Profile
Michel Destrade
My CV
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Education:
Schools and University in France, and then UCD in Ireland
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Qualifications:
Masters, PhD
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Work History:
In Dublin, Texas, Paris, and Galway
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Current Job:
Chair of Applied Mathematics
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The best thing about my job:
The contact with my fellow scientists and with students, and the intense satisfaction of solving a maths equation, in research as well as when teaching. I still get a kick out of it, and I can’t believe it’s my actual job.My Main Tasks:
My main task is to write scientific articles for international journals. It’s a long process! I have to come up with an original idea, test it in theory, then test it with computers and experiments. If the idea is original and confirmed by the experiments, I write it as an article which I then submit to a journal who will send it for (anonymous) review to other scientists. If they find it of worthy scientific value, it is then published. It can take years from beginning to end! I also have other scientific responsibilities such as being an editor for several scientific journals, writing grant proposals and administrating the successful ones, mentoring final year Undergraduate students, summer interns, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, going to conferences to present my work and discover that of others, etc. Beside doing proper science, I also deal with email, paperwork, preparing and delivering lectures, writing and grading exams, visiting schools and taking part in outreach activities such as this one, or FameLab, or Bright Club where I had to develop a stand-up comedy routine (look it up on YouTube)!
What I Like:
Coming up with new scientific ideas all the time. Staying focused for hours, days, months and sometimes years on a problem. Learning and understanding new results and new techniques. Writing the results in a clear manner, that will be understood by the readers. Lecturing to large classes. Facing the general public in outreach activities.
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There are two types of days: those with lecturing and those without. In NUI Galway there are two semesters of 12 weeks for lecturing, and during those I teach and do research (and some paperwork) while during the remaining 28 weeks, I’m a full-time scientist. Most of the time it’s just me and my paper/computer, calculating and writing. Not so exciting to look at! I’d say I spend 80% of my time at my computer, trying to discover new things or coming up with new ideas. I also collaborate with others (scientists in Ireland and abroad, and my PhD students) and we write scientific articles.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Committed, Curious, Creative
What did you want to be after you left school?
Physics teacher
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Only once
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Daft Punk
What's your favourite food?
Champagne
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To have more wishes
Tell us a joke.
Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and says “Five beers please!”
What don't you like about your current job?
The administrative part: having to go to meetings, sitting on committees, taking the minutes, writing reports, compiling data, that sort of things. But it has to be done!
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