sadly I had missed the window for quite a few since I was focusing on my M.Phil at the time. In short, however, I applied to the University of Hull and I am here now. Currently researching galaxy clusters in an attempt to better understand how the kinematics and dynamics of clusters of galaxies affects their evolution, morphology (shape), colour etc.
Does this mean you are going to open a ‘PhD Adventures’ section on your blog?
That is what I am now hoping to do yes. I want to keep up with this blog and properly document (British) PhD life for you all. On a weekly basis. So, in short expect to see updates on this site shortly. I might even spruce it up to look all pretty. Anyway, I must be off now for I have to endure 3 days worth of Health & Safety training in the morning, oh the joys.
So long astrogeeks, until next time!
Yours,
TheObAstro
The Observational Astronomer 