Maha Suci Allah

Semoga ilmu yang kupelajari ini akan lebih mendekatkan diriku ini padaMu, Ya Allah!

final week!

salam readers!
last week was actually the final week for autumn term before Christmas holiday approaching
but it wasn't really influential or should i say attractive for postgrads like me..hehe
i still have to go to the lab to check the progress of my culture growth and ensure everything are correctly done


but i guess, this week will be the final week for me before ahem... my break! hopefully, insyaAllah
will do my best to complete everything before leaving out the town ;)

what a busy week!

earlier this week, i need to complete my writing on my materials and methods for the next manuscript
my brain really works if i do any writing works at school rather than at home.. but for database analysis, home is just the right place!

i'm in my second experiment of the year.. for the last 3 months i've been busy collecting samples from the forest and now it is the time for me to do the culturing, sub-culturing and  the cross-culturing (not sure if it is the right term) tasks.. it's tiring a bit.. but it was fun! you don't have time to yawn as you need to be alert every time to avoid using the wrong culture for the cross culture process 

the work so far... 

what's in the brain, dude?

read this!

i came across this article from my friend's blog link and it really inspires me.. i thought sharing with everybody would be good idea too..


Factors Contributing to "Failure " of Sponsored PhD candidates to finish within the specified time


The MOHE grant was given to a group of academics to study the factors as well as the impact of sponsored academics to finish their PhD’s in the specified time. The study covered the time period 2000-2010. The method of data gathering was by issuing questionnaire as well as interviews. The respondents were the candidates, DVC, Deans and officers in charge of the study leave. For detailed analysis, refer to the report of Grant KPT 9003-00195.The study concludes that:


· Those who studied overseas managed to complete their studies earlier than those who did so in local universities (4.3 years as opposed to 4.7 years)


· Lack of experience (or maybe exposure) to research( methodology, academic writing, thesis writing, data analysis, statistics) are the main contributing factors


· Other secondary factors are attitude, health, and environmental


· 35.5% found difficulty in writing chapters 4-6 (analysis, discussion and conclusion) and therefore could not complete within the time


· 3 years is too short a time. 78.4% of respondents want this to be revised. Need and criteria depend on programme and the supervisor involved.


· For those who completed the degree, the important contributing factors are preparation prior to study, the supervisor and self discipline are all contributing factors.




(The total number of respondents were 653)


I suppose having been a candidate myself, I am qualified to comment on the “findings” of the project KPT 9003-00195. I was not very happy that the Head of Project announced that he managed to finish his PhD within 2 years (less than 2 ½ years, if I am not mistaken). It would be very helpful to find out if he had to build experimental rigs from scratch (not hand-me-down rigs from previous work) or he had to grow stubborn bugs before he had to actually start bioreactors experimenting on the growth blab la of the bugs. I agree whole heartedly with bullet no5. No two PhD’s are the same, some start with a beaming supervisor ready to help them at every opportunity, some like mine used their expertise to avoid their PhD students, some are just busy because they are the Deans, Directors, etc etc, yes, just like many of us in Malaysia.


I agree whole heartedly with all the bullets but I think the researchers miss a very important point. At the expense of being accused of being proselytising, I would say that “spiritual strength and preparation” is very important. Doing a PhD is not easy. It needs concentration, focus and discipline. (for those contemplating a PhD, remember, it is all hard work and no glory). Consistency is the name of the game. Self motivation is also the name of the game. Having said all these, the candidate can never know what actually transpires until he or she is actually doing the PhD, staring at a blank piece of paper that needed to be filled up with words and equations or an empty bench waiting to be filled with a beautiful workable experimental rig, pumping out results within 6 months.


After actually finishing the hard work of coaxing out data from temperamental rigs, the real hard work needs to be tackled- writing up. An academic who says writing up is easy is lying or just plain showing off. Writing is the hardest thing an academic must do because you have to express yourself intellectually. Some do with more flair than others because they are gifted- it is what Allah has destined for some and not for others. For these people, you must pray and do your humble prostration that you have been chosen to have this gift. For those who have to labour more, use what Islam has taught you, work and pray. Pray that Allah will give you inspiration and ease in your labour.


Work and pray. Pray hard all the time. Dzikir is the best companion in times of your stress and hardship , although it should be so in times of happiness!


I submitted my PhD draft in 3 ½ years and waited 6 months for the viva. And so all in all I took 4 years to complete my PhD. I only need to correct the spelling mistake “heterogenous” throughout the thesis and so took one day to correct it. At the outset of the writing up, I had some notions of grandeur because I read somewhere that someone had the examiner write.. what an elegant thesis! I read the thesis, and since I fancy myself as rather a good writer of English, I thought to myself, if that idiot could do, so could I. And so I wanted to write up an elegant thesis.


In the end, I don’t think I wrote up an elegant thesis. Writing up the thesis was a colossal project that left me drained for some months and I was just glad I managed to finish writing it up. For a few years after my PhD (I won’t say when) I published papers from it and I have never looked at it for the last 20 years.


I am writing this post as much as for those young people out there who are struggling to finish their work, as to two very special people in my life, writing up their theses right now in Nottingham. As I write (today being Eid-ul Adha in Malaysia) memories of me writing up the last chapters of my thesis came flooding back. I keenly feel what they are feeling.


Good luck all of you, and if my “advice” is any good, do take it and may you all profit from it, insyallah.


source from http://jauharkalam.blogspot.com/2010/11/factors-contributing-to-failure-of.html#comments

What i'm gonna do today in the lab?

i need to press the speed button NOW!

it's 28th of November and i just had a few weeks left before i'm off for my long deserved-break (can't wait!!)
ohh..looking at the calendar somehow make me nervous.. i don't know why
well..nothing so serious here anyway..
i've got to finish my writing on one part of a manuscript that my sv and I are working on now, i need to sort my medium samples and started inoculation process and that's it


even though mr. sv did tell me that i've progressed excellently and shouldn't worry about it BUT
i am still nervous about completing my task for this year
i think the nerves would never go away until i've settled my viva in another year huh!


~ ~ ~


i should work smart and faster... every second now is precious!
i will make sure the outcomes are good and hopefully may satisfy my expectation
insyaAllah Amin...

Tomorrow, last class for November

untuk November jela kan...
December ni kalau tak silap ada satu class lagi kot
the class tomorrow will be held for the whole day.. lama dah takde kelas rasa macam kekok pulak
masa 1st year dulu banyak gak kelas every week


hrmm..
last few days i had an issue with my colleagues regarding something
i admit that was my mistake and i did apologised to them
but, i think i still have reasonable excuse for that  problem
entahla..tak nak layan nanti my labmates plak.. duduk sebelah2 plak tu
kalau layan sangat perangai diorang tu, nanti kite plak yang makan hati


from now on.. i want to be strong
i want to prove to them, that i can still survive within the kelompok orang putih yang tak berapa sporting itu
my sponsor hantar belajar sini bukan untuk bersosial, tapi untuk siapkan research dan balik dengan title Dr. itu
kan?


so, shall i care about them after this?

another smooth-sailing day

today i went to meet one of the trees and fungal experts, Mr. TG, the one that i used to contact to ask for permit and maps for my sampling sites

the reason i met him today was to ask for information about my study sites so that i can start writing my study sites descriptions for my thesis

he has been really thoughtful and helpful as well..

and i went back happily as all information I need were already in hands

Alhamdulillah thank you Allah for your Love and Blessings

Please make me strong and patient along this research path till the end

writing will be my favourite from now on! ( durh!)

today's meeting was undeniably fun!! what?! FUN? yeah.. truly fun!

wanna know the secret? naah.. it wasn't that secret at all

for me, i believe on 3 things;

1st.. prepared everything before meeting with your sv..including reading recent journals..that will help sometimes

2nd.. bring any results (preliminary results) of any of your experiments and show them to your sv..  at least he'll know you're working on something and not just playing around..heheh

3rd.. pray a lot and make doa's so that your studies will run on smoothly..

insyaAllah if i stick to these principles, i will come out from the room with jolly smile and relieved

hey, i'm gonna start writing a manuscript!

mr. sv has given me 3 weeks from today to start writing my materials and methods and he would like to read it by end of this month

i've completed one part of my research and he insisted to have it published by early next year.. 

so.. will do my best as always!

:)

what did i do this week

1. supposed to meet mr. sv this week untuk bincang pasal things that i should do next with the database output. rasanya akan mula writing untuk second manuscript...weee..tak sabar! tapi sv busy minggu ini dengan meeting, postponed next week pulak. sempatla nak touch-up2 graf yang dah dibuat tu..kasi impress sv skit ;p

2. dapat email dari sv minta tolong carikan beberapa sp. fungus untuk exhibition yang dia organise.. dengan semangatnya masuk hutan bersama suami dan collect as many fungi as i could..and he was so happy with it.. :)

3. hari ni masuk lab untuk buat medium for culturing. best2! :)..

A Challenge

Yesterday I have attended a research skill training at London 
The course was organised by the RHUL Graduate School but they have it outside campus instead.. jauh pulak tu
BUT for me paying £20.50 on train's return journey ticket was all worth it as I really enjoy every moment of it 


The trainer has came out with something I could apply for my everyday life as a student
The methods he used while teaching us were different than any other person I have seen..using colours, pictures, hands-on activities and discussion has remind me of one of my favourite lecturers in my bachelor degree, Mr. Choo
Their methods were almost similar to each other but with different styles and approaches and I love 'em!
That was why I was able to get an A for Mr. Choo's subject.. :)


I have set a challenge to myself starting from today that I want to have a straight 10 days-challenge writing about a topic that I have set earlier in order to train me to be serial writer (for my thesis of course!). The rules would be; everyday, i must only write for 15 minutes (without checking any grammar mistakes or typo error) about the topic and it could be anytime but i believe my brain will works brilliantly and producing so many thoughts and ideas in the morning, so in the morning I may write! haha..
Once the 15 minutes writing time is over, I should print it out and from there I can start checking about my writing, look out for any grammar mistakes whatsoever..


I will let you know my thoughts and the results once I am done with it, OK?
Till then,


Salam  

my fungi book! :)

Late October plans and onwards (until Winter)

1. need to complete all training courses before Christmas.. (i keep adding courses lately and probably make it to 8 or 9 this year!...waaaaa.. banyaknya!)


2. sampling in a weekly basis..


3. mushroom book project already started.. excited!


4. lamina flow in the lab needs to be booked from now on.. so, need to keep on eye on any available dates.. yaiks! thanks to my culture, they seems to grow well without any contaminations..weeee :)


5. another 1 department course to be completed - Communicating with the media - late November




if you thought that I'm playing around here..you are wrong! God knows how eager I am to finish this ASAP
but life is not just revolves around your study only, eyh? ;p

Fungi Workshop

some pictures taken during Fungi Workshop last Saturday

i was on live news that night as well cause there was a guy from Channel 4 came to make a coverage for fungi slot in the 7pm live news in Channel 4 and ITV news

that guy did told us to watch for it either the same night or the day after that

it turned out to be the same day and i managed to record the slot BUT unfortunately, I had trouble to send it over to youtube and paste it here.. demn! probably the file is too big

i will try to look for other option to upload it from my hp later

This Saturday

i'm going to Fungi Workshop in London this Saturday

this is my very own initiative to join this workshop as every informative lessons i may gain from the workshop will enhance my knowledge in fungal studies even more 

the places are limited for both workshop and fungal foray and all of them are fully booked since last August!

 can't really wait for it!!

"Ya Allah, berkatilah segala ilmu yang kupelajari agar dapatku aplikasikannya di masa akan datang. Penuhilah dadaku dengan ilmu yang akan mendekatkan diriku padaMu Ya Allah. Amin Ya Rabbal A'lamin"

variety

pictures below were taken during my last week's sampling

autumn is already here.. and fungi are bloomin' everywhere!

my very own technique of doing spore prints :)

Alhamdulillah ~ first joint paper has been accepted for publication in Fungal Ecology..AND new sampling site for this year - Kew Garden.. 

two bits of good news for today! :):)

My Research Skill Training courses this year

Creativity, Motivation & Personal Effectiveness

Academic Writing Skills (SCIENCE)

Writing Abstract ( SCIENCE)

Writing The Doctoral Thesis (HSS/SCIENCE)

Getting Published (Science)

Applying for Grants & Fellowships PostDoc Funding DONE!

Selecting a Conference, Presenting & Networking

done with the meeting, let's work it out!

Alhamdulillah, the meeting today was successful as I hope it would be

my sv looks happy and satisfied with my progress

so, next thing to do is to keep and maintain that situations throughout the years to come...haha!

well..well..well

it is decided that my 2nd project of the year will officially start next week

so, i'll be spending most of the time in the lab while doing my fungal sampling in the forest once/twice in a weekly basis

oh, not to forget i am gonna have one research training skill course to attend to on next week as well

will probably be busy as bee!

you know like suddenly i had this kind of not-so-great idea but i think it could enhance my creativity in writing..bluurgh!

and i am thinking of doing a scrap book for fungi found in or around RHUL.. at least it could enhance my technique of identifying those species and having them recorded for my very own collection.. i won't think beyond than what i could imagined for this idea but i hope i could find as many species as possible while i'm studying here.. yeah, could share it with my sv later! haha

ok, that's it for now

time to start working!!!

while looking out for Hypholoma, I found them as well...

well.. this is what i'm after for my next project, but it wouldn't be the only species alone in the forest right?




all pictures are likely taken from the Internet as I have no time to take pictures of them today..

Mycena alcalina

Lepiota felina

Lepista sordida

Stropharia aeruginosa
this is one of the unique fungus i've ever seen! i've made spore prints of the fungus and can't wait to check em' out tomorrow under the microscope

Coprinus comatus

Scleroderma verrucosum

Armillaria mellea


guess what? i found all of them at the back garden of Royal Holloway! hopefully more species will turn out soon!

co-incidence or reality? :)

i did it my way

my bench looked clean today as I'd only used lamina flow for my fungal isolation experiment

well..most chemicals on the rack weren't mine anyway.. menyempit je dekat situ

i really wanna put my reference books and my other stuff on the table so that I don't have to bring those heavy books every time i need them but things that happened on the past has taught me to keep my papers somewhere safe -- at home

i got myself a new note book and stationeries for the new term.. red makes me more energetic and hot..HOT!!?? i hope this changes at least will put some colours and brightening my study days for another term/year.. :) it is not just the kids who need new back-to-school thingy, aight?

my tasks has done for today!!

yeay!!

english proficiency

i know my writing skills in English is not as good as my 1st language writings..
that applies to my communicative English as well
even my supervisor also gave one less mark for my English proficiency in my progress report but the rest are full marks..huhu

i think that is the down turn point for me at the moment
therefore..
- more reading time should be applied
- i should booked myself for international student's english classes when autumn term starts next month
- yeah, i should join public speaking class too..

a big hearty congratulations Dr. J!

my 1st degree lecturer has finally obtained her PhD certificate..Alhamdulillah
after went through many obstacles and challenges along her study, she made it at last!
I am so inspired by her courage and I hope I'll be able to be as strong as her towards my PhD journey

congratulations Cik Jamilah!
I am so happy and proud of you!
:)

the plan

1) MPhil to PhD

Alhamdulillah on July 15th, I've officially upgraded from MPhil to PhD status by mr. sv and miss advisor
not many corrections to be corrected for the report
but..mr. sv advised me -- due to the current weather, it seems that my mushroom forays will start earlier than scheduled

2) Grab any chance!

I have decided to try and look for any opportunities while i'm still here so that I'll gain additional input/info as many as i can.. therefore i had/will:
- join BMS for more exposure of British fungi (covering all aspects of identification, conservation, recording and collections)
- booked myself into fungal workshop and mushroom forays
- look upon network expansion for my research studies.. (thanks mr. sv for his help!)
- present my current findings at any fungal exhibition (looking forward for next year's)

3) 2010 Environment YES

Thank God, I'll be joining a competition apart of doing pure research here! well, it is a good way to test my skills after years of lacking in competing against other people. But, anyway this is a group competition so that should be OK for the first-time stranger like me.. hehe.. In October, i'll be attending a 3-day workshop in Oxford. For more information you can log on to: nerc.ac.uk/using/schemes/yes/intro.asp

4) one thesis chapter coming out!

I've almost done with one of my projects, so the report writing is in progress and probably will be completed before end of the year.. ganbatte qila! well, i'm looking forward to start another project next month..wish me luck!!

next target: PhD 9/12 months review report!

will be submitted by June or July..insyaAllah
this time would be the busiest in the first half of the year ,
i believe i need to train myself to do multitasking at the same time~ database analysis~ new experiment~ report writing
i know i can do it!;)

nothing for today

selepas 2 jam berjalan2 mencari cik Hypholoma di Virginia Water we ended up nothing
the weather seems strange lately
kejap hujan, kejap panas, kejap mendung..all happened at the same day..
yeah, UK weather is absoutely unpredictable!
done with Virgina Water this week
will try to look on the other site plak

order chemicals

sejak dari 1st degree, mana penah order barang2 kimia sendiri
semuanya dah tersedia dalam lab tu
masa practical kat FRIM dulu pun, semuanya dah terhidang depan mata

sekarang, amik qila!
belajar order chemicals sendiri

adei!

outcome of my presentation

harini dapat forwarded email daripada salah seorang pensyarah yang menilai setiap presentation postgraduates, Dr. J
disertai dengan email tersebut, beliau telah compile kan sekali average presentation marks for each students
nampaknya setiap kali Annual PG Symposium, saya akan dinilai dari segi slides presentation ataupun poster presentation
Alhamdulillah, saya berjaya memperolehi 32/40 keseluruhannya
tapi rasanya saya masih boleh baiki dan improve untuk masa akan datang..
untuk permulaan, saya rasa OK kot..
komen postif dan membina dari mr. sv dan rakan2 sangat menggembirakan saya
insyaAllah kalau ade rezeki, saya nak juga join present poster atau bagi talk kat mana2 event di UK ni
selain belajar untuk lebih yakin depan public, saya mahu perkasakan lagi English saya yang masih lemah ni..
tahun depan, saya akan present poster plak.. tak sabar rasanya!