(no subject)
Look, I finally have a BSG related icon! And I shall post about things... that have nothing to do with BSG. :p
Mostly because all the BSG posts made me forget to make a post about how relieved I was to pass the problem seminar my supervisor set. Also the one after hers, but hers was the bigger deal because no one wants to fail their supervisor's problem. :p
Problem seminars are basically considered the hardest part of the entire PhD process in chemistry. On the theory that they're not going to let you defend with a thesis that can't pass. :p But problem seminars, ah, problem seminars are supposed to teach critical thinking. A lot of them consist of "Here's a published paper. Tell me what's wrong with it!" We have to pass six to pass the course. There's ten a year, and we have two years in which to pass. Though obviously everyone wants to get it over with in the first year of trying. :p So with Kim's and Dr Usselman's, I have two passed and four to go. Good times. :p
Also, it's a good thing rotovapping is boring. This week's problem involves coming up with a better mechanism than the one contained in the paper. Which would be easier if it wasn't phosphorus chemistry, which I know relatively little about. Such as, you know, whether I was actually allowed to do what I wanted to do. Lucky for me, I was bored and happened to notice that there were two books on organophosphorus chemistry sitting on the shelf. They have proven... useful. :p
Mostly because all the BSG posts made me forget to make a post about how relieved I was to pass the problem seminar my supervisor set. Also the one after hers, but hers was the bigger deal because no one wants to fail their supervisor's problem. :p
Problem seminars are basically considered the hardest part of the entire PhD process in chemistry. On the theory that they're not going to let you defend with a thesis that can't pass. :p But problem seminars, ah, problem seminars are supposed to teach critical thinking. A lot of them consist of "Here's a published paper. Tell me what's wrong with it!" We have to pass six to pass the course. There's ten a year, and we have two years in which to pass. Though obviously everyone wants to get it over with in the first year of trying. :p So with Kim's and Dr Usselman's, I have two passed and four to go. Good times. :p
Also, it's a good thing rotovapping is boring. This week's problem involves coming up with a better mechanism than the one contained in the paper. Which would be easier if it wasn't phosphorus chemistry, which I know relatively little about. Such as, you know, whether I was actually allowed to do what I wanted to do. Lucky for me, I was bored and happened to notice that there were two books on organophosphorus chemistry sitting on the shelf. They have proven... useful. :p