During this past spring quarter, Peter Mage stepped onto a stage in front of a packed theater and presented a 3-minute research talk about the use of new technologies to detect and treat diseases. This event was the Grad Slam Finals, a new UCSB competition for the best 3-minute research talk. After all nine Grad Slam finalists presented, the winners were announced and Peter stepped forward to claim first place and a $2,500 research prize.
Peter just finished his second year as a doctoral student in the Materials department. He has a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics. He jokingly shared that he hopes to graduate in the next three to ten years. Read on to learn more about Peter's groundbreaking research and his experiences as a graduate student.
Tell us a little about your research and how you came to choose the topic
My research in the Soh Lab is aimed at developing new ways of detecting and treating disease. Specifically, I work on designing, building, and deploying small devices that can rapidly sense drugs and disease markers in clinical samples like blood. The goal of this work is to create technologies that give us a window into the biology of our bodies in real-time, so that we can make medical treatments smarter and more effective. I actually wasn’t planning to get involved in medical research when I was applying to grad school, but when the opportunity arose to join a research group and apply my background in physics to biological questions, I decided to go for it. I’m glad I did!
Credit: Patricia MarroquinWhat was it like to participate in the Grad Slam? What did you learn from the experience?
The Grad Slam was simultaneously one of the most fun and one of the most stressful things I’ve been involved in since coming to UCSB. I love public speaking, especially when it involves the chance to explain my research to a broad audience in a fun and high-energy format. Unfortunately, I also love procrastinating, which led me to pull an all-nighter before each of my Grad Slam rounds as I frantically prepared my talk. I’d say that I learned three key things from participating: (1) Do not put off preparing a talk until the night before said talk, unless you like staying up all night and being miserable; (2) Getting other people excited about your research can get you excited about your research again; and (3) Grad students in departments all across campus are doing fascinating research and can communicate that work extremely well.
What has graduate student life been like for you?
I’ve only been here for about two years, so my sense of cynicism hasn’t fully matured yet, but I’ve enjoyed myself so far. Classes and research can be stressful at times, but for the most part I have found my work interesting and have been able to maintain a (relatively) healthy work-life balance. I let myself get way too overcommitted as an undergrad, so I’m trying to use grad school as an opportunity to learn how to commit myself more fully to a smaller number of things. Other students in my department do a good job of working hard while also having fun and enjoying their lives, which has helped me gain some perspective.
What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?
Working in the biomedical field is intrinsically motivating, because the projects I’m working on have the potential to lead to real breakthroughs that can help people. There’s also something exciting about working on fundamentally new science, especially in relation to something as important and ubiquitous as medicine. Beyond that, being surrounded by people who are much smarter than I am – both fellow grad students as well as faculty and other researchers in my field – reminds me that I can constantly work harder, better, faster, and stronger. It helps that many of these people are my friends as well, which forms a valuable community where we can support and encourage each other when experiments, classes, or bosses are not going as well as we’d hoped.
Name an accomplishment you are most proud of and describe why
I’m very proud of the fact that I can now read a paper or attend a talk in my field and only be confused most of the time, as opposed to the entire time. In all seriousness, transitioning from a physics undergraduate education with no background in biology to a Ph.D. program centered around complex biomolecular research was challenging to say the least, but I now feel positioned to make a meaningful contribution to the field through my research. On a related note, winning the Grad Slam this year by talking about my research was a major accomplishment for me, and helped confirm that changing fields may have been a good idea after all.
What do you do to relax? Any hobbies, collections, pastimes, favorite places to go, favorite things to do? Along these same lines, what makes you happy?
I LOVE rock climbing and running. Santa Barbara is by far the most beautiful place I’ve lived (nothing against Ohio, but… yeah), and I enjoy pretty much any activity that lets me be out in the sun. I got addicted to climbing not too long after moving here, and it turns out that a lot of other UCSB grad students are too. If my hands/arms are too tired from climbing, running is a great way to clear my head after work. When I’m not outside, I like to cook, read or just hang out with friends. I’d say I’m happiest when I’m with my friends and/or precariously clinging to some rock up in the hills.
What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?
I really don’t know at this point, and thankfully, I have a few years yet to decide. I know that I love communicating science to a broad audience, and I think I’d enjoy the process of translating research into real-world products. So, I think I’d be happy either working in a start-up or in industry, somewhere at the interface between biomedical research and product development.
Do you have any advice for current grad students?
Take your work seriously, but also take your life seriously. We all have to work a lot, but that doesn’t mean that we should let our labs, classes, or advisors totally own our lives (disclaimer: I hope my advisor isn’t reading this). Now is the best time in our careers to make a habit of being healthy and happy.