Research

The definition of research according to the Cambridge Dictionary is 'a detailed study of a subject especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding'. If you start thinking about the word 'research' you will most probably end up dividing the word into two parts: 're' and 'search'. Are we scientists so dumb that we can't find (new) information just by searching? Do we really have to search for it again? Anyway, if I search for the origin of the word 'research' I find some useful information. Research comes from the Old French word 'recercher' which simply means 'search'. Stupid English people! But maybe I shouldn't think about this so much, and just perform good research. And indeed, I usually look more than once into the matter! Maybe they're not that stupid after all!

All this research - how many times can I use this word in only one blog? - was the reason why I really didn't have time to do anything else. At a certain stage I was working 18 hours a day and I slept the other 6 hours. I hear you thinking, why? I have two answers to that question. The first is, because I'm a big time nerd and love my work. The second answer is probably more true though: because I had a deadline to beat. (And you can imagine, if you have to research everything, that can take a while ;) ).
So it went like this: since early March I'm working on synthesizing my very own nanoparticle (I can't go into too much detail here - I'm sorry). Making the nanoparticles didn't turn out to be very difficult, however, to purify it was a different story. Last week, I had two abstract deadlines, one for the symposium of my institute, and one for a conference in September. And about 1.5 to 2 weeks before the deadline, my supervisor said: 'Let's beat the deadline'. At that point I still had to start my in vitro experiments - better, I didn't have my cells yet. I wanted to feed my cells my nanoparticle and perform fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy, so for those who know about this: I was pressed for time. But I beat the deadline with a very sexy abstract (that's how my supervisor called it). For now: fingers crossed, and hopefully to San Diego in September!

Last Sunday, instead of doing research myself, I was the research object! I was guinea pigging for my Dutch friend Nicole, who is also part of our group. Loads of fun! Please enjoy the picture of me in this literally 'one size fits all' hospital gown, me in the MRI scanner, and me struggling with cookie dough ice cream!