In The Spotlight: Sander's Research Project at CIO
Sander’s Research project at CIO
For my first research project, I have chosen an experimental one, thus involving lab work. And lots of it.
I set out to assess the influence of ozone on atmospheric sampling, given the precise measurements with flasks and AirCore (yielding atmospheric profiles). Depending on that result, we wanted to minimise the influence to maximise the measurements accuracy.
Experience in the lab
On the ground floor of the Centre of Isotope Research is the Atmospheric lab, where I have been working almost exclusively. I have been kindly awarded a desk at the ‘Master room’, where I spent only negligible time.
My personal supervision was two-fold, with loose on one hand and strict on the other. Scientifically, it was very precise though. Surrounding staff was very helpful and friendly, providing sparring opportunities (scientific), but also instruction and materials (technicians).
Autonomy was very high, as I had a project covering new ground. This meant calibrating multiple devices, discarding one and elaborate modifications on state of the art laser-based detectors. The elective course Experimental Methods in Trace Gas Research (EMTGR) was definitely relevant.
Lessons learned
I was quite proud of my results, as during the project we devised an tool to use in the future experiments. However, we found out that some data was misinterpreted! No meticulous accounting for silly effects in the setup could erase that. Support of the staff was great as above, though.
My precise logbook helped to being able to gain more from data already gathered, just by recombining it differently. For the thesis’ methods section it was nice, but especially after the mishap above it proved invaluable.
With some help of my supervisor, I do realise now, that sitting on the data directly after experimenting for a few days and writing directly in thesis format would have shortened my experimental time and provide simpler, more concise notes and preliminary conclusions.
It was noted by other staff that creating the plots’ form one wants in the end, should be completely thought out at the start of the project. This would probably have helped me most to make my project more to the point and save time.
