Summer Research Declassified

EUREKA!.2016.S01E01.Summer.Research.Declassified.1080p.BluRay.DD5.1.H264-UCSB

↳ Subtitles.txt


COLD OPEN

FADE IN:

Bill Nye: “EUREKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Beck Bennett: Gets an adrenaline rush. Parties hard until rush dissipates. Drafts. Publishes. Spams published paper. Gets invitations. Accepts invitations. Presents in conferences. Gets nominated. Wins nomination. Becomes a Nobel laureate. Finally, SLEEP.

*transition swish*

Morgan Freeman: Clinching a Nobel Prize is one of the lengthiest and arduous attempts. This may take many a lifetime, or a cleverly few, coming in clutch, with one expedited shot at the prize. Space, time, and life itself. The secrets of the cosmos lie through the wormhole.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Though the timeline to be the most prestigious in the science realm is enticing, saying “EUREKA!” is by no means easy. It all must start with research, and research requires resiliency, critical thinking, perseverance, concentration, self-motivation, and a great deal of time. That is why summer is the best time to get started, where Justin is on the hunt to declassify summer research in this episode of EUREKA!

END OF COLD OPEN

ACT ONE

Justin: Summer is the opportune time to grow as an undergraduate researcher. Not only does one experience the breadth of undergraduate research that UCSB offers, but one can also take the opportunities to communicate one’s research to the public.

As an EUREKA! scholar, I, Justin Su, have been tasked to declassify summer research here at UC Santa Barbara. Conducting research, though crucial for scientific discoveries, is meaningless when the research itself is neither shared nor critiqued by the scientific community. While I am currently working in a cell biology lab to develop my biochemical techniques, EUREKA! is equipping me with the necessary presentation skills for my future conference talks.

Presenting in front of an audience is of the arts that one must master to become a highly acclaimed scientist. It is undoubtedly frightening, especially when the faces of your audience remain expressionless as you begin. Even if you envision the ideal flow of your presentation, the detrimental “noises” in your presentation environment may majorly allocate the audience’s attention bandwidth. I and many presenters must therefore combat these “noises,” especially the personally induced ones. Continuous practice is a harsh, yet imperative, prerequisite to control these noises. Simplification and visualization of information is also essential in retaining the audience’s attention. Additionally, verbal intonation, vocal stability, and bodily expressions will assist in honing the presentation to its ideal and natural form. In the end, you get the fame, the food, the drinks, and the connections, basically all for brief moments on a stage.

Behind the scenes, conducting a personal research project is of the sciences that surprisingly encompasses the execution of many personal values and virtues. In my case, the field of cell biology is extremely logically structured that requires rigorous critical thinking sessions. The virtues of patience, resilience, and open-mindedness are vital when pondering the rationales behind specific mechanisms and pathways. Experimentally, the amount of attention to detail can make or break your experiments, setting off a good or bad domino effect. Whenever it comes to doing Western Blot, immunofluorescent staining, and even mammalian cell culture, I concentrate on being accurate and precise among all my actions to ensure quality and effective data. Despite the time reserved for the experiments, your mind would be like Einstein’s, and it is so worth it (i.e. learning upper-division biology concepts as a freshman). Gradually, however, one will begin to appreciate the science behind these biochemical techniques and analytical skills. By applying your mind, skills, and values to the cutting edge research done here at UCSB, you will be on your way to saying “EUREKA!” in no time.

With the fusion of art and science behind research, the ample space, time, and life that summer at UCSB provides is the epitome for undergraduate researchers to fulfill their potential in becoming groundbreaking, world-renowned scientists in their fields. With a laid-back, sunny Isla Vista during the summer, I could go on runs, film and edit videos, play beach volleyball, chill with my friends, and not worry about weekly exams. Although I am halfway through my first summer research experience, there is so much that I cannot wait to do in my next three years. Until next time, this is EUREKA!’s Summer Research Declassified.

FADE OUT:

END ACT ONE

TL;DR: Be cool like us and do summer research – It’s really lit, fam!