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| Microbes could be the key to coral death |
I had my first meeting with my primary adviser, Dr. Paul Kench last Friday. I have 8 provisional goals to reach within these 6 months in order to be a confirmed PhD candidate. These are the goals:
- Full thesis proposal
- Production of one substantial piece of written work
- Presentation of research progress to a departmental seminar
- Approval of the full thesis proposal by the department/ faculty committee
- Attendance at one of the Doctoral Skills Program Induction Days
- Undertake Diagnostic English Language Needs Assessment (DELNA) online screening
- Undertake preliminary trip to field site to obtain baseline ecological, geomorphic and hydrodynamic data
- Learn and demonstrate competence in field and laboratory skills necessary to undertake microbial analysis of coral tissue.
The working title for my PhD research is "the effects of water flow on the microbial community structure in coral reef colonies and its implication to coral diseases.
Most, if not all field and lab work will be performed in Taiwan, collaboratiing with Dr. S L Tang from Academia Sinica. Therefore, I will be doing some travelling between New Zealand and Taiwan during the next few years. Although Dr. Tang had agreed to help me with funds for my field work as well as some lab work, I am still eagerly searching for more funds. I approached the University of Auckland scholarship committee a couple of days ago, and unfortunately, the qualification for PhD scholarship is purely based on GPA, without any consideration for the prospect of the research!...This is quite disappointing given that the school has always prided itself as one of the leading research institute. Anyway, onwards to search for more funds!
During our meeting last Friday, Paul mentioned that I should attend the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) 2012 which would be held in Cairns, Australia between July 9th - 13th. He mentioned that although it is expensive (entry fee approx. NZD1200!), it is the biggest gathering of the world coral experts under one roof, and the next symposium will not be until 4 years later. It will be a great opportunity to get to know leading scientists, make new contacts and tap these brilliant brains for my research. Sigh.. need to look for more money :(
John Majoris:
ReplyDeleteAt least one of my advisers will be there, Peter Buston. I think hes organizing a portion of the conference. Look him up if you find the funds to go! As for me, studying hard and trying to stay calm.
John
Sounds really interesting. A shame that UoA is so crap about scholarships. Maybe look at grant proposals from DOC, if such a thing exists?
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