Latest news with #PhD
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Chinese man works at coalface with father aged 12, goes on to earn mining engineering PhD
A man in China who worked at the coalface with his father as a boy has gone on to earn a PhD in mining engineering, inspiring many people online. The 30-something man, who is known online as 'Coal Miner No 3', recently shared the acknowledgements from his PhD thesis on social media. He also recalled his childhood in a poor area and being sent to learn martial arts. At the age of 12, he joined his father down the coal mines while his mother ran the household. The man known as 'Coal Miner No 3' is pictured after a tough shift underground. Photo: Douyin Driven to escape poverty, he studied hard and worked part-time as a construction worker, a waiter, a cook and a miner during secondary school.
The Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald
‘A humbling moment': Mmusi Maimane credits parents for PhD
Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane has expressed gratitude after receiving a PhD in public management and governance from the University of Johannesburg, describing it as a 'humbling moment'. 'Thank you for all the kind words, South Africa,' he said on X. The university conferred the Doctor of philosophy degree to Maimane on Monday in a graduation ceremony where former MP Malusi Gigaba was also awarded a PhD. Maimane's study focused on local government challenges between 2014 and 2019 in four metropolitan municipalities: Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Johannesburg. He has two master's degrees, in public administration and theology, and is an ordained pastor who has preached on local and international platforms. Growing up in Soweto, Maimane credited his parents for laying the foundation for his success, citing the sacrifices they made to invest in his education. 'My mother wasn't able to finish school due to the impact of apartheid. My father worked in a factory,' he said in a UJ podcast. 'I don't come from a family of academics in that sense, yet my parents are much smarter than I am, and to have been able to grow up and complete the journey at UJ is an incredible achievement. 'That sense of accomplishment, not only for my own family, is huge because my parents sacrificed a lot. You don't get a PhD because someone invested in your primary and high school education. My parents sacrificed a lot to give me the right foundations. Otherwise, there's no way I'd be sitting here today with a PhD. It means a lot to them.' Congratulatory messages from politicians have been flowing for Maimane and Gigaba:
CNA
a day ago
- General
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - A Letter to Myself: Becoming a farmer in Japan, Ryhan Mohd Yazid balanced tradition with tenacity
Ryhan Mohd Yazid is currently working on her PhD in agricultural sciences from Kyoto University. Her journey began in 2019, when she packed her bags to work on a series of farms in the Japanese countryside — including a tea farm, where she helped translate a textbook on tea into English. Ryhan's journey has required her to steep herself in a completely different culture, which was challenging at the start. Ryhan shares how she eventually won over the locals with her tenacity and the deep respect she's gained for how much care Japanese farmers put into their work.
Washington Post
a day ago
- General
- Washington Post
Carolyn Hax: Family disappointed in daughter for choosing science PhD over law
Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My dad, uncle and grandfather are all lawyers, and I always thought I wanted to be one, too. Until I realized in college I was much more interested in science. I switched my major to microbiology and graduated with honors. Now I'm in my last year of my PhD program, but according to my dad, I'm a huge failure and a disappointment. My younger cousin graduated from law school and joined the family law firm, and it's all he can talk about. My mom said I shouldn't have gotten his hopes up all those years I said I wanted to be a lawyer. They also are still complaining that my switching majors cost them extra tuition. It's not like I pulled a deliberate bait-and-switch; I changed my mind. When my dad asked what my plans were and I told him I'd be looking for a postdoc position, he said I was going to waste my life in academia and never make any real money. I think most parents would be overjoyed their daughter is getting a doctorate, but mine act like I'm a dropout and a failure. There's no way to make your parents supportive or proud of you, though, is there? — Changed My Mind Changed My Mind: Not having these parents' support sounds like a compliment. I'm sorry. Your dad's ego is bad enough, but the flights of absurdity your mom undertook to normalize it were a thing to behold. A Blue Angel of enablers. Sweet deity. You can't make them stop complaining about your PhD (!), but you can take your ears somewhere blissfully free of their strain of narcissistic jerkery at its onset. First whisper thereof. Every time. Except when your dad asks about your work. Then say, always, verbatim, 'Wasting my life in academia and not making any real money.' I realize trashing your parents is complicated; no doubt there's love there, plus parental approval carries special weight. (Like a third doughnut.) But there's nothing defensible in their behavior — except perhaps in its power to motivate you to go all in on backing yourself. If détente is what you want, then don't underestimate the power of your father's vanity as a pathway back in: 'Pop, take some credit for the intellectual variety of the gene pool.' And since apparently it has occurred to no one in that pool to say this: Congratulations. Re: PhD: My parents don't understand my PhD, either. Mine is in studying fire. My mother literally referred to me as a 'pyro' throughout grad school and my postdoc. Now that I have a rather prestigious full-time position, I have been upgraded to 'scientist.' I can't help bring your parents around — they either will or won't on their own — but I can say there are jobs out there they can't even imagine. All they know of, probably, are the terribly paid and exploited adjunct professor positions in the news. They are worried about you and showing it in the worst way possible. Hopefully. — Scientist Scientist: Thanks. Not bad for a pyro. For PhD: If it makes you feel any better, my father said 'I hope this is not the end of your academic career' during my law school graduation. Why, yes, he has a PhD. — Lawyer Lawyer: Can we get the two dads together? (And then run?) Re: PhD: Please stop going to a well that is dry. You are asking for approval, acceptance, even an 'I'm happy for you,' and neither of your parents has it to give. Cultivate other relationships that are genuinely supportive. — Anonymous Re: Pyro: Now, now. That is Dr. Pyro to you. — Dr. Pyro Dr. Pyro: Right. My bad.
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Your Pooch's Personality Influences How They Watch TV
When a doorbell rings during your favorite TV show, does your dog leap up and start barking or cock their head inquisitively? According to a new study, the answer to this question may be linked to your pup's personality. This doesn't just apply to TV shows meant for human consumption. In recent years, dog-specific TV programming has become a popular enrichment tool among owners who want to keep their canine companion calm and entertained while they're out of the house. Today, there are many TV shows—even entire cable networks—designed for dogs, but the science behind them is limited, Lane Montgomery, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at Auburn University, told Gizmodo in an email. She and her colleagues investigated what drives dogs to exhibit certain TV viewing behaviors, finding that temperament plays an important role. 'A dog's interactions with televisions can be both positive and negative,' Montgomery said. Understanding the factors that influence TV-watching behavior in canines can help increase positive reactions and prevent negative ones, depending on a dog's unique personality and the stimuli presented to them, she explained. The researchers recruited 650 companion dog owners to participate in an online survey that asked about their dogs' TV viewing habits. This included questions about whether the owner trained their dog to watch TV, the average number of hours per week the TV is on, and the average number of seconds the dog spends watching TV. The survey also collected demographic and behavioral information about each canine participant. The final sample of 453 companion dogs ranged in age from two months to 16 years old and included both purebreds and mixed breeds. Montgomery and her colleagues assessed the dogs' reactions to animal stimuli, non-animal stimuli, and the extent to which they followed objects on screen. Their findings, published Thursday, July 17, in the journal Scientific Reports, suggest demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and breed do not influence dogs' TV-viewing behavior, nor does prior TV exposure. Rather, it appears that the type of stimuli and dogs' temperament traits, such as excitability or anxiousness, shape how they interact with TV. The researchers found that dogs are generally more likely to react to seeing or hearing animals on-screen than other stimuli, with about 45% always responding to dog noises such as barking and howling. Fearful or anxious dogs, however, were more likely to respond to non-animal stimuli such as car horns or doorbells. Owners who described their dogs as excitable more frequently observed them following objects on-screen as if they existed in real life. 'Practically, this study helps inform what types of dog-specific programming would be most valuable for dogs,' Montgomery said. For owners, understanding how different canine temperaments respond to TV stimuli could help them select the right programs for their pets or inform training approaches to correct problematic behaviors toward TVs, the researchers concluded. The authors note that the findings may not be representative of all dogs, as all survey respondents were pet owners whose dogs regularly interact with TV. Going forward, Montgomery hopes to examine these results in an experimental context. 'Studies have begun to do this, but it would be interesting to conduct additional research concerning how personality and television stimuli interact and how these findings translate into a real-world context,' she said. Such work would further inform best practices for using TV to enrich the lives of companion dogs.
