Overcoming Adversity in PhD Research

Academia is sometimes portrayed as a noble pursuit. Yet I know that my own choice to become an academic was, at least partly, a selfish one. Researchers might talk about the greater good as their guiding motivation, but it’s worth remembering that many of us got into research simply because we loved doing research. Whether the joy of discovery and learning, getting to play at the forefront of knowledge, or just the ego trip of doing something unique: once you critically analyse there’s no shortage of selfish motivations. [Read More]

On Teaching Software Engineering

Proving why ''those who can't, teach.''

When I was a Computer Science undergraduate, at the turn of the millennium, by far the least engaging subjects that I studied were those on Software Engineering. Few know how to make Gantt charts exciting, and discussions of software development process models have never been my cup of tea, even if I did develop a real appreciation for empirical software engineering in the meantime. I deeply dig the irony, therefore, that I chose to be a Software Engineering teacher in 2016. [Read More]