Giving Thanks

On Thanksgiving day, nothing more appropriate than giving thanks.
University Qualifying Exam is done!

Step 2: University Qualifying Exam (UQE)

Upcoming Wednesday (Nov-21), I'll be taking the University Qualifying Exam. Officially, this is step 2 out of 3 for the phd, although I try not to think of it as such, and rather focus on the things I need to do before graduate. 

At this stage I will be presenting my research to a committee of 5 faculty, namely what I plan to do to earn my phd (i.e. this is why the exam is sometimes referred to as "thesis proposal"). Upon success on this exam, I will earn a diploma and a title: phd candidate.

Email sent by the department services to my committee (and me) reminding them of the exam date and place.

Road to November 6, 2012

I know that after 8 years of George Bush, the bar was set very low, but I believe I'm witnessing history from a very close distance: Barack Obama is one of the best speakers people of my generation will ever have the chance to hear.

I'll leave you with his last official act in the campaign. Tomorrow he'll be chilling out with some homies, playing his traditional basketball game.

If you don't have the time to watch the entire video jump to minute 20, give or take.

Will "HOPE" and "CHANGE" continue? I think so, and I'm not alone :)
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
This blog, now sponsored by the NYTimes, was originally created by a rising star on data-based predictions named Nate Silver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Silver)

Fired up? Ready to go!

On my way to the laundry

As I was going to the laundry today, I came across with something you don't see everyday...
This ad was posted on the community bulletin board in my neighborhood.

"Loving married couple looking for someone to act as a gestational surrogate mother. You must have already had one healthy pregnancy.  

You will be compensated and have your expenses paid. Please contact us if you would like to help us start our family. We have been married for three years. We live in Mesa.

We would like to meet you and your family. We want to get to know you and you to get to know us. 

Thank you for considering giving us such a wonderful gift. Please call Jessica at xxxxxxxx."

Quitting

I believe it takes a significant amount of courage, madness and/or desperation to go through a phd program in the US. In my point of view, it takes a lot more courage to realize that this is not what you were looking for, and "call it a day".
Kritika got to UC San Diego at the same time as me (Sep/2008). IIT student, a bright young kid.
After a few months of "thinking it through", she decided to quit. It's a 4 year investment of her life down the drain. Well ... maybe not completely, aside from the experience, she got away with a master's degree. As me, she was about to take the senate exam, and become a phd candidate. After telling Nuno (our advisor), what was going through her mind, he tried to talk her out of it, and did not allow her to take the exam. He argued that he could not make five faculty loose their time in a student's exam, if she was thinking about leaving the University.

Me and Kritika crossing the Golden Gate, CVPR 2010.

Why was it important for her to take this exam? Because after this, she would be one step away from graduation... she could even take a "leave of absence" while thinking about what to do. I have the utmost respect for such a courageous decision that has crossed my mind so many times in these last 4 years. Respect.

Farewell my friend, and Godspeed!

Funding

Let me start with a brief thought... sometimes I simply have nothing interesting to post here, others I have plenty of material. Like now, for instance. Besides this, I have two other interesting short stories to post. So stay tunned!

This one, is about funding.
Up until past August, I had a scholarship from the Portuguese government. "Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia" (FCT). It provided me with a monthly stipend and an annual fee for tuition. It didn't cover the full amount of tuition, but it was a good help.
When I first got to UC San Diego, back in September 2008, I talked to my advisor and told him my scholarship was good "only" for 4 years. He would have to pitch in after that! To be honest, with the economic scenario in Europe as it has been (Portugal in particular), I was fearing for my funding on a monthly basis. We all know that Education and Culture always suffer the first cuts when a country is running on a tight budget. And yes, the cuts are here. But truth be told, I've escaped FCT cuts'. The tuition at UC San Diego are currently set at $30,000 a year, and FCT now provides only € 5,000 yearly! This clearly is not enough... but that's OK, because usually we can work our way in the University to get the extra cash. But usually we have to teach for that, and FCT just messed it up by putting in place a new restriction that prevents anyone with a scholarship to work for more than 4 hours a week. It just so happens that to get your tuition covered by almost any University, you're usually required to work 25% of the week (i.e. 10 hours). So there you are, another regulation that defies logic...

Something similar to FCT exists in the US, though. It's called NSF, National Science Foundation. It rarely gives scholarships to students. Rather it awards grants to PI (Principal Investigator), who then use it to pay students. My PI just got a new one... and this is good news for me, since his budget was running low!

http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/piSearch.do?SearchType=piSearch&page=1&QueryText=&PIFirstName=Nuno&PILastName=Vasconcelos&PIInstitution=&PIState=&PIZip=&PICountry=&Restriction=2&Search=Search

If you browse to the end of the page on the link above, the new grant is the one shown on the top. Handsome amount, no?


PS- a quarter of a million dollars can pay for a full-time phd student for five years (tuition, stipend, health insurance, all included).

Incoming call

today as I was walking towards my afternoon coffee, my phone started ringing. I picked up the call, and here is what happened next:

Me- Hello... who's this?
Operator- Hello sir, this is 911. We had a phone call from this number just now. Is everything OK?
M- well ... yes... but... how was that?... I didn't call anyone!
O- That's OK sir. Are you able to speak now?
M- Yes
O- Where are you at, sir?
M- I am at UC San Diego
O- Can you be more specific, please. Where exactly in UC San Diego?
M- aahhh... in a coffee shop
O- In what coffee shop, sir?
M- in the Mandeville auditorium
O- in which room exactly are you in sir?

(a lot more calm, I was now almost laughing with the questions from the other side of the line. This could be a prank call, I thought!)

M- I'm actually just outside the auditorium. In the "Art of espresso"
O- OK. Sir, what is your last name?
M- (spelling) P-E-R-E-I-R-A. First name J-O-S-E
O- Thank you. We're gonna send someone over to check on you, sir; please standby.
M- well ... OK, I guess. Bye
(hangup)

I ordered my coffee, had a few laughs about all this situation with my friend, we both agreed this would never happen in Portugal or India. And 7 minutes later, there was a cop arriving to the "Art of espresso". I waved at him and he approached me

Me- Hi! ... are you here because of that 911 call?
Cop- Yes. What is your name, sir?
M- Sorry, I don't know what happened to my phone. I guess I dialed 911 inadvertently. Jose Pereira
C- That's OK, it happens sometimes. Do you have some photo id with you, sir?
(showed him my driver's license)
C- thank you. Are you able to speak freely, sir?
M- Yes
C- Are you being held-up against your will?
M- No
C- Alright sir. Thank you for your time. Have a good afternoon!
M- Likewise. Sorry for the mess...