Posted on by siphomabusela · 3 Comments

Light @ the end of the tunnel!

In order to really understand the intensity of the light, I would have to paint you a portrait of where I have been, to where I am currently with regards  to my MSc research.  This blog entry reminds me a lot of a song that I like to sing whenever I am in a good mood; “I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all the obstacles in my way. Here is the rainbow I have been waiting for, it’s going to be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day”. Well in my case, it’s going to be a bright, bright tunnel end. For the last two and a half years, I have been on a long, often dark journey.

images
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/07/the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/

 

If that journey was to have a sound track, I think it would be “Thunderstruck by AC/DC”.  My journey has had a lot of ups and downs that I would say were filled primarily with downs than ups. Normally, I enjoy going to theme parks for the roller coaster ride but this roller coaster which is my MSc research was different. My past blogs have been mostly about all the things that I have been through and how hard I’ve had to work and struggle just to get my trials going.

This blog is a little bit different, this blog is about nearing the end of my MSc degree, the end of the dark tunnel with a bright light at the end. It’s about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as my bright future, instead of a train coming to knock all my hard work off the rails, as well as using support structures in your life as a coping mechanism.

Keep your head up. Keep fighting. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, and your struggles only make you better in the end
http://quotesgram.com/keep-up-the-fight-quotes/

The obstacle that has been standing in my way from submitting my dissertation was the fatty acid profile (egg yolk) samples that I had sent to the Agricultural Research Council Lab for profiling. I have to sincerely thank them for their quick turn over time because fatty acid profile analysis normally takes forever and a day. To be honest, my impatient side was starting to get the better of me. At times, the desire to succeed does force us to make irrational decisions that we later regret in life, all in the name of progress. Thank God it never came to that though (Chuckles). So I received the data a few weeks back and since then, I have managed to put the data on Excel, run it using the SAS Procedure, tabulated and finally discussed the obtained results.

The results were not what I originally hypothesised in my proposal. There is no doubt chemically, that Moringa oleifera seeds are exceptional but the results obtained were not at all positive. Moringa oleifera seed meal in my study decreased feed intake and body weights of chickens and did not improve the omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids in egg yolks. This was a horribly negative result from my perspective.

But was “negative” really negative?

I was once invited by Caradee Wright to speak at one of her “High School Spaza Science Club” and on our way there, we ended up talking about cancer research. I felt that it was dangerous conducting research as a post graduate on Cancer and other hard to treat diseases because the inability to find a cure would mean your research would’ve failed to produce positive results. She said “Any result in research is a positive result”. At first I was a little puzzled but later it made sense. My “negative” results may not be what i had hypothesised but they were still positive. Having those results meant that no one will ever research this again because now information is available in literature. In the future, the next time a researcher thinks of using these seeds in layers, they will be able to find information (my study!) advising them against that.

Through the dark times in my life, I have always been lucky to have coping mechanisms that assisted me in navigating my way through the dark tunnels of life. Having important individuals travelling with you through the dark times of your life is one of the coping mechanisms. My supervisors, my friends, my family and my girl friend have always been part of that support structure. Any great person will tell you that there are times in life where you doubt yourself, times when you feel like giving up would be easier than to continue.Having such people in your life is awesome, people who will remind you of your talent, your abilities and why you decided to embark on that journey in the first place.

So what’s the bottom line? Well the bottom line is that you will struggle in life, your life

images (1)
https://za.pinterest.com/alinekd/amazing-wise-quotes/

will have ups and downs, maybe more downs than ups and you will virtually travel under pitch black tunnels but if you have a rigid support structure and also use all the acquired knowledge and assistance from all the troubles that you faced to navigate those dark tunnels then you will be fine. It will be scary at first but just like me, your tunnel will have a light at the end if you work hard and believe in yourself in whatever you do.

Posted on by Aliza

Of dreams and GDP: The 2016 Science Budget

I was feeling positive about science in South Africa while poring over Minister Pandor’s budget speech. Maybe I was still basking in the afterglow of a leadership workshop that fundamentally changed the way I feel about the future of science on this continent. Maybe it was because I was watching Star Trek (the ’84 classic Wrath of Kahn). And yes, maybe there were parts of her deliberations that made me feel optimistic.

Our Minister of Science and Technology rightfully boasted about quite a few accomplishments that her Department can be proud of: boosting the number of SARChI chairs headed by (highly competent!) women, and launching new programmes supporting youth involvement in the sciences.

What excites me is that our scientific goals appear NOT to be restricted to applied research only. After all, what is more “Blue Skies” or fantastical than exploring space? It captures the imagination the same way that Star Trek and Star Wars have done for decades. Some spectacularly successful Astronomy ventures are currently slipstreaming our entire continent into the future. The globe is paying rapt attention to SKA and the African Union’s new space strategy. And, in the absence of leadership from, say, our telecoms and electricity providers, the DST appears to be ploughing funds into innovative technology that can really change the lives of most South Africans for the better.

Even better, it looks like Minister Pandor and her team of science diplomats are improving our access to international research behind the scenes. Go to the NRF website right now, and you will see funding calls open for cooperative ventures between SA and Namibia, Angola, Uganda, Switzerland, Belgium, France…

But how many South African researchers will apply for these funds?

And how many applicants will write competent proposals, on well-planned projects that will be executed well?

I’m willing to bet my front teeth that only already accomplished researchers will apply for the collaborative funds. And early career researchers, fresh off the PhD presses, are left hanging without the skills and mentorship to grab such opportunities.

This is where the NRF needs to invest more wisely in our emerging scientists.

I’m not talking about students – the NRF admirably supports postgraduate students – I’m talking about qualified, inexperienced scientists who want to go forward but lack mentorship, proposal writing skills, networking skills, and don’t know how to develop a vision, let alone follow that dream. To me, this is one vital arena where the NRF and minister Pandor need to bridge the growing gap between being a student and growing into a fully-fledged researcher.

On this front, the NRF can level the playing field between the established and more marginalised universities. I’m talking about giving early-career researchers time and access to networks of excellence. Splurge a bit on advanced skills-development workshops bringing together early and mid-career researchers across the country, across disciplines. Host writing retreats, brainstorming sessions, statistical get-aways, bring together those people who have great ideas but perhaps limited funding and experience. Offer more sabbatical support for mid-career researchers; include family support and lecturer replacement costs. Support flagship programmes that explicitly aim to develop research cultures on campuses where expertise remains fragmented. Currently, this kind of thing only happens at institutions with cash clout. And that simply sharpens the divide between the haves and have-nots.

Finally, there is another important way for Minister Pandor to set South Africa apart from others on the international stage. I firmly believe in the eye-opening value of mixing disciplines (full disclosure: I’m a zoologist married to a social scientist…). And I don’t mean slapping an “interdisciplinary” label on collaborations between microbiologists and zoologists – true interdisciplinary research spans schools of thought to create entirely new ways of thinking. Bring together epidemiologists and town planners, historians and evolutionary biologists… how else will we uncover novel answers to the world’s truly complex problems?

But it’s only through “therapy” that the DST could ever hope to join such odd couples. Minister Pandor will have to hire experts (such as these guys) whose job it is to encourage communication between experts who can’t even agree on the basic definition of “data.” Take this unconventional leap, and we may actually end up showing the world how to do it.

Let me say, I love our minister’s vision and passion. I’m delighted about the SAYAS members she highlighted, our Next Einstein Forum Fellows Tolu, Amanda and Alta, poised to change the world! So much would be impossible without our minister’s vision and drive. I hope she continues making me a proudly South African scientist, follows through on her promised Youth Assembly on the knowledge economy, and continues to listen to the voice of young and female scientists especially. That is how we can change the face of science in Africa in real life, not just during speech time.