Saturday 8 September 2007

The most Famous recent Doctor in astrophysics

As I have said before, I was visiting quite often my former University last month.
On one of such visits, I was entering College from the main entrance (a tarted-up Mechanical Engineering building, now partially used as a Business School) when I suddenly saw him.
Huh? What on Earth is Brian May doing in Imperial College?
On his own, chatting away on his mobile phone...Giving his distraction, I snapped a picture with my mobile phone camera -it turned out I was a bit too far away.

By now it should be no news to you, but the guitarist of the successful band Queen has finally -after more than 30 years!- obtained his PhD in astrophysics.
That day, August the 3rd, was submission day.
In fact a couple of days later, I also saw the door-stopper of a thesis he wrote. I bumped into one of the examiners at the Common Room of another University of London College, as he was brandishing it.

I am glad he was allowed to complete his PhD even after the 5-year deadline (under current regulations you only have 5 years to complete and submit your doctoral work) . I wonder whether the fact that he is rich and famous helped, or whether it is just the sheer luck that he enrolled back in the seventies, when such a rule didn't existed.
As I write these lines, one of my friends is sweating away in London frantically trying to finish writing up her thesis. I hope it'll be alright.

I just want her to know, that in the end, it seems, the PhD thesis doesn't account for much.
In fact most of the Drs. I know try to disown their poor thesis.

3 comments:

Pilar Nieto said...

My dear K!!!

thanks God ur back!!! and thanks again for ur carpe diem!!! I'll do my best in order to get myself in London doesn't matter if i'll do that one time in my life! as i wrote... even a week taking english lessons!!!

By the way... in La Mengambrea, Cesar told us about May and his new acomplished goal in his life!!! Congrats greñudo!!!

I missed u...! Please write more often!!!

Kisses

Pily

Pilar Nieto said...

by the way!!! Te quedó retebonito el blog!!!

jajaja

Zereth said...

Nunca es tarde, como bien lo ha demostrado May, jeje coincido, probablemente la regla de los 5 años como límite para la tesis, ni siquiera existía en los 70's!.

Mm lástima de foto, jeje me habría gustado verla.

Suerte para tu amiga, la palabra tesis no me trae gratos recuerdos, para mí lo más tedioso fue sentarme un fin de semana y terminar el trámite burocrático... el aporte a la investigación pasó a un último plano. Aunque mentiría si dijera que no sirvió, en mi trabajo se les iluminaron los ojos cuando les comenté mi tesis, esperaban a alguien que tuviera conocimientos (incipientes) sobre el tema.. y me encontraron!.

Besosososos