Preliminary Oral Exams for my PhD
VERY stressful! I studied for months. I was to go before six full professors who would decide if I was good enough to pursue my PhD at an American Tier 1 research university, in a world-renowned entomology department (one of the top 10 in the country).

Because my proposed project dealt with the perception of odors by insects, they wanted to know if I understood the ins and outs of nerve transmission from an odor component.

"Well," I started off, "first, along a nerve axon, you have a polarity difference between the interior and exterior of the axon. As the impulse travels down the axon, ion channels open and the change in polarity propagates the signal." For illustration, I went to the board and drew:




"The signal reaches an area called the 'buton,' which I'll enlarge at the end of the axon for clarity."




"A neurotransmitter is needed for the signal to cross the synapse. This is accomplished by the binding of a neurotransmitter vessicle to the pre-synaptic membrane. The membrane opens and the neurotransmitter molecules flow out into the synapse to be taken up by receptors in the post-synaptic membrane."




Smug, I sat back down and we discussed other things, until my major prof said: "Getting back to the giant penis on the board..."

Six full professors of a major tier 1 research university with one of the top ten entomology departments in the country required several minutes to regain their composure.

B3ta, you'da been proud!
( setimret likes his metaphors mixed, not stirred, Fri 3 Feb 2006, 17:50, Reply)