What do mice chasing crickets, particle accelerators, solid sponges for natural gas storage, and toddlers with cameras mounted on their heads have in common? All were the subjects of short talks at yesterday afternoon’s “Informal Symposium” on Machine Learning in the Sciences at the University of Oregon, that Teddy Hay, Gabriel Barello, and I co-organized. … Continue reading Machine Learning Mixer
The University of Oregon (UO) recently announced that it will increase undergraduate tuition by about $1000 per year, from $10,762 to $11,707 for in state students and $33,442 to $34,387 for out-of-state students. This isn’t an aberration: as is the case that most US universities, tuition has skyrocketed over the last decade or two. Here’s … Continue reading How I learned to stop worrying and love tuition increases. (Not really.)
Assessing exams I’m fond of analyzing the outcomes of exams I give. My favorite assessment is to look at how the score on each exam question correlates with the overall total score, and to plot this correlation coefficient versus the fraction of students who got that question correct. Roughly, I’d like the plot to turn … Continue reading Graphs and Grading: Winter 2016
In Spring 2015 I taught a graduate biophysics course for the first time. It was a first in several ways: the course didn’t exist before, so I developed it from scratch, and it was also the first graduate course I’ve taught in my nine years as a professor! I’ve been thinking for months that I … Continue reading Recap of a graduate biophysics course — Part I
Next term, I’ll be teaching a brand-new graduate biophysics course. (It’s the first time teaching a graduate course in my eight years as a professor!) I’ve spent quite a while thinking of what should be in it and how the course should be structured. Here, I’ll just note my list of topics (below, with a … Continue reading T-minus 9 days for my graduate biophysics course
How does a department recruit graduate students? Like many physics departments, ours brings accepted prospective students to visit, funneling most of them into two days during which we try to convey information about our research, the university, the area, etc. Faculty in different research areas think of ways to spend an hour or so describing … Continue reading Grabbing graduate students with graphs
I am adding And subtracting I’m controlling And composing — Kraftwerk, “Pocket Calculator” I often tell students that computer programming is like drawing — learning and practicing it opens up new ways of seeing the world, and new ways of creatively giving shape to ideas. I’ve long thought that everyone should be able to program, … Continue reading I liked programming before it was cool
Earlier this Fall, I was part of the University’s “DUKTalks” event — rather like TED talks but (i) featuring speakers from UO, and (ii) without the vast audience. It was a fun and interesting program, with fifteen minute talks on medieval runes, Facebook, and more. My talk, “The Physics of Life,” was about (unsurprisingly) biophysics. … Continue reading DUKTalks + Fish Guts
Being on the academic, rather than the athletic, side of the University of Oregon, I’m not gifted with my own private hydrotherapy pool, hand-woven Nepali rugs in my office, or the use of a barbershop with imported Milanese utensils — all appallingly featured in the University’s new football center that has attracted lots of much-deserved … Continue reading It wasn’t a rock / It was a rock lobster!
A quiz question for local readers: Where on the University of Oregon campus did I take this photo? Like most people, I tend not to notice things above me. S. (age 4) pointed out these beautiful abstract bicycles as we were wandering through campus. Who knows what other ceiling-situated art there is? Continue reading Up!
The Eighteenth Elephant 