Blog posts

Being an Independent Visitor

MSCi Physics

This week I thought I’d write a quick blog about my experiences as an Independent Visitor. I’ve described what this is in other blogs, but since I’ve been matched with my young person for over six months now, I just want to give a quick summary of some of my experiences so far.

Being an IV means you are matched with one child or young person who is no longer in contact with their family. The idea is that you can form a friendship with them that has been chosen by both of you and is ‘independent’ of the many other adults in their lives who encounter the young person as part of their job.

Half way through first term!

MSCi Physics

I’m not really sure where to begin with what is going on at the moment so I’m just going to make a list.

I was deliberating whether I should blog about the more negative aspects of this term at all, but I think I will, because it wouldn’t be fair to pretend like everything’s always marvellous at Imperial!

Actually I’ll make two lists: good things and bad things.

Bad things about this term

-I’ve decided to drop quantum field theory even though it’s one of the courses I have been really excited about studying ever since first year. It is heavily linked to another course that I don’t have enough space to take for a start, I find the lecturer very confusing, and it seems like we won’t actually get to do any of the interesting features of quantum field theory and will just end up deriving very basic results.

Throwback Thursday – More earthworm bothering (November 2013)

Victoria Burton profile

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (PhD)

Over one year into my PhD now, and I had been hoping to blog a little reflection on this but things have been rather hectic! Instead here is a look back to some more earthworm fieldwork I volunteered on in November 2013, digging holes in Somerset and Berkshire.

For eight days in November I returned for more earthworm survey work with the Natural History Museum Soil Biodiversity Group, this time in Somerset and Berkshire. A small team of volunteers this time, just myself and long-time SBG volunteer Irfaan, travelled first to the Somerset site to continue work started the previous week.

Pancake Lagrangian mechanics

MSCi Physics

Mechanics was the first bit of physics I ever really liked—the idea of being able to memorise a few basic laws and then apply them to untangle and solve different situations is a nice one, even if it was only ever endless particles on massless springs and balls rolling down smooth slopes and all the usual rubbish.

However, where do Newton’s laws actually come from? Why does F = ma? I didn’t think it was even valid to ask that these questions until my mechanics lecturer in first year casually mentioned that you could derive all that stuff. Until then I thought that was just the way things were, and you could measure it (more balls rolling down more slopes) and that was good enough.

First Week

MSCi Physics

Calling this the end of week one is definitely cheating, since I’ve only had two days of lectures! It’s been great to be back in London and see everyone who has stuck it out for another year though.

A thing that has surprised me this term is that that the most timetabled hours I have for any course is actually for a sort of business course. I missed the introduction of this course last year as I was sneaking the end of term off volunteering at Cheltenham science festival, but what I heard about it filled me with utter dread. This is two actual sentences from the PowerPoint we were given in the first lecture:

‘The UK’s most viable route to continued prosperity is to go to higher technologies, higher added-value solutions to problems which result in create wealth.  

Happy Freshers!

MSCi Physics

Summer is finally over. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at uni, and it feels even longer!

My summer was full of beaches, pancakes, relaxation, jumping in streams, and I even played quidditch!

As I’ve mentioned, I’m doing a masters project this year, but somehow my timetable seems fuller than ever with lectures and even a sort of business course (again [!]), so between that and applying for jobs, this year is going to be intense!

This is really just a short blog to say hi, that I will be blogging again this year and of course welcome to all the new students!

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP Conference 2015

Victoria Burton profile

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (PhD)

The day after the PREDICTS Symposium it was the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet (SSCP) DTP Conference 2015, in the same venue at the Natural History Museum! I got up early to help set up at the Museum and welcome delegates. This Conference was for members of the DTP and showcased our work with talks, a three minute thesis competition and poster session. The three minute thesis competition was a challenge to explain our theses to the audience in just three minutes using one static slide with a prize for the audience and judges’ favourite.

Check the Grantham Institute’s Storify for more Tweets from the event: SSCP DTP Conference

The PREDICTS Project Symposium

Victoria Burton profile

Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (PhD)

One of the research groups I am connected too – Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (PREDICTS) has just come to the end of its first three years. To mark the occasion a one day symposium was held at the Natural History Museum with talks on overviews of what the project has achieved, the latest results, and a look ahead. I was invited to do a 15 minute talk on my PhD work researching human effects on soil biodiversity which use the PREDICTS framework. The Symposium was webcast live on YouTube and attended by many PREDICTS researchers past and present so I was rather anxious!

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