Life of a schooling mum

The institute of Feminist and Gender Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada is making a call for applications from qualified Canadian and non-Canadian scholars, both tenured and untenured faculty, post-doctoral fellows and independent researchers who are interested in feminist, women's or gender issues. The scholarship is funded by the Bank of Montreal, Canada. Duration of program: 3-6 months Scholarship Prize: $ 4000 which may be used to supplement research or travel expenses Application deadline: 31st December 2016 Applications should include a letter of intent, a curriculum vitae, a detailed statement of the research project (2 pages maximum), copies of, or links to, recent publications,  the dates of the proposed stay  at the University of Ottawa and the names of two referees. Please address your letter to: Selection Committee Bank of Montreal Visiting Scholar in Women's Studies Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies, University of Ott...

I did a post recently on supervisors and so, I think it is in order to drop a note for the students too who happen to make up the higher percentage of the readership on our blog. Some of this information are stuff that you are probably familiar with but the note sure helps to make amends if you are failing on any front. So in response to the letter from Student Supervisee, please find below a letter from Professor Supervisor. Dear Student Supervisee, 1. I am your mentor/supervisor NOT your primary school teacher : I know you expect me to answer ALL of your questions but I need you to realise that being a Professor doesn't make me a walking encyclopedia. Save yourself some time and stop bringing me questions that google could have answered for you without stress. I love questions- questions that challenge my mind, questions that make me realise that you have done your homework, questions that remind me why I chose to supervise you out of the over 30 applications I got from...

In the past weeks, I have come across some almost 'horror' stories of supervisor and supervisee relationships and I thought to put these together into a  letter to the Professor supervisor. Dear Professor Supervisor, 1. I am your mentee  - As your student, I expect you to be knowledgeable about my work and create time to answer my many questions. You have been a tutor for many years and this is evident in your wealth of knowledge. I need you to please share this wealth with me. I believe I am in school to learn and the purpose of my research is to answer questions. Therefore, if I ask you questions, it is not because I am a lazy cow who has done nothing to answer the questions on her own but means that my research is yet to satisfy my curiosity.  So, please answer my questions. 2. Create time to read my work- It shouldn't really take you three months to give a feedback on my 30-page written document, not especially when I need the feedback to proce...

A few of my friends can testify to how technology averse I was a couple of years ago . As a lover of Science, you would expect that computer and technology should be my thing but it wasn't.  I sometimes find it difficult to believe that I have grown to  become a lover of technology but maybe being married to a tech junkie had an effect. But tell me who wouldn't fall in love with technology with all the developments that are daily influencing our world. Whether we agree to join the train or not, technology has come to stay and it only keeps getting better.  I recently saw the launch of the iOS 10 at the WWDC 2016 and I couldn't stop wondering how cool and attractive science and technology is. It's amazing how much can be done on your devices now compared to just a few years ago. Something that particularly caught my attention is the Swift playground- a new free app designed to teach kids to code. I think this isn't just for kids but also beginners to coding. I...

I ronically, with an increase in the number of scholarship opportunities around the world, comes an increase in the difficulty of getting one.  Why? you may ask. In my opinion, there are so many academically qualified candidates around the world, and with the improvement in technology and the advent of social media, there's a larger pool of candidates chasing the same opportunities. Therefore, the competition gets stiffer and unfortunately, some dreams get crushed in the process. In recent times, I have realised that academic prowess alone might not be enough to get you that desired position. You need to do the extra to make your application stand out. One way to do this is by VOLUNTEERING. Yes, Volunteering. Volunteering could take different forms, requiring different lengths of time investment or sometimes even financial investment. It could be anything from cleaning the streets, to helping out with children, to organizing science/art fairs, to singing, e...

Procrastination is indeed a thief of time. I got talking to one of my friends two days ago, complaining to him how much I had to do and how I blamed myself for waiting until the deadline was so close before starting. He shared a similar experience with me as he is currently studying for an MBA. Anyway, he said in his own case, the creative juices do not flow well until a couple of days to the deadline. I feel the same way too if I would be completely honest. I feel like my brain works on a sort of overdrive when it knows that there’s no other choice but to get work done. I feel like the adrenaline is sort of connected creative juice pump ( there should be some scientific explanation) but I also feel it’s a mindset problem.  Your creative juices are yours and as a tap, they should flow when you open it and let it run. But when you choose to keep the tap closed, how do you expect the flow?I have made decisions over time to stop procrastinating just as much as I have made d...

The Rhodes Trust is offering 95 Rhodes Scholarships to exceptional students looking to study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford. The scholarship supports the study of any Postgraduate level course at the University of Oxford for a maximum period of 3 years.  Rhodes Scholarships will cover all University and College fees, a personal stipend and one economy class airfare to Oxford at the start of the Scholarship, as well as an economy flight back to the student’s home country at the conclusion of the Scholarship. Eligibility Applicants must citizens or permanent residents of one of the following countries or region:  Australia ,  Bermuda ,  Canada ,  China ,  Germany ,  Hong Kong ,  India ,   Israel ,  Jamaica & the Commonwealth Caribbean ,  Kenya ,  Malaysia ,  New Zealand ,  Pakistan ,  Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Nam...

Post by Pat Chuks   Recipe ingredients 1 small sized broccoli 1 med sized Green capsicum (green paper) - chopped 200gm spring beans (green beans)- chopped 200gm carrots chopped into cubes 1 tin sweet corn (canned) Knor seasoning cubes Fried Supreme Fried rice spice Salt to taste 4 tbs vegetable oil Some ginger and garlic grated 1 med red Onions How to prepare yellow rice Parboil rice, wash and pour into a salted boiling water.  Add season cubes, fried rice spice Nd cook until soft but not too soft to avoid sticking together.  Stock can Aldo be used to cook d rice instead of ordinary water. In that case, pls be careful with seasonings to avoid excesses. How to prepare the Veggies Place wok on cooker and pour the veggy oil, add onions, ginger n garlic all at once n stir briskly until tender and a little cooked.  Add veggies starting with the hardest and stir fry.  Add seasoning and salt to taste. Once veggies colour appears relaxed, remove...