Advice through a PhD, from Oliver Williamson

We all know our PhD journey has been unique, special, just like the snowflakes we are. Reading the advice Oliver Williamson gave his phd students, makes me smile, it is advice I should have got during my journey. It would have been perfectly tailored to me. The essay,...

Effect size, statistical significance and big data

Many, if not most statistical methods were developed for relatively small datasets. Big Data means we need to reevaluate how we interpret results. A good examples comes from “the Facebook experiment” Emotional contagion through social networks Adam D. I. Kramer, Jamie...

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

I think the Lego Gradstudent is brilliant! Very dark humour, but ohh so funny, especially if and when you feel a little down during your PhD journey. The creator made a video about the “impostor syndrome”, that many experience at times. To watch it: I...

A manifesto for reproducible science

There are ohh-so many ways to mess up when conducting research, leading either intentionally or unintentionally, to false results. Open science, where every effort is made to allow others to check your work (put very simply) is on the rise. Here is a great article on...

Free access to research articles

Academic research is contingent on building on past findings, much published in academic journals. While researchers get nothing from the journals when they submit their work (indeed, some pay for the privilege to get published), it can cost a fortune to access the...