Science compensates for the shortcomings of human cognition. It allows us to apply methods of investigation that are independent of our own subjective notions and irrationality. As a result we have overcome common sense, traditional beliefs, and other misconceptions through thorough investigation. We even describe and utilize phenomena that are as incomprehensible as quantum mechanics, which defies our everyday experience in unimaginable ways. (more…)

I had an extended conversation with Diana Barbosa (@diraquel on Twitter) from the skeptical society in Portugal, COMCEPT. This is the first of two parts to this episode where Diana Barbosa answers questions about what skepticism is, what skepticism is NOT, and how it is different from other, related movements. We get an overview of the goals and activities of COMCEPT meetings, and how to become a member!

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Working on your PhD is a stressful phase, and the academic culture isn’t making it better. In this episode I talk to Lauriane Nallet, who is a PhD student in Switzerland. She has a personal history with depression and even PTSD. Lauriane shares what she learned at a workshop on mental health issues in grad school, and also her own experience with mental health issues: symptoms to look out for, how she found help, and what therapy could do for her. We also talk about some aspects of academia that contribute to the stress, including high expectations for work load and ‘passion’, and the ‘publish or perish’ culture.

Visit Lauriane’s blog!

clarifying comment

We mention an article claiming a 6x increased prevalence of depression in graduate students. The article is being criticized for methodological confines. However, another study which was conducted using methods with fewer confines, still finds a 2.8x higher prevalence for depression in PhD students when compared to highly educated workers.

In 2017, Hugo Bettencourt was finalist of the Portuguese section of the science communication competition ‘FameLab’, and appeared at the Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2017. Here, he talks about this experience.

FameLab is an international science communication competition initiated by the British Council. Hugo explains the application process, and what is expected from the presentations. He also shares some of what he learned in the special science communication workshop for finalists. At the end he had a great experience and made some friends. And it even got him some additional gigs as a science communicator.

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Hello progressive people!

I proudly present our two new projects!

Podcast for Progress

I just uploaded the first episode of our podcast where Hugo and I have a conversation on science communication, and FameLab. Of course we also geeked out a bit in the end! 😛

Hugo is a member of Science for Progress. He is currently working on his MSc thesis at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2017 he took part in the FameLab science communication contest. Here we talk about his experience.

SfP Rotating Curators on Twitter

And we also started collecting people who are active on Twitter to contribute to our upcoming ‘rotating curation’ account @SfProcur . Such ‘rocur’ accounts feature a different curator every week. I am excited that despite the virtually absent followship of the account (starting is always difficult), people have responded very positively to my requests! So, please follow @SfProcur! Starting date is in March!

I hope you will enjoy our new projects!