This weeks PhDetails is with Boris Berkhout who studies at the University of Leicester. Boris studied for both his BSc and MSc in Amsterdam before moving to the UK to start his PhD. His main research interests concern species interactions, especially host-parasite interactions, and what shapes them. Boris occasionally tweets from @BWBerkhout. Enjoy!
Well let’s start of talking about completely unscientific stuff. Favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?
Jimi Hendrix
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
Soilwork
Favourite movie?
Probably the original Alien film, but there are many good and bad films that I like.
Where do you study and who is/are your supervisors?
I am based at the University of Leicester in the UK. My supervisors for the biological part of the project are Iain Barber and Eamonn Mallon. Andrew Morozov is helps me with the mathematical side of the project.
What year of your PhD are you in?
3rd out of 4
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
I’m funded for 3.5 years by the NERC CENTA doctoral training partnership.
Do you have any publications – if so where?
Yes, two from my Master’s, one on parasitoid wasps in Oecologia (doi: 10.1007/s00442-014-3098-0) and my first author paper on differences in response to temperature change in a trematode parasite (Journal of Parasitology, doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.07.002). We also wrote a review paper at the start of my PhD that is published in Integrative and Comparative Biology (doi: 10.1093/icb/icw025). I’ve got two other manuscripts submitted, once published they will be available on my website HERE.
Did you do a masters - was it about?
I did a research Master’s at the University of Amsterdam in Ecology and Evolution. This allowed me to do two proper research projects (~7 months each) at different universities. I think this was a great opportunity as I got to travel, and try out different research fields as well as work with a range of different researchers. On top of that I managed to get two publications out of it which must have helped when I was applying for my PhD.
Do you do fieldwork? What is the best fieldwork you have ever done and what made it great?
For my PhD I only do limited fieldwork. I take a dip net and a coolbox on my bike and cycle to the local park to collect sticklebacks. Not very exotic but still fun.
The best fieldwork I have done was during a summer school at the Saint Petersburg State University, we spent 3 weeks at the White Sea to learn to identify marine invertebrates, but also saw beluga whales.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I was lucky enough to get the first PhD I applied for. When I was applying my main interest was in host-parasite interactions. When looking for PhD’s, my ideal PhD position would be on how environmental change can affect host-parasite interactions and would on top of experimental work also have a mathematical approach, as I really wanted to learn mathematical modelling for ecology. This PhD has all of those things, so I am pretty pleased.
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
I have made my own incubators out of polystyrene boxes, aquarium heaters and Arduino’s. But of course I wouldn’t say they are bodged (they have been working for the last 2 years almost continuously). (Rishi: 2 years!? I think this definitely qualifies as more of a ‘hack’ than a ‘bodge’)
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Visit the lab and talk to current (or better past) PhD students and ask them what the supervisor is like and how much time they are likely to have to supervise you. I have heard too many stories of supervisors that turned out to not be nice people or not have time for their students.
(For the record, I like my supervisors.)
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
Temperature effects on host-parasite interactions.
What hours do you typically work?
I try to start at 8am to do an hour of writing and then work till 6pm. Unfortunately I also have to come in on the weekend sometimes to look after my animals or run experiments. But I try to minimize this.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
One of my favourite things to do is gardening. I am not very good at it as most of my plants die or get eaten by insects and snails. But as I like just looking at the insects I don’t mind. I also like to have a hot chocolate and read a book (anything non-fiction). I also like baking and watching (old) films.
What would be your dream job?
Doing independent ecology research and not having to worry about getting funding (one can dream right?). I wouldn’t mind doing some teaching, but I wouldn’t want to spend more than 20% of my time on this.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Again in a perfect world, I would have a fellowship to do research on species interactions trying to understand what shapes interactions between species.
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
Move to a place where I can do scuba diving more regularly. So ideally live somewhere near to the coast.
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
R (the statistical package)
Do you have a favourite organism?
My interest is mainly in species interactions, especially host-parasites. So no, all parasites are cool.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
I try to allocate slots of time for work and for procrastinating, the latter could be anything from looking up science things I don’t need to know but like to know to having very long coffee breaks with colleagues.
How often do you meet with your supervisors?
This is variable. I have two main supervisors and I try to meet them both at least once a month, but I also see my third supervisor in lab meetings every other week. I don’t think the frequency of supervisory meetings matters much, I think it is more important to make sure to meet your supervisor when you need their advice and that you keep them up-to-date with your project (supervisors are much more likely to be engaged if you feed them with your progress, good or bad).
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience e.g. social seminars/group meetings?
Since the early stages of my PhD I have been attending PubhD here in Leicester, which I now help run. We also have a ‘cake group’ in the department. So once a week we meet up and eat cake and take turns in baking it. This is a nice way to meet new people.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
Revert the move away from biological sciences towards medical sciences.
What major issue in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
I am not giving away my grant ideas yet ;)
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