In my final year at university, I was told, ‘You’ve had your subsidised
fun at university. Now it is time to have a haircut and dress properly.’
But, having worked in several commercial environments during my degree,
I was under no misapprehensions about how important unimportant things were
there. A suit, time-keeping, subservience are all watchwords – but never
ask why these things seem to override enthusiasm, talent, commitment.

I like asking why, and happily this is the essential qualification for
a PhD. So off I went on my intellectual adventure. And what a research
environment. You present your ideas to your peers and stand unarmed – without
snappy suit, expense account or membership of the club. You sink or swim
on the merits of your work alone. This is not a description of a backwater;
it is the last bastion of true adventure.

Mark Miodownik University of Oxford