Lamprou Lab Blog

Inevitably, technologies take a part in our life since we wake up until sleep. Phones are not just for calling as well as internet is not just for reading and answering. Much more we can do with them, so let’s see how it can fit your life and make it “easier”.

This summer I spent just over 7 weeks in Trinidad with a group of students carrying out zoology research for the University of Glasgow. It involved tracking some amazing frogs, working with turtles and their hatchlings, hill climbing in 35⁰C heat for water samples, and for myself in particular collecting many foam nests produced by frogs during mating. It was one of the most amazing trips of my life, with an incredible team, and has quickly converted me to love all things herpetology.  The main purpose of this trip was to collect samples, so I could continue work on studying the potential of foam produced by frogs for drug delivery systems, but I learned so much more and I think some of it is important to share. So here are my top 4 tips from my Trinidad trip:

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to look down the microscope as a PhD student, and I only ever had to look down the microscope for one reason and that was to check for cell confluency.   This was a critical step during in vitro cell work. It was the time a crucial decision needed to be made as to whether the cells growing in the flask were confluent enough so the cells could be split or seeded? Or if the cells were not confluent and needed to be left to grow for another day or two?   

Most PhD students have been in academia their whole working life. There are the few who have dappled in industry but decided that academia life is the way forward. As a PhD student, there are benefits from this, no taxes… etc. When the high life (for some PhD students) ends, what happens? This is what a lot of people ask… what you are going to do when you finished. Eight out of ten of us, don’t know. Most of you will ask yourself…

https://80000hours.org/ 1. Your PhD is important but it shouldn’t define you! Everybody wants to have success in his or her career – there’s nothing wrong with that. However, sometimes you need to take a step back, and realize that there are more important things in life! Your health, your family and your mental well-being should always be of the utmost importance. The minute you deviate away from that is the minute you’re letting something take over your life that has so many variables you cannot control. Ambition knows no boundaries, but humans do. We have our limits, and pushing yourself beyond those limits is going to affect the route you take to success. Remember, Richard Branson is one the most successful, richest men in the world and he left school at the age of 16! 2. You’re allowed to enjoy yourself without constantly worrying about your work…

A PhD is wonderful experience! It is a great opportunity to meet new people, travel the world, build more skills and, ultimately, provide a better future for yourself and your family. While many students complete this experience without any difficulties, some students may find, on one or more occasions, they encounter stressful situations that can be difficult to deal with. If ignored, this can lead to greater problems, such as depression. Depression is a complex, yet surprisingly common, illness that can affect as many as 5 in 100 adults every year [ 1 ]. Despite these statistics, it can sometimes be difficult to diagnose. While some people experience more obvious symptoms such as low mood and general loss of pleasure in enjoyable activities, other symptoms such as disturbed sleep, changes in appetite and general agitation can also be an indication that something is wrong.  

Manusia seperti bintang-bintang bertebaran di langit, Dunia serupa bulan bulat sekadar satu cuma, Mengapa kita kehilangan daya membancuh warna, Seperti bintang mengilau cahaya ke bulan purnama? Berlagulah di serunai hayat yang senafas hirup, Nyanyian persaudaraan dalam batin yang harus hidup, Meski antara kita faham-faham berlainan terpaut. (Usman Awang, 1959) On 23 rd and 24 th May 2015, our research group organised the first hiking and camping activity for the group. The event took place at Sallochy, near Loch Lomond which is a decent 1 hour drive from Glasgow city. Coming from Malaysia, a predominantly rainforest country, going back to nature and countryside is a reminder of my home.

This week marks the beginning of the ‘Engage with Strathclyde’ programme which consists of over 50 different events being held between the 5th and 8th of May. The events aim to highlight the innovative and collaborative approach maintained by the University of Strathclyde while also showcasing the fantastic research being carried out across all disciplines. Although the primary goal is to build and enhance relationships with organisations and industry, many events are also open for the public to enjoy as well. Last year’s events attracted over 2300 people to the university and its success was acknowledged upon achievement of the 2014 Times Higher Education Leadership and Management award for knowledge exchange / transfer initiative ( http://www.strath.ac.uk/press/newsreleases/headline_832840_en.html) . The fantastic rteception received last year only adds to the buzz and excitement surrounding this year’s activities.

Last October, I had the opportunity to join the Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) embedded within the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation ( CMAC ). As I am close to finishing my first year, I think it is a good idea to explain why it is really worth being four years PhD student in sunny Glasgow. When I joined, I didn’t have a clear idea about how DTC works, so I am going to introduce some of the differences between DTC program and a standard PhD.  *Best (funniest) Acronym of CMAC. Courtesy of Brucci Wareham     

Last October Ridade, a PhD visiting researcher from Purdue University (Indiana, USA), was working with us in CMAC at the University of Strathclyde as part of a recent collaboration network between both Universities. Ridade is currently working with a twin-screw granulator as the main processing equipment for her research, and he experience in this area introduced me to this new application. It was a great learning experience having someone from the other side of the world coming to share not just lab equipment and bench space but also personal experience and why not, fun in the lab! We spent long working hours that (of course) required long coffee breaks with all sort of good edible things such as tea cakes, muffins, biscuits, and many more! Not to miss, as well, occasional dinner breaks where take-away chips and soup were like the best thing since sliced bread. Of course not everything was lab work. We also had some free time to visit the lovely city of Edinburgh wher...

A PhD is a demanding job, with many deadlines to meet, therefore don’t forget that is very important to relax in your free time and take part in enjoyable activities as a way of relieving stress. One of my favourite things to do is watch horror movies, particularly those involving zombies and other apocalyptic scenarios. A rather interesting example is “Zombieland”, a film which manages to combine both the guts and gore of a juicy horror film with the sarcasm and laughter of a comedy film – a Zom Com if you prefer! The story follows a young college student, known as “Columbus” as he treks across the states, surviving by adhering to his own practical and simple rules.

It is very important for a PhD student to meet different people, research groups, and labs, in order to gain other work perspectives and develop some networking. As my second supervisor, Prof. Rein Ulijn , was invited to be the head of the Nanoscience Initiative in the new Advanced Science Research Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) , I have had the opportunity to go to New York and enjoy my time at one of the leading universities in the other half of the globe. I have spent six weeks  in a brand new, top quality research center at the end of 2014.

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye worthy o' a grace As lang's my arm." The first lines of 'To a Haggis' by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who was born into a farming family, but was much more interested in poetry and the ladies (having many affairs in his life time). Burns’ poems are written in old Scots, a dialect that even local students can struggle to understand sometimes. Despite this it is undeniable that Burns had a wonderful and romantic way with words and some of his more famous works include ‘To a Mouse’ , 'TamO’Shanter' and 'Alud Lang Syne' (a song, which is sung at Hogmanay the world over).  It is because of these great works that we celebrate the birth of Scotland's national poet on the 25th of January every year.   

  If you join the Lamprou group, it's not only for   its academic side and the perspective of spending your next three years in the lab of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS). Let's admit it, we love   passing a spare couple of hours in social activities.   Winter has arrived once again, and we   could not miss out a Christmas party with the   rest of the group, even if   this occurred a little bit early in our calendar, at the very beginning of December.

November 2014 I had the chance to attend the Health Care Infection Society (HIS;   www.his.org.uk/ ).  I must admit, with my background in engineering and design, attending an event primarily targeted at clinicians and microbiologist was a little daunting. There was a real fear that I was in for three days of talks that would go entirely over my head. Thankfully though this was not the case and over the course of the conference, I managed to attend a wide range of interesting presentations. Topics ranged from those directly related to my work, such as endoscope decontamination and water borne pathogens, to talks more applicable to microbiology as a whole such as the slightly daunting concept of viable-but-non-culturable bacteria (how dead is really dead?!).

With winter fast approaching and the early onset of seasonal affective disorder just round the corner it was concluded that in order to raise the groups’ spirits an outing should be prescribed. Since lab rats do not get out the lab often we decided to organise a self-guided mystery tour of our wonderful base city of Glasgow. With countless free museums in Glasgow ( http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/ ) throughout hiding some of the best collections in the world, along with a simple easy-to-use underground system ( www.spt.co.uk/subway/ ) a trail was set up to take three teams from a secret location to a secret location covering the entire city. A great way to not only show-off some of the spectacular sights of the Commonwealth games host city to the new students from further afield but it was also a chance for the students who are residents to revisit some well-loved trips and tourist hot spots.

Being a parent is far from easy; however it is one of the most rewarding things a person can do. Being a teen parent, on the other hand, often carries with it a “stigma” which leads to many other issues for the young mother. We say mother as the teenage parents are often unmarried and living apart, so the father sometimes manages to “escape” many of the duties that a parent should be responsible for, leading to little effect on “normal” life.