h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...er not.

Well not born there, nor am I in West Philly (and I'm not going there either)

but I am in Philadelphia

But my hotel room isn't ready yet so I can't get smart before I go to the conference first day.

hey Orcus - hope it all goes well and you have a good time out there!

DOn't forget to let us in on the scandal - there's always something at a conference!

Hmmm, well no gossip yet but then this a kind of superlarge behemoth of a conference (more than 10,000 attendees is normal for this thing) and so not it's so intimate as all that.

I have this strange 'falling' feeling going on in my head, sort of dizzy but not. I wonder if I've jet lag. I certainly woke up like a light at 1 am this morning -which is 6am UK time, my normal waking hour...
COupled with an 18 hour day yesterday I guess it's not too strange thinking about it...

I talk next as my session tomorrow is coming now and the one person on the bill before me has dropped out. Not so nervous now I've seen some other talks - I'll give them a different flavour but I won't disgrace the thing I think.

Thanks for the good luck wishes

is it being podcast anywhere?

And have you bumped into your *friend* yet?

Hi Ictoan, no I don't think that he will be around now looking at the way things are proceeding.
Podcast? Not that I'm aware of, there are over 8000 talks and posters going on this week in 717 different sessions apparently so I'm a very small cog in a large wheel. That would be a monster podcast - maybe some of the plenary lectures might get some of that but I suspect the presidential addresses will be reserved for such things.

Made some good contacts last night which was nice though as well as bumping into some people from Birmingham. They're new too so it seems the old Chemistry dept there is getting some long overdue support from the University at last.
I have a freebie dinner (for my sections speakers) going on tonight which I'm looking forward to.

ah, should be fun! WOuld this be the ACS convention? Just been on their website and amused to find they have a 'molecule of the week' section - playing a bit to the stereotype I think!

Yes that's the one.

Yes they always have a molecule of the week

Seems to leave the old ionic solids and other macrocrystalline compounds a bit out in the cold to me

very good

Over the initial disorientation now? How was the meal?

On a different tack I'd be interested in your opinions on the following. Esp as you are a Cambridge graduate if I recall correctly?
Had an interesting query from my niece who is looking into universities and courses for when she has done her a-levels (2yrs).
She wants to do quantum physics (not your area I know, but) and is quite taken with the Oxford course. However, she's also spotted an MPhys with a year (I think) at CERN. Now, southampton has a 5* RAE graded physics department and their physics in general is in the top 3 in the country.

The oxford course does not have a year in CERN. But then it is oxford. And it also has a 5* RAE rated physics dept. And being oxbridge I understand the BSc morphs into an MSc anyway after a bit?

Is the kudos of oxbridge really worth that much? As compared to another uni with similar ranking and the advantage of working somewhere like CERN?

I know you can't give a straight yay or nay (no such thing!) but wondered if there were any points to consider/arguments for or agin that you might add.

From my understanding of how the world works, being an oxbridge grad pretty much trumps everything else. Especially if you don't necessarily want to go into academia or a related science job.

And I know you are busy so don;t worry about answering whilst you are out there!

Hi Ictoan, I'm an Oxford graduate mate, so juuuust watch it!
None of this Cambridge stuff around here.
Also you don't get a BSc from there you get a BA - yes even in nuclear physics.
The BA becomes an MA 7 terms after you leave and you have to pay about 25quid to get it (wot no pound signs on these american computers ) -so don't equate that with a real MA (or MSc or whatever). However my degree in Chemistry from there had a 4th year of research and so is a real masters really. Physics was not like that in my day although things may have changed.

I wouldn't worry too much about RAE ratings because that's research rating and nothing to do with teaching. She wants to go somewhere where the teaching course is excellent. Although any of those would be superb.
I'd probably not worry too much about going to CERN either - Oxford has Diamond = the latest synchrotron source in the UK so it's not so bad for that sort of thing. They'll have many students doing CERN fro a year and most will be ignored and dismissed is my feeling. Getting there for postgraduate stuff would have much more kudos.

There is likely to be far more kudos about going to Oxford outside academia - companies will definitely love it. In academia it counts for much less - and sometimes can be negative with those who regard Oxbridge as elite and arrogant - which is a bit unfair but it can also be true on occasion.
Oxford differs from the other two in the collegiate teaching system and frankly I'd recommend that very highly. Tutorials with only 2 or three of you are not to be sniffed at. Make sure you get a good college for the teaching -the advantage can be a disadvantage if your college has weak teaching dons in your subject.

Up to her in the end - but she should do the course *she* wants to do. She could always do Oxbridge post-grad if that takes her fancy

Not sure if there's any firm advice there - make of that what you will.

Orcus

I did my PhD at Southampton by the way so I have a soft spot for there too. A very good university

The meal was OK and a good beer was had afterwards and I finally got a good nights sleep last night - just in time to be screwed when I get home too now...

ooops, I've just committed the worst academic faux pas possible haven't I? Ah well, you can take it!

That is some useful input and I will pass it on to her, and she can add that in to her deliberations. Wouldn't try and force her one way or t'other - it was that sort of thinking from my school that led me initially to decided not to go to university at all!

And there was an interesting bit I spotted the other day (Guardian? Bad Science - somewhere anyway) about how universities are increasingly having to account for parents in the whole process. And UCAS have apparently now allowed students to name a parent as their sponsor and do the talking on their behalf. Not a good idea I think - part of the uni process was that it is the student responsible for their own future. Having mummy and daddy making the decisions (or even just heavily involved in them) is not going to help the maturity and development of the student much. OTOH, given how much said parents are paying sometimes I can see why they think they should be involved.

Hi, yeah well that's the problem noone spotted when they stopped paying the tuition fees isn't it.
I didn't realise the students could use a parent to talk for them - that's absurd. I don't think I'd have let my parents do that though so my guess is most teenagers would rather be dead than allow that.
We certainly have to very much include wooing parents as well as students in our open days now.
Having said that I have noticed that there are some students now who are basically doing the degree their parents wanted to do as far as I can tell. Why do a degree in chemistry if you're patently not interested in it? That's a waste of everybody's time.

The worst of it in my opinion is the student led learning thing. That - to draw a harsh analogy - is like allowing a dog to decide on its own training. How the does it know how it should be done?

Letting the students decide how a course runs inevitably leads to them deciding that they do as little work as possible for the maximum marks possible and is the fastest way to erode the quality of the course and minimise what they actually learn.

well said! And the bit about parents living the student life they think they wanted through their children has been mentioned elsewhere as a big factor - particularly parents getting involved when their darling ickly kiddywink doesn't quite get the grades their parent thinks they should.

But yes, English/Welsh institutions I fear are well down the road to degraded degree worth. Too many students and to much relativism. It is supposed to be about measuring knowledge against an objective marker and if you ain;t clever enough, tough.