This afternoon our group, the Terrestrial Ecology Group at the Technical University of Munich had the first session of its annual ‘postdoc retreat’. The idea of the retreat is to revisit our group’s vision and mission, by first discussing what a vision is and what a mission is. Some people think that what is aContinue reading “I can’t handle this shit anymore…”
Tag Archives: daily
Flashbacks
I had a bit of a flashback to about five months ago, inspired by something I just did. The activities are very similar, but in another sense could not differ more. About six months ago, Heike and I decided we would have another child. I will not explain the details here, but at some pointContinue reading “Flashbacks”
We’re all thieves
Let’s face it. Almost nothing is truly original. Writing, or any form of creativity for that matter, is nothing but creative stealing and recombining other people’s ideas that have inspired you along the way. Because of this, we need to source good material to steal and loot from. Importantly, high quality loot is likely toContinue reading “We’re all thieves”
She made me kill it
A couple of years back, Heike and I traveled around the Yucatán Peninsula, with several weeks spent in Mexico, and several in Belize. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the trip. To be honest, the media do not really paint a fantastic picture of Mexico (druglords, kidnappings and the like), although Cancún and PlayaContinue reading “She made me kill it”
(Un)welcome guests
For people that love cooking as much as we do (and we sure do love cooking!), Germany, or perhaps just Freising, is not fantastic. Herbs here are a big and boring disappointment. I don’t have a clue why, but fresh herbs here (1) are either all parsley, chives or not available, or (2) when theyContinue reading “(Un)welcome guests”
Time will tell
The start of my postdoc position at TUM was not really as I had expected it to be. Most postdoc positions that I was aware of at the time were project positions. In such positions the goals were usually quite clear and I thought that this was somewhat similar to what I was walking into.Continue reading “Time will tell”
I gave up…
Yes, it’s true. I gave up on the daily blog format. That is, I gave up on the 200 word format that I originally came up with. It was a good practice for as long as it lasted. It’s dead now. After about one month of writing 200-word posts every day, I started feeling increasinglyContinue reading “I gave up…”
You have to find pleasure where there is none…
Alright, I’m just gonna say it. Grading student exams sucks donkey balls. It is probably one of my least favourite things to do out of all things academic. It is of course a necessary evil, and therefore it needs to be done, and needs to be done with care and attention. The switch to onlineContinue reading “You have to find pleasure where there is none…”
Three and counting…*
One thing that I have noticed lately is how keen Germans are to switching the conversation back to German, as soon as an opportunity to do so arises. I thought my level of English would get me through my scientific career, but I was pretty wrong about that. At the moment, my English is slowlyContinue reading “Three and counting…*”
… and I hate games!
It is all one big stupid game, isn’t it? Academia. There are these moments where you think you almost feel quite comfortable. But then you can’t. You always need to be on the lookout for ‘something’, always on the move, always running. Otherwise, you’re out. I thought I was in a good place when IContinue reading “… and I hate games!”
Robin Heinen 