Series: Reflections

This book caught my attention recently in a bookstore in Amsterdam. Already the title is somehow provocative and even though I don’t identify myself with it at all, I did not hesitate a while to add this piece to my "brainy bookcase". The book promised to explain why the brain and different chemical processes within it form our personalities.

I am officially an idealist. I know it and I am not giving this up. I have heard many times "The sooner you lose the illusions about (your) life the better." And I would always shout out loud in disagreement! Yes, being an idealist sometimes fucking hurts… But it also offers infinite Joy & Love & Enthusiasm. No matter how hard you get kicked one day, you can fly the other. And that’s worth all the possible pain or disappointment!

I am currently working at the AMOLF Institute in Amsterdam. AMOLF is partly financed by FOM (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter), a Dutch organization that "promotes, co-ordinates and finances fundamental physics research in the Netherlands". As a new PhD student I took part in a course named "Taking Charge of Your PhD project", which is compulsory for all PhD-student fellows and is paid for by FOM. The following text summarizes the two-day course & my interpretation of the take home messages.

Here I am with yet another post within the topic "pharmacy and overseas". What is the foreign prestige of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Charles University in Prague? Does a graduate have a chance to find a job outside of the Czech Republic? Again, a broad topic which is being looked at from the perspective of a scientist.

The pharmaceutical section of this blog has been so far posted only in Czech. I often receive questions from people interested in studies of pharmacy and I always share my opinions on the web to make it reachable also for the other potential applicants. Recently I received a very interesting question. A full answer might easily turn into a book. Since it reached even behind the walls of the Faculty of Pharmacy, I decided to share my views also with the English using readers.