Blog
2020
Deep Learning in Biology Workshop
Discovering the beauty of math and the fun of computer science My mother saw math in everything around us; in the geometry of a bridge we drove across, in the permutations of numbers that make up my birthday. Growing up she would get excited as she explained the solution to a math problem. She would tell me that math is beautiful. As a high school student, I remember thinking that math was simply a graduation requirement. However my understanding and appreciation for math soon changed. After...
2019
Why do we have application fees?
Context I’m considering this question in regards to PhD programs in the biological sciences. For a brief bit of context, these are programs where trainees, once they join a program, have their tuition paid for and also receive a stipend. The funds to offer the stipend and tuition coverage primarily come from an institution, from training grants (which are given to an individual or institution to support training in areas of need), and from research project grants (which are given to an insti...
TL;DR: This twitter thread from Michael Hendricks is on the money. In a recent article in Science about the National Academies developing a procedure to expel sexual harassers, Dr. Robert Weinberg (Member, Whitehead Institute; and Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research in the Department of Biology at MIT) was quoted as saying, “Before there is a mad rush to approve such an ejection procedure, it might be useful to ask whether sexual harassment by a member has anything whatsoever to d...
Infant in arms: Some thoughts from a father traveling solo with an infant
Brief Context As a scientist, I often attend conferences/meetings/etc. Making this work as a childless, married academic husband was reasonably straightforward for my wife and me. However, things changed in April of 2018 when our daughter was born. Finding a way to integrate our daughter into this schedule is important because academic life bleeds heavily into times that are normally reserved for family life (weekends, evenings). Many academic conferences and events are scheduled over a week...