My research

After working in academia for a while (almost 10 years as a lecturer, tutor, research assistant and researcher), I’ve come to realise that academics live in world of our own.

So what? It’s it good to have your own capsule, a niche for you. It’s good in some ways, but bad in some other ways. One thing about having your own world is, the people outside do not know or understand what you are doing. Thus, they don’t appreciate your work or the work of other researchers in general. This sucks, as most PhD students and researchers put a lot into their work. We put our heart, soul, body, spirit, time, energy, brain power (you name it and its there) into our work.

When people don’t understand your research, they are also not able to see the benefit of it. About how research helps us understand the world around us and make it a better place. I choose a career in research because I genuinely believe that my work will help to make the world a better place.

I have come to realise that researchers have to reach out and explain our work to others, in a non-technical terms. Not dumb down our work, but explain it in a way that almost anyone reading it can understand and maybe appreciate it. So, here I am, starting to write about my research work. I also hope this process helps to improve my writing skills.

I did my PhD in the area of sleep, specifically studying the brain waves of sleeping infants. Please wait for my next entry, on why we sleep.