Greetings from the laboratory (stateside that is)! There is much to report regarding my PhD research. I will use this blog post to provide a “laundry list” of items that describe how I have been spending my time:
I. Training
A. Amazingly, all doctoral training has been completed! Mind you, I am still enrolling for many additional courses; however, the core requirements for the degree are “in the can”! I am thrilled to have been putting much of what was conveyed to good use.
B. I recently enrolled in a variety of support modules ranging from formatting your thesis to manipulating qualitative software to overcoming COVID-19 issues. All have been incredibly informative and I look forward to leveraging these techniques in the coming weeks.
II. Data collection
A. A huge thank you to each and every participant who contributed to the SensorAble focus groups and/or online surveys. Though I was sad not to be able to meet with you face-to-face (owing to the pandemic), it was wonderful to meet, greet, smile and converse online. I have made many new friends in the process, learned so much from all of you, and want you to know that you are appreciated beyond measure!
B. Transcriptions of all online videos, scrubbing of both qualitative data and quantitative data is now complete. They have been safely and securely archived and stored away on the UCL’s servers, whilst analysis is now just commencing and the data looks incredibly interesting. There are indeed many surprises, particularly those that break gender boundaries with regard to distractibility, focus and anxiety! I am looking forward to sharing everything, once I have confirmed the results.
III. MPhil/PhD Upgrade
A. I am delighted to report that the my first, annual progress report has been filed. A special thanks to my Primary Supervisor and Head of Knowledge Lab Departmental Research Director Professor Kaśka Porayska-Pomsta for her keen guidance and suggestions).
Thanks also to my UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Secondary Supervisor Dr Sarah White for her continued support relating to my preparation for the forthcoming upgrade.
I had a delightful online chat with my esteemed supervisor from University Cambridge Neuroscience, Dr Joni Holmes. It was wonderful finally meeting her face-to-face, albeit through the camera lens. We are synchronized with UCL and looking forward to a four-way meeting in early June.
B. And speaking of which, I am thrilled to announce that that upgrade will take place sometime on 15 July 2020 with Drs Sveta Mayer and Manolis Mavrikis comprising my panel. I have received final edits on my Upgrade Report and am finalizing my Presentation as I type this. I certainly look forward to communicating the outcome and results in a future blog post.
III. Conferences
A. And speaking of communicating, I am delighted to have made three attempts at submitting abstracts to discuss my research at forthcoming virtual conferences.
For now, I can report a variety of successful presentations at both the Developmental Diversity Lab (DDL) at UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (actually my third presentation since enrollment). Tomorrow, I will have completed my first presentation detailing my Participant Public Information studies to the Knowledge Lab (my other home away from home laboratory). I am looking forward to having the opportunity to let everyone know what I have been up to.
Finally, I am delighted to report that I was the lead-off speaker at UCL Centre for Doctoral Education’s Summer 2020 Conference. Whilst this was an online conference, the recording of my and other speakers presentations was delightfully received and the ability to speak to an online audience and participate in questions, answers and comments was most welcoming.
Signing Off For Now
I will be in regular communication this summer once Upgrade, Presentation and Conference season winds down. In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions, please do get in touch. I would be delighted to hear from you.