Featured Webinars Week of October 25
Below are this week’s colloquium-like webinars of potential interest for UCI's Department of Physics & Astronomy, and beyond.
Pathways of Scientific Methods Development (IOP)
Tuesday, 26 October 2021, at 10 am PT
“at the very core, we can agree that science research is based on Observation and Measurement, from which a Predictive Model can be constructed and Validated by further observation and measurement of reality. It is, perhaps, over-simplistic, to reduce all the processes of research in such a way, but it is worth observing that there have been some major milestones along the way. The basic tools of science include Logic, which we have inherited from Aristotle’s “Organon” and include such tools as the concept of Deduction. In Bacon’s “Novum Organum”, he introduces the process of Induction. Another significant tool in the arsenal of science is Mathematisation: the act of expressing an Observation in terms of a mathematical expression, whereby the mathematical expression acts as a model for reality. Although Mathematisation was an important part of the sciences of Astronomy and Mechanics prior to Bacon, the science of Physics was (perhaps) born out of the combination of Induction and Mathematisation.”
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Rethinking Productivity: Pursuing Your Goals amid Disruption (AAS)
Wednesday, 27 October 2021, at 9 am PT
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our workspaces and routines. For many in the academic and research sphere, new and unanticipated challenges and financial pressures have created friction, slowing their progress toward academic and career goals. In this webinar led by neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Desiree Dickerson, you will explore ways to get back on track by creating a routine and rhythm that works for you rather than against you. Attendees will learn how to ride the productivity wave even when it feels like a trickle and how to use breaks to optimize efficiency. You’ll also find out how to manage expectations and plan to be realistically productive by building useful to-do lists.
Desiree Dickerson, PhD, is based in Valencia, Spain. Her work informs the interplay between mental health and well-being in academic and research settings.
Register here.
*This webinar will not be recorded*
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The Nobel Prize in Physics (IOP)
Thursday, 28 October 2021, at 9 am PT
A talk by Professor Fabrice Laussy, University of Wolverhampton
The Nobel Prize is synonymous with the most prestigious award that can be bestowed upon the human's endeavours to serve and advance humanity, from Peace to Literature and passing by the most fundamental of all Sciences: Physics. At such, it is one of the most highly regarded events in the Year, pointing at the latest directions in which the human's genius has been doing wonders. It is also a treasure trove of anecdotes, injustices, curiosities and mistakes that make the delight of everybody interested in what's buzzing in the highest intellectual circles, something between gossips and the History of Science. In this Lecture, Prof. Laussy will give his traditional Nobel Lecture where, along with the most crunchy bits of this socio-scientific celebration, he presents in layman's terms the Science honoured on this Year (recipients unknown at the time of writing but not at the time of Lecturing).
