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Let's Talk Research Life

Author: Anne Purnima Gamage and Yifan Ding

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Welcome to Let’s Talk Research Life podcast!

Research life can be exciting; research life can be stressful. We are two early career researchers wanting to share, to discover, to grow, and to find out what research life really is. Whether you are a graduate student, R&D specialist, established scientist, scientist in the making, or essentially a curious soul, here is the place for you to relax and reflect.
11 Episodes
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What keeps us going?

What keeps us going?

2025-12-0756:14

Got no motivation? No worries, we got you! In this episode, Anne and Yifan talked about how to keep ourselves motivated and what things, or people, can help us get there. We recognized how important reconnecting with why we started the journey and dug deeper to find motivation and joy from daily research life. Also, we would love to hear from you whether you should give it 100% or 80%!  Have a listen and wish everybody eats demotivation for breakfast!   Music: "Cipher"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/“True Appeal” Mubert (mubert.com)
Ka-ching! In this inaugural episode of “What if -” thought experiment series, Anne and Yifan became researchers with the deepest pockets. We explored what do we do with all the money in the world, what research projects we would fund, and what unlimited funding means for us after all. We hope this thought experiment will bring you some joy as it for us!  Have a listen and let us know if you approve of Yifan’s chimney idea!    Music: "Cipher"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/“True Appeal” Mubert (mubert.com)
As an academic year came and went, Anne and Yifan reflected on their year in this episode: what are the achievements, what are the lessons, and most importantly, how to internalize whatever research life throws to them. Now with another new year loading, we sorted through our thoughts and packed our momentum into brand new outlooks.  Wish a great year ahead of everybody!   Music: “Cipher” by Kevin MacLeod, “True Appeal” by Mubert.  
Are you taking a regular break? Or do you find it difficult to switch off? In this episode, Anne and Yifan tried to figure out what taking a break means for research, whether it is a micro break in between tasks in a day or an annual vacation. And we discussed how would a break feed back to our research. We also took a break from the previous formats and tried a few exciting new things for the episode!  Take a break and have a listen, we are thrilled to hear from you!   Music: “Cipher” by Kevin MacLeod, “True Appeal” by Mubert AI (https://mubert.com/render)
Anne and Yifan have both been GRINDING on their keyboards recently. As academic writing is such an essential component in research life, in this episode, they talked about how their writing habit revolution was, what the writing process is looking like now, and highs and lows through the long journey of drafting. Have a listen and WRITE to us if you have anything to share!Music generated by Muberthttps://mubert.com
Working with supervisors can be one of the most defining—and sometimes challenging—aspects of research life. In this episode, Anne and Yifan continued their discussions from EP04 and branched out to heavy topics on managing conflicts and handling criticism, all for a good reason—growth. They reflected on their experiences with advisors and gave their takes on mentorship.  Have a listen and see if you can find a little bit of yourself in there.    Music generated by Mubert https://mubert.com 
Working with supervisors can be one of the most defining—and sometimes challenging—aspects of research life. In this episode, Anne and Yifan dive into the many layers of supervisory relationships: from choosing the right supervisor (or making peace with the one you didn’t choose), to spotting red flags, and building a healthy working dynamic.They also shared their experiences navigating different communication styles, meeting structures and handling busy time periods. Have a listen and see if it resonates with your own supervisory saga!Music generated by Muberthttps://mubert.com
Are you living and working in your secondary language? In this episode, Anne and Yifan started the exploration of secondary language induced self-discoveries all the way from how it is in the research life to tiny “identity crisis”. We talked about cultural cues and personality switches, bilingualism in the workplace, and the fancy “Cultural Frame Switch”.  Have a listen and see if this helps you with your language-induced identity crisis, if you have!   Music generated by Mubert https://mubert.com 
Attending conferences

Attending conferences

2025-06-0146:36

Attending conferences is a huge part of research life. It brings you into a cosmic and active world where science thrives. Yet it can be challenging, as well. In this episode, Anne and Yifan shared their experiences on selecting conferences, navigating conference experience, and presentation strategies. We also jogged down the memory lane and talked about our starstruck moments and memorable stories.  Have a listen and let us know what you think!Music generated by Mubert https://mubert.com
As early career researchers, we are most likely facing forks on the road here and there. In this episode, Anne and Yifan dug into their own experience as a rumination as well as an outlook for the future. We talked about motivation for pursuing an advanced degree, navigating the transition from corporate to academia, and exploring career options beyond academia. AND we introduced our standing segment talking about Expectations vs. Reality!  Have a listen and see if it relates! Music generated by Mubert https://mubert.com
The abstract

The abstract

2025-06-0105:01

Hooray! Welcome to Let’s Talk Research Life podcast!  In this inaugural episode, Anne and Yifan, two early career researchers, introduced themselves and talked about the motivations behind starting a podcast.  Have a listen and we would love to become your cloud research companions!Music generated by Mubert: https://mubert.com
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