Interviews, courses

[tarigwaemir]

Lowell House, on the Feast of Ste. Angela Merici

Had my first set of interviews yesterday with Harvard's Systems Biology program. All my interviewers were generally nice, although I did get asked a few slightly challenging or uncomfortable questions. Having to repeat over and over throughout the day why I chose to apply to this program reminded me, well, why I applied to the program. Tremendous flexibility, small student-to-faculty ratio, brilliant people, an atmosphere of excitement--the sense of breaking new ground, advancing to the unknown frontiers. Dare I say it, a revolution? I'm exaggerating, but I've never been surrounded by so many people passionate about biology all at once.

I got asked over and over by all the faculty I met whether I was sure I wanted to spend another five years at the same institution. Well, therein lies the rub. It would be nice to find an equivalent program at another university, but one doesn't really seem to exist yet. (There are computational biology programs and biophysics programs by the dozen, but that's not quite the same.)

My last interview was with Erin O'Shea (my roommate, schwimmerin, works in her lab). Quite possibly the best interview of the day because it was so relaxed. She spent a lot of the time telling me why UCSF was such a great place to go to grad school (a bit ironic, given the circumstances) and then spent the last ten minutes or so of the interview telling me about some really neat research that had recently been done in her lab. (Just to note down the details before I forget: identification of IP7 as a small molecule inhibitor of the cyclin-CDK complex in the phosphate-sensing pathway. It's supposed to come out in Science soon.) I must say, I've always thought that Erin O'Shea's work on phosphate metabolism was tremendously awesome ever since I first heard her give a talk at the Bauer Center, but I'm more firmly convinced than ever now that her lab does some of the most incredible science I've seen. (By "incredible science", I don't just mean that it breeds a lot of high-profile publications. There are plenty of labs that churn out papers but don't necessarily give the impression of having done great science. Great science tells a story, as they say; the work from the O'Shea lab is compelling because it's elegant and it makes sense.)

After the interviews, we went to Happy Hour at the Systems Biology office at HMS. Mostly mingling with current grad students and post-docs in the department. I heard from a post-doc that apparently, there's a documentary video out there about the Harvard MCB department in its glory days, with a young Guido Guidotti (!) at one of James Watson's parties. (Prof. Guidotti taught the biochemistry course I took last spring and was one of the most entertaining professors I've had at Harvard.) Also heard from a grad student about this funny essay: Can a Biologist Fix a Radio? -- Or, What I Learned While Studying Apoptosis. (Read it; it's hilarious.)

By that point, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, but the day was far from over. We went to Marc Kirschner's house in Newton for a dinner party. More mingling with current grad students and faculty. Ran into Prof. Losick (who said to me, "I feel as if I ought to know you," after staring at me in confusion), who then proceeded to (1) be delighted that I was a biochemical sciences concentrator who was actually going to grad school (he's the head tutor of the concentration) and (2) tell me that I should feel free to come talk to him when deciding where to go. Also had a conversation with Prof. Kirschner himself, who seriously awes me to no end because he continually exudes ideas. One of those people who just think all the time because they enjoy it so much. Also, listening to him talk with Tom Rapoport (one of my interviewers from that morning) was pretty fascinating; they're two venerable scientists who just seem to know everyone and everything in their field. (You know...that's what I want to grow up to be. Yes, I know, you're saying, "Wait, you want to grow up to be an old white male professor, who's absent-minded about everything except science?" But no, seriously. That's who I want to be when I'm at that age: someone who just spontaneously and continually loves to think. Of course, whether I'm capable of being that intelligent and knowledgeable is another story altogether.)

Anyway, I received a recommendation for a book on evolution: Factors of Evolution, by I.I. Schmalhausen. (How's that for a name?) It's at the MCZ library, so maybe I can try to read it before classes start.

Also, Peter Sorger (a recent addition to the faculty, stolen from MIT) is a hilarious conversationalist because he enjoys making outrageous remarks about science. Listening to him talk with Gavin MacBeath about scientific feuds and getting scooped was probably one of the highlights of the evening.

Talked with nearly all my fellow candidates as well over the course of the day. Very diverse group of people (backgrounds ranging from electric engineering and physics to bioinformatics), all really intelligent and interesting. It's so refreshing meeting people who are, well, eager to do research. I mean, most of my friends at Harvard are lab workaholics, but very few of them seem to enjoy their work, and to be honest, it's a little depressing and discouraging. But meeting people who seem to have the same conviction that they not only want to do science but also that the science that they're going to do is important and meaningful is a real delight.

You know, I think I'm really going to enjoy grad school, no matter where I go.

All that being said, the day was pretty long and exhausting. I was feeling nearly comatose towards the end of the dinner party (I decided not to attempt any wine for fear that it would just knock me out then and there) and was a bit relieved when it was time to go home. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I had trouble falling asleep and kept waking up in the middle of the night from bad anxiety dreams. I ended up getting up at 7:30 this morning because I just couldn't stay asleep, although I still felt quite numb and exhausted. Am I developing insomnia? I've never had trouble staying asleep before. I must have been overstimulated from yesterday. Although I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately ever since the latter half of exam period, so I'm wondering if I'm unconsciously stressed about something. -_-

You know, no matter how much I try to plan my course schedule in advance, something always comes up to cause some sort of dilemma. I was thinking about taking Chris Marx's course on microbial evolution, but apparently there's going to be a lab component. Normally I wouldn't mind the extra time commitment, but knowing in advance that I'm going to miss at least a week and a half of classes this semester complicates the situation. (And let's not forget that I also need to write my thesis.) Also, Kevin Eggan, one of the recent recipients of the MacArthur "genius" grants, is teaching a developmental biology course this spring. The question is, do I really want to take another developmental biology course when I just took one last fall?

Well, I guess I'll shop both as well as the biostatistics course as a backup. I think I'll also shop the Asian poetry-writing course, despite my earlier decision to take only three courses this semester (i.e. two lecture courses plus thesis). Hm, maybe I could audit it?

Yours &c.

Comments

[ldmoonflower.livejournal.com]

Audit it!

[troisroyaumes]

Heh, yes, I think I will. ^_^

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds absolutely fascinating. All the best and I hope you get to do your grad work where you want!

[troisroyaumes]

Thanks!

[phoebs.livejournal.com]

Oh, the irony. My boyfriend's flying out this weekend to interview for...Harvard's Systems Bio program. If you both wind up working in the same lab next year, I will be SO amused.

[troisroyaumes]

Whoa, really? What a coincidence! Where else is he interviewing?