Stanford...

The reason for the lack of recent updates to the blog is obvious: I just started a new postdoc and am scrambling to get my new projects underway! Don't worry, this busyness is a good thing as it indicates that I'm finally doing something I'm actually interested in studying. I'm sure that I'll have more to say about my research (and what it's like to switch to a new research organism for the third time now) in a future post, but for now I figured that I'd blog a bit about my three weeks of experience working at Stanford.

Leland Stanford Junior University is 'widely considered' to be one of the top research universities in the world (or at least America according to a public Gallup poll where Stanford came second only to Harvard). I can only guess as to how such things are measured, but as far as my new department, Biology, goes, it certainly harbors many well-known and respected researchers.

Now if such a judgement was based on the number and/or density of obvious displays of wealth demonstrated by a university, then I could totally see Stanford being up there. Working around this place is honestly a bit surreal:

 The Stanford campus is absolutely gorgeous, with palm tree lined streets and walkways, fountains at most of the major intersections and meeting places, and beautiful adobe wall and terracotta roof buildings. I've said it multiple times to the agreement of fellow Easterners who have also come here - it's kind of like working on a resort every single day. The only downside, as has been pointed out by Stanford alumni, is that you're pretty much guaranteed to move on to somewhere less attractive, creating a nebulous, 'suckier' future.

Harvard, Stanford, Yale... We just don't have these types of expensive, private universities in Canada. Excluding everything but tuition (room and board, books, etc.), the average yearly cost of an undergraduate degree at Stanford is $38,700 USD1. Thus, it is perhaps not surprising that signs of 'money' are kind-of everywhere here.

I don't want to come off like a yokel or anything, and it's not like I grew up in a poor family, but it's somewhat mind-boggling to me to compare my undergraduate experience with what I can imagine is that of many students here. To give you an idea, I lived in residence at Dalhousie University with my meals covered, and had $20 in 'spending money' per week! Thankfully, most of my peers were in a very similar boat, so I didn't feel excluded (nor did I graduate with crippling, unreasonable student loans).

Stanford is apparently somewhat known for how large and spread-out its campus is. For instance, it's roughly a mile walk from where the commuter train drops you off at the entrace to campus, to the actual location of buildings and residences. So many, many people bike to get around (there are also frequent, free commuter shuttles). Unfortunately, a lot of undergrads cycle rather unsafely - too quickly, or on busy pedestrian sidewalks. That last point actually irks me a lot because almost all of the roads have bike lanes, and many of them are CLOSED TO VEHICLE TRAFFIC. Get off of the sidewalk!2

Scientifically, the facilities are great and the atmosphere of collaboration and comraderie appears to be quite excellent as well. That also extends beyond Stanford itself as UC Berkley, UCSF, UC Santa Cruz, and other universities are also rather close by here in the Bay Area, so there's always opportunity for meetings of minds and such.

This is Stanford's Hoover Tower, named after former president Herbert Hoover, who actually attended Stanford during its opening year (1891). The structure 'towers' above the rest of campus, and provides a much needed reference point for people unfamiliar with the lay of the land. 

Here's a photo of my building, Herrin Labs. This is the front, but on the opposite side of the building, there's a beach volley-ball court surrounded by palm trees (the actual view from our lab).

At this point, Stanford definitely looks like a nice place to work. I've taken a few more photos around campus, so if anyone's interested in taking a look at them, I've put them into a Picasa Web Album: Stanford Campus (Oct 2011). No matter how the research goes, at least I'll be able to say that I enjoy where I work! (Pardon the dark humor, I'm actually quite psyched about the research and have a really good feeling that it's gonna turn out great!)

1Of course, because the university can afford to be so selective about applicants, many students come here with scholarships and at least partial funding.

2As an avid cyclist myself, I find seeing other people being careless about their biking infuriating. Not only is it generally very dangerous, it also creates a bad reputation for cyclists in general. I've only been here a short time, but I've seen some of the most ridiculous biking faux-pas: People crossing perpendicularly through traffic without the right of way at full speed, and even some idiot who was biking on a busy pedestrian sidewalk while texting. The sidewalk thing really drives me absolutely mental.