Movement isn't optional – it's mental fuel.

Kids who play daily boost math scores. Adults slash stress by 30%. For researchers buried in analysis, a brisk walk resets focus.

Make it a habit, not a chore. Body leads the mind.

#MentalHealth #PerformancePsychology #ResearchLife

Day 4 and final day of the #LeidenForce Winter School starts under the snow ❄️

Resort Bad Boekelo turned into a winter postcard.

#WinterSchool #SnowDay #ResearchLife

End of year look at paper projects (* = first author):
published 2025: –
in review: PL, NW, ND
in write up: HY*, BG, KA, EA, KP
in work: TD*, IA*, HA + some on the horizon #researchlife

#memes #biologymemes #bikinibottomtwitter #osha #mopping #researchlife #cellculture

My jeans will never recover from this incident

#SvystunovaGully
888 downloads!
Looks like I’ve created something that people actually find interesting.

But here’s the real question: with a daily rate of 30–40 downloads... what are the odds of catching such a perfectly round number by accident? 🤣

(Maybe the Universe has a soft spot for hydrogeochemistry!) 😁

#OpenScience #Zenodo #Geochemistry #Hydrogeology #MineWater #DataScience #ResearchLife #ScienceHumor #Groundwater #EnvironmentalScience #Contamination #PHREEQC #RStats #LaTeX #QGIS #FOSS #WaterPollution

We had a lively discussion about applying for research funding with some colleagues today. Since this happens to be something I’ve thought about a lot lately (and since I’ve been quite successful at securing personal working grants in the past), I thought I’d share some insights here as well:

👽 Yes, you should do the weird thing!

Oftentimes, I spend ”too much” time on something that is seemingly ”unimportant” - something not related to the topic I’m currently researching. Which probably makes some people think I’m lazy or crazy or both. But then, a few years along, that usually becomes the very thing that makes me an interesting collaborator to a lot of people, precisely because no one else in my professional circle has experience with that thing (why would they??). Sure, some serious literary scholars might look down on you for a few years because you are obsessed with comics or horror, say - but at some point, there might be a time when they need someone who understands how to read images or what rhetoric strategies make the skin crawl. And then you just might be the only person they can call. 👻 Basically: build a diverse enough skillset to be irreplacable, unimitable, and just a little bit unexpected. Research always needs people to map the gaps no one else has noticed or bothered to explore yet.

🕸️ Networks are everything.

And what’s more, I believe the connections need to be genuine. You need to be lucky enough to come across good professors who ACTUALLY believe in you enough to write glowing letters of recommendation. You need to ACTUALLY be curious about your colleagues’ research, in order to learn from them and find the best collaborators. Obviously, it helps if you can find people you think would be fun to work with, and who feel the same way about you. That’s why you gotta frequent conference dinners, coffee hours, and faculty parties - occasions where you can have real, personable conversations with people, rather than just partaking in performative conference interactions. (Also, I’d encourage everyone to approach their colleagues from a place of mutual support, rather than a place of competition. It’s not just good for networking; it’s good for everyone’s mental health. Academia is already tough enough as is - we don’t need to be d*cks about it.)

✒️ The proposal has to sound believable!

And the key there is rewriting. It usually takes me about a year of pondering, reading and constant reframing to get myself from ”hey, something like this might be interesting to study maybe?” to ”look, this innovative project is absolutely necessary to do and here is exactly why”. It’s the latter tone that gets you funded. But it’s difficult to fake - you need to convince yourself before you can convince anyone else, really. And you have to get precise enough about the research question and the implementation plan. It’s almost like a world-building exercise, where all the imaginary pieces (theories, concepts, article ideas, methods, data sets, collaborations, dissemination) build a machine that looks like it would turn on if someone just flipped the funding switch.

🍀 Luck is always a factor!

And meritocracy is fiction, obviously. Every funding call receives a MASS of proposals, many of which are bound to be just as good as yours. And when the margins are so small, any random detail can be fatal. Maybe the reviewer noticed the ONE typo in the whole 40-page application and got annoyed by it. Or maybe you referenced a theorist they don’t personally vibe with. Maybe they had a bad day when they read your application and didn’t really concentrate on it as much as they should have. It’s frustrating and unfair - but it also means that there’s not necessarily anything wrong with the application per se. You might send the same application to 10 calls - and after 9 nos, get that one all-important yes. That’s why I think the luck factor is important to acknowledge - a tsunami of declines might REALLY just be rotten luck sometimes. It doesn’t mean you or your idea are worthless - so, there’s no reason to get too disencouraged.

Being in the application limbo is a wild state of existence, though. Any day you could get an email that might kinda depress you - or change the direction of your whole life. Especially when you apply for things with international mobility, you never know which town/country you’ll find yourself next Xmas. What an adventure, eh?

#researchlife #tutkijahommat #apurahatontutkija #fundingapplications #akatemia

Sometimes you get an email about another publication citing yours that makes you immediately too scared to publish anything anymore...

"Sustainable Smart Cities with AGI-Enabled Cyber-Physical-Social-Thinking Systems" sounds like a very bad trip.

#aihype #researchlife #academia #academicchatter #urban

Three failed MD runs later, I’m reminded that “failures” are data too. Careful notes, small wins, and a supportive lab turned log gibberish into new directions. How do you stay motivated when experiments derail? Anyone using failure logs to guide hypotheses?

#ResearchLife #MolecularScience #OpenScience #LabCulture 🔬☕️

https://idees.moleculair.es/failed-simulations

LAB CHRONICLE #10
-Scientific Reflection-

A typical lab day:
1% science
99% adjustments
100% hope

#ResearchLife #Vibe #ShortNote #RealityCheck

✈️ Recorded this morning before heading to the airport.
📍 Final recap of the GARRM workshop.
🧪 We explored a fascinating twist: using radon as a tracer for NAPLs.
A different application of radon — and an exciting path for research.

#ScienceTalk #ResearchLife #Radon #Innovation #WorkshopRecap #TravelAndWork https://youtube.com/shorts/XZjwyrOLRO8?si=Atc5t0wUspTKzkbe

This must be summer... I have four papers to comment on! From the first draft stages to second referee report.

#AcademicChatter #ResearchLife #astrodon

You log into the journal’s submission system. Undergoing Initial Checking. It’s been 3 weeks… and nothing has changed. You close the tab. But tomorrow, you’ll check again.

We’ve all been there. Staring at a status that doesn’t move. Wondering: Should I contact the editor? Would that seem impatient? How long is too long to wait?

My new blog post - To wait or to act: what to do when a journal goes silent? 🤐https://panbibliotekar.blogspot.com/2025/07/to-wait-or-to-act-what-to-do-when.html

#AcademicPublishing #PeerReview #ResearchLife

😍Another lovely coffee break session at ICTA-UAB today, this time organized by the LASEG group. Great idea to take it outside —perfect weather, relaxed vibes, and inspiring chats among researchers! ☕🌞 #ICTAUAB #ResearchLife

I mislaid the links about the US based researcher who was kidnapped by ICE. I need it for an article. Can you help me?

#ICEKidnappers #ResearchLife #MastoBrain

📊 Ah, the irony: Academia's obsession with measuring everything has led to 10,000 retracted papers in 2023. Turns out when you treat research like a high-score competition, people start playing games instead of doing science!

Just because you can count something doesn't mean it counts. 🤔

#Academia #ResearchLife

https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/01/14/0848204/how-research-credibility-suffers-in-a-quantified-society

PhD Procrastination?!

#PhdLife #PhdProblems #AcademicProcrastination #PhdMemes #ResearchLife

🤔 Good first papers 🏛️

What about tagging some ideas as "good first papers" following the "good first issue" concept common in open source? ➡️ https://jordicabot.com/good-first-papers/

#research #opensource #phd #phdlife #researchlife
#phdchat #researchers #researchpaper

End of year look at paper projects (* = first author):
published 2024: DD*
in review: PL
in write up: BG, KA, EA, NW, KP
in work: HY*, ND + some on the horizon #researchlife