Thesis the end | Life as a PhD student #25
TLDRIn this detailed vlog, the creator shares their intensive journey through the final stages of a PhD in atmospheric physics. Focusing on the coupling dynamics between the stratosphere and troposphere, they delve into complex calculations, data analysis, and the nonlinearity of mass fluxes. Amidst the academic rigor, they candidly discuss the challenges, late-night work sessions, and the excitement of new discoveries. The script also offers a glimpse into their personal life, including choir engagements and creative endeavors like designing a CD cover, reflecting a balance between their scholarly pursuits and extracurricular interests.
Takeaways
- 📚 The video's creator is deeply involved in writing their thesis, focusing on atmospheric physics and the dynamics of the stratosphere and troposphere.
- 🔍 They are examining the potential vorticity (PV) field and its role in sudden stratospheric warming events, hypothesizing its far-field effects.
- 📈 The creator discusses their process of inverting PV to obtain the stream function, which helps in understanding atmospheric velocity and temperature.
- 💡 A recent discovery highlights the significance of nonlinear interactions between the stratosphere and troposphere in influencing mass fluxes and pressure changes.
- 🖥️ The use of LaTeX for thesis writing is emphasized due to its suitability for complex documents with numerous equations and bibliography management.
- 🎵 Amidst academic work, the creator is also involved in the Chapel Choir and has been working on a CD for the group, including designing the album art.
- 🐱 The video includes personal anecdotes, such as encounters with friendly cats and the therapeutic effect of petting them, adding a touch of humor and daily life to the narrative.
- 🏰 The creator visits the Cathedral for a photoshoot and discusses the historical significance of the building, especially during the remembrance period symbolized by poppies.
- 📈 The script describes the process of running statistical scripts and data analysis, which is a significant part of the creator's research work.
- 🕒 The video provides insight into the long hours and dedication required for PhD work, with the creator often working late into the night.
- 🎉 There is mention of an exciting development related to an email from Google, though details are kept secret for the time being.
Q & A
What has the vlogger been focusing on during the period of not uploading many videos?
-The vlogger has been focusing on their thesis, as suggested by many in the comments, and not worrying about each EEB (presumably a past project or series).
What is the significance of the cathedral in the vlog?
-The cathedral is significant as it is a historical place where the vlogger goes to take photos of a choir performance. It is also decked out for remembrance, indicating the time of year related to historical conflicts.
What software does the vlogger use for their thesis writing?
-The vlogger uses LaTeX for writing their thesis, as it is an industry standard in the earth sciences and makes handling equations and bibliographies easier.
What is the vlogger's opinion on using Word for writing a thesis with many equations?
-The vlogger finds the idea of doing their thesis in Word unappealing and even mentions it makes them feel physically sick due to the difficulty of handling equations in Word.
What is the main topic of the vlogger's thesis?
-The vlogger's thesis is on atmospheric physics, specifically looking at the dynamics of how the stratosphere couples to the troposphere and the surface.
What is the vlogger's hypothesis regarding the stratosphere and troposphere?
-The vlogger's hypothesis is that there's a field in the stratosphere called the PV field, which causes effects at a distance and may be related to sudden stratospheric warming events.
What is the significance of the nonlinearity concept in the vlogger's research?
-The nonlinearity concept is significant because it affects how the vlogger analyzes the interaction between the stratosphere and troposphere, particularly in the context of mass fluxes and pressure changes.
What is the vlogger's strategy for dealing with challenges and errors in their research?
-The vlogger's strategy involves fixing small problems, iterating on their work, and not trying to take shortcuts, as well as taking pride in small victories to motivate further work.
What is the vlogger's routine like during their thesis writing period?
-The vlogger's routine involves long hours in the office, working on the thesis, taking breaks for errands or meals, and often staying late into the night to make progress on their work.
How does the vlogger feel about their progress on the thesis?
-The vlogger feels that they are making good progress, with page counts going up and solid science being developed. They acknowledge the hard work required but are determined to see it through.
What additional projects is the vlogger working on outside of their thesis?
-Outside of their thesis, the vlogger is working on a CD for Chapel Choir, which includes designing the album art and managing other aspects of the production.
Outlines
📚 Thesis Focus and Personal Reflections
The speaker reflects on their decision to focus on their thesis amidst a period of reduced content creation, spurred by viewer comments. They discuss the progress on their thesis, including coding and statistical work, and share the excitement of a productive morning. The paragraph concludes with the speaker's appreciation for the simple joys of life, such as petting a cat, and their current working setup, which includes a dedicated thesis writing computer and the process of rewriting and analyzing data for their results chapter.
🎥 Vlogging Challenges and Academic Boredom
The speaker acknowledges the monotony of their current life, dominated by office work and the lack of interesting content for vlogging. They admit to feeling bored with their PhD project after four years, a sentiment echoed by other academics. However, recent changes in their thesis direction, influenced by their second supervisor, have reignited their interest. The speaker also talks about their to-do list for the week and shares a personal anecdote about photographing a cathedral, which is decorated for remembrance, and the significance of the poppy symbol in the UK.
🖥️ Late Night Research and Data Analysis
The speaker describes a long day of research work, which includes running several scripts for data analysis and dealing with technical challenges. They mention the satisfaction of seeing their computer code execute without errors and the progress made on their to-do list. The paragraph also covers the speaker's personal life, including their room setup and a project related to a CD for a chapel choir, which involves graphic design work in Photoshop.
🌅 Creative Design and Midnight Tasks
The speaker expresses pride in their self-taught graphic design skills, demonstrating the creation of a CD cover using various digital tools and techniques. They discuss the process of recreating the design in Photoshop for efficiency and share their excitement about the final product. The paragraph concludes with the speaker's plans to continue working on the CD design and other tasks until late at night.
🔍 Atmospheric Research and Theoretical Exploration
The speaker delves into the details of their atmospheric physics research, focusing on the dynamics between the stratosphere and troposphere. They describe their hypothesis regarding the role of potential vorticity (PV) in atmospheric events and the process of inverting PV to derive the stream function. The speaker also shares their daily activities, including an unexpected email from Google, choir practice, and the iterative process of refining their thesis.
🎼 Balancing Research with Creative Pursuits
The speaker discusses the challenges of balancing their academic research with other interests, such as participating in a choir and working on a podcast. They provide insights into their daily routine, which includes writing their thesis, recording podcasts, and dealing with the pressures of academic work. The paragraph highlights the importance of maintaining a balance between work and personal interests.
📈 In-depth Analysis of Atmospheric Dynamics
The speaker provides an in-depth explanation of their research on the coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere, focusing on the concept of potential vorticity (PV) and its inversion to derive the stream function. They discuss the use of quasi-geostrophic PV and the superposition principle in their calculations. The speaker also shares their findings from inverting only the stratospheric PV and the implications for their hypothesis.
🌟 Non-linear Interactions in Atmospheric Research
The speaker explores the concept of linearity and non-linearity in the context of their research, explaining how non-linear interactions between the stratosphere and troposphere can significantly impact atmospheric dynamics. They discuss the discovery of an interference term that represents the non-linear part of the equation, which could be key to understanding the tropospheric impact of descending mass flux. The speaker also shares their plans to continue their research and analysis into the night.
🎓 Finalizing Research and Preparing for Submission
The speaker reflects on the progress of their thesis, discussing the structure and content of their work, and the process of rewriting and refining their research. They mention the use of LaTeX for thesis preparation and the benefits it offers, such as automatic generation of bibliographies and ease of handling mathematical equations. The paragraph concludes with the speaker's determination to continue working hard to complete their thesis, despite the challenges and late hours.
🌌 Late-Night Insights and Podcast Edits
The speaker shares a newfound insight about the non-linear nature of their research and the implications it has for understanding atmospheric pressure changes. They discuss the significance of the interference term in their calculations and how it contributes to the overall mass flux. The paragraph also covers the speaker's routine of editing their podcast late into the night and their plans for the following day, which include more statistical analysis and writing for their thesis.
🎉 Anticipation of a Unique Experience
The speaker expresses excitement for a unique event they will be participating in the following day, which is a first for them and is specific to their location. The paragraph concludes with a sense of anticipation and a brief reflection on the speaker's current activities and plans.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Thesis
💡Potential Vorticity (PV)
💡Stream Function
💡Inversion
💡Stratosphere
💡Troposphere
💡Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW)
💡Nonlinear Function
💡Mass Flux
💡Reanalysis
💡LaTeX
Highlights
The speaker has been focusing on their thesis, resulting in dividends and will discuss various aspects later in the week.
A productive morning was spent working on the first results chapter, including coding and preparing statistical data.
The speaker enjoys walking back to the Union due to the presence of friendly cats in the area.
A good day was marked by petting two cats and feeling that life is good when such interactions occur.
The speaker is currently working alone in the office at 5:45 PM, with a unique working setup involving a plan, notebook, and two computers.
A new version of chapter four is being written, with a revised plan and comparison of predictions using different sets of data.
The speaker is working on a large dataset to calculate standard deviation, aiming to make plots more readable.
Feeling human again after two good nights of sleep and being on top of the PhD work, with a goal to finish in three weeks.
The speaker is dealing with the boredom of vlogging due to the monotony of their life being focused on the office and work.
A new direction given by the second supervisor has reignited interest in the thesis work.
The speaker is working on a list of tasks for the week, including writing up the first results chapter and discussing a figure.
A visit to the Cathedral for a photoshoot reveals the building's historical significance and current remembrance decorations.
The speaker is working on several scripts, including one for interpolating data from pressure surfaces and another set of inversions.
Progress on the thesis is significant, with a focus on mass fluxes using different datasets and the anticipation of two new datasets.
The speaker is spending late hours in the office, running scripts and making progress on the thesis, despite the late hour.
A transition to working on a CD cover design in Photoshop is underway, with the speaker teaching themselves the program and making quick progress.
The speaker is excited about an email received from Google about an undisclosed but interesting opportunity.
The speaker is sight-reading a challenging piece of music for the Chapel Choir and reflects on the experience.
The speaker discusses extending theory from their thesis, focusing on different contributions to potential vorticity (PV) and its impact on the stratosphere and troposphere.
The speaker explains the concept of linearity and nonlinearity in functions, relating it to their research on atmospheric dynamics.
A significant discovery is made regarding the interaction between stratospheric and tropospheric stream functions and their impact on mass flux.
The speaker plans to vertically integrate the mass flux field to predict pressure changes, a novel approach in their research.
The speaker reflects on the process of writing their thesis in LaTeX, citing its advantages over Word for scientific documents.
The speaker anticipates a special day ahead, hinting at an activity unique to the region, adding a personal touch to the vlog.
Transcripts
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