resources

maths

• Linear Algebra by Klaus Jänich: The best introductory linear algebra book I have found so far. It is very intuitive, it’s a pleasure to read, and it focuses on the intuitions instead of computations (so much so that matrices don’t come until the middle of chapter four!)
• UvA AI course - All the lectures are online and they are a very nice paced explanation for the Bishop book. I also strongly recommend checking out that one. I DO NOT recommend reading the book cover to cover, it will be quite frustrating. Instead, follow the lectures and the designated book sections.
• Hands down to Wikipedia in general - it is an OUTSTANDING resource for learning mathematics. When you find yourself with a concept that a book sucks at explaining and chat gpt is too stupid to get, you’d be surprised by how great Wikipedia community is at explaining very complex mathy stuff. If it does not immediatly clear your doubts, at least you will know what adjacent concept(s) you are missing which are probably to blame for your confusion!
• Explanation of common statistical tests as linear models: I’m not sure of how prevalent this is in general, but my college experience with statistics was awful. I didn’t really feel like I was being taught anything scientific, as most classes consisted in rote memorizing different rules and “pre-requisites” to run analyses, without a real understanding of what I was doing or why I was doing it. Fast forward to my senior year, with an increasing interest in Computational Neuroscience: it became impossible to escape from stats. I now enjoy them dearly, and online tools such as this one were great for that. It is KEY to understand statistical tests in their context, and the rationale behind each assumption! This document shows how most common statistical tests (ANOVA, t-tests, correlations) are simply special cases of linear models (or very close approximations). This tutorial on linear mixed effects analyses is a nice follow-up, in case you might need to run that kind of models.

applying to gradschool/internships/summer schools

I’m a first generation college student, which essentially means that my folks did not go to university. As a result, there’s a lot of cultural capital that I realized I simply did not have by not growing up in science. However, nowadays the internet is a fantastic resource, and I could find a lot of very useful information on how to navigate the application processes I have had to be a part of. Here are some of the internet corners that have been the most helpful for me.

• This reddit thread on resources for Statements of Purpose: This is a big list on multiple websites that people have found useful for navigating the tortuous task of writing your Statement of Purpose. The resource I have found the most useful has been[this one] (https://writeivy.com), as it includes some nice exercises and explicit questions you can ask yourself to get the gears running. Start EARLY.
• How to proofread your own material: This is a great short article on how to proofread your own work. An often overlooked characteristic of these application processes is that you will need to proofread you work. a lot. really, a lot. It’s always absolutely recommended to have someone else check it as well, but most people won’t check your work more than once, and no one is as invested as you are in the perfection of these documents. This is even more important if English is not your first language (as is my case). If the last thing is true for you as well, probably Grammarly will be helpful, but should be used with caution–as an AI based technology, it may look smart but in reality it is very stupid.

writing

Science is a collaborative task. Although I long for a world where we can do some sort of nice telepathic communication thingy so that we are exempt from having to write and stare at words so much, that is not the case yet. Until that happens, and for the sake of our peers, it is our duty to write in a clear manner. As such, if you can’t communicate your ideas clearly by writing, then you are not being a nice fellow scientist and please try to do better. My writing is still very much a work in progress, but here are some of the resources that have helped me to lift it from bad to reasonable.

• Barbara Sarnecka’s Writing Workshop: This is a very heartwarming book that Prof. Ulloa shared with me in 2022 and has stuck ever since. It has some chapters on how to practice your writing, but also has some nice things on how to navigate science and feel happier within academia (:

other people’s lists

• Gaia Molinaro’s
• Will Dorrell’s