• mylearnings

    #16 Prioritisation and the Eisenhower Matrix

    First things first. So far so good, but how?! I often asked myself: Why do I never feel like getting things done in time or Why do i never feel like getting enough things done? What helps me not having to ask myself such questions anymore – or at least a lot less – is using prioritisation techniques such as the Eisenhower Matrix. The Eisenhower Matrix helps us to categorise tasks depending on their urgency and importance. IMPORTANT means important to you – not necessarily anybody else and URGENT, too, isn’t always a clearly defined timeframe, it can also depend on your comfortzone, for example: How close to a deadline…

  • PhDinterview

    # 15 Hongzhen: Nitrogen use efficiencies of biobased fertilisers

    Can nitrogen mineral fertilisers be replaced by processed and manure-derived biobased fertilisers? Hongzhen Luo (罗红祯) is a PhD fellow at Ghent University (UGent). She conducts research on biobased fertilisers derived from animal manure and on their ability to replace mineral fertilisers. With her research she aims to contribute to closing nutrient loops in agriculture. Department & Group: Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent university. Supervisors: Prof. Erik Meers and prof. Stefaan De Neve (Ghent University) Dissertation title: Interrelations between the nitrogen availability of biobased fertilizers and the dynamics of the plant-soil system Topic – in brief Laboratory and field experiments on biobased fertilisers derived from…

  • Expert interview

    #14 Hendra: Teaching in higher education

    How to be and become a good teacher? Hendra Agustian is an Assistant professor at the Department of Science Education at the University of Copenhagen. He teaches teaching staff at the university how to teach and helps them improve their teaching. He also conducts research on teaching and aims to improve the learning experience of students. What is pedagogy? The prefix ‘peda’ means children but nowadays it encompasses teaching of adults as well (if we want to be very precise, we can call teaching adults: andragogy) It is science of teaching & can include aspects of student well-being What is didactics? The content of teaching; i.e. the structure of a…

  • LCA,  PhDinterview,  phdtalk

    #13 Louise: Combating and valorising food waste

    How can food waste be reduced and food production become more sustainable? Louise Bartek is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). She examines ways to combat food waste where possible and how to valorise it where necessary. Department & Group: Department of Energy and Technology Supervisors: Mattias Eriksson (main supervisor), Ingrid Strid, and Pedro Brancoli Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Environmental assessment of food waste recovery and valorisation of food by-products Topic – in brief Sustainable food systems and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) How can we produce more food from the resources we already have? And how can we decrease the environmental impacts of…

  • Expert interview,  phdtalk

    #12 Mark: Presentation skills

    What does it mean to be a presenter and how can we feel better about being one? Mark Simpson is a consultant at and co-owner of Global Denmark, a company that offers proofreading and editing of English texts and that coaches people in becoming better at communicating – be it in presentations or in writing. What is a presentation? A piece of communication, where the presenter is the leader. Consider yourself as a leader, when preparing for and giving presentations. What is best for the audience? Think of your audience, when preparing a presentation: What is relevant for them to know?Make sure you know what you are responsible for –…

  • Expert interview,  phdtalk

    #11: Courtney: Becoming a Twitter Savvy Scientist

    How to use Twitter to grow your scientific network, learn something new and have fun on the way? Courtney’s motivation to use Twitter Getting in touch with the scientific community beyond her own lab and project Getting new ideas, learn about latest papers Getting started: Passive engagement, see what other people tweet about Figure out whether that is something you would also like to tweet about – or maybe not and define the person you would like to be on twitter Start tweeting about events you attend. That might feel less scary than providing content from scratch – this may calm your nerves and might make you realise that it’s…

  • PhDinterview,  phdtalk,  soil

    #10 Louis: Soil microbial responses to land use change

    How do changes in land use and plant community affect the activity of soil microbes and their carbon use efficiency? Louis Dufour is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). He conducts field experiments to see how microbial communities in the soil respond to changes in plant communities in terms of their activity and carbon turn-over. Department & Group: Department of Soil and Environment, Group of Nutrient Cycling, SLU Supervisors: Anke M. Herrmann, Johanna Wetterlind, Martin Weih, Stefano Manzoni, Naoise Nunan Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Responses of microbial physiology to changes in land management: a bioenergetics approach Topic – in brief Testing whether changes…

  • PhDinterview,  phdtalk

    #9 Catarina: Orchard manure fertilisation, vineyards and satellite images

    How can manure replace mineral fertilisers in apple orchards and how can satellite images help improve vineyard fertilisation? Catarina is a PhD student at the University of Lisbon and part of the EU Horizon 2020 project Nutri2Cycle. Department and Section: Instituto Superior de Agronomia University supervisors: Henrique Ribeiro, David Fangueiro and Ricardo Braga Dissertation title (as for now :D) “Valorisation of organic materials and composts for precision fertilisation of orchards and vineyards” Topic – in brief Assessing the impacts of manure fertilisation on apple orchards – in terms of emissions and apple yields. Catarina compares the effects of mineral and manure fertilisation to provide farmers with recommendations on how they…

  • PhDinterview,  phdtalk

    #7 Nelly: Phosphorous fertilisation, plant-availability and use-efficiency

    Nelly is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen. She conducts research on organic and mineral forms of phosphorus fertiliser. She explores its plant-availability and models its fate in the soil to optimise its application. Institute: Department of Geoscience and Natural Ressource Management – Geography Nelly did her PhD at the University of Copenhagen, then went to Australia to do a first postdoc and now returned to Denmark to do a second postdoc. Let’s start with her PhD research Dissertation title: (link) Potential for increasing phosphorus bioavailability of thermally treated sewage sludge using phosphate solubilising fungi Methodology In vitro lab-experiments with different combinations of ashes derived from wastewater sludge…

  • forestry,  LCA,  PhDinterview,  phdtalk

    #8 Max: Modelling climate impacts of forest management and wood use scenarios

    (How) can forestry and wood-products contribute to climate change mitigation? Max is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) and he conducts research on forest management and wood use scenarios with regards to greenhouse gas dynamics with a focus on Sweden. Department & Group: Department of Energy and Technology Supervisors: Per-Anders Hansson, Ragnar Jonsson, Johan Stendahl, & Torun Hammar Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Quantification and improvement of forest product climate characteristics from a system perspective Topic – in brief The challenge Climate change increases the pressure on forests in many ways: ‘Natural pressure’ a rise in droughts, forest fires, strong winds and insect outbreaks…