The year in review

Some thoughts to end 2021:

1. The scientific impacts of covid have become more noticeable to me. Last year many theorists used the lockdowns to finish their ongoing projects. This year, the increased isolation and lack of in-person discussions has stymied creativity and new ideas. Last year in Singapore (and Korea) we were able to come to the office all the time without much disruption, the main limitation being that seminars were held online. This year we've had to work from home for about 4 months. The impact of this is worse for newer graduate students - for them this is the sad normal. I appreciate the in-person discussions since returning to the office last week.

2. Despite optimistic claims by conference organisers, in-person international conferences still seem to be a long way off. The killer is the need for pre-departure covid testing and with it the prospect of having your trip extended or delayed by weeks. Domestic conferences will need to fill the gap in the interim.

3. I applied for some grants but was not successful. This might be a blessing in disguise; with the covid restrictions it's hard to bring new hires into Singapore, and apart from conference travel research expenses for theorists are minimal. However, the lack of job security that comes with ongoing grants is a bummer. One big issue for senior postdocs in Singapore is that more permanent positions require a track record of successful grants, while to apply for most grants here you need a permanent position...

4. Science-wise, this year I've learnt a lot about (quantum) machine learning, quantum computing on the cloud, topological (Jackiw-Rossi) defect modes, applications of topological data analysis to physics (review article coming!), and classical shadows of quantum states. I have quite a few works in progress which will hopefully come to fruition next year.

5. Delegation is still a challenge, but I am slowly improving. Apologies to all my collaborators whose projects I've held up.

6. I started blogging. Writing posts was hard at first but has become a lot easier as the year progressed. Thanks to everyone who keeps reading and I hope the material is useful in some way. Comments on posts are always welcome.

Happy 2022!