{"id":569,"date":"2019-12-15T15:47:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T15:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/?p=569"},"modified":"2020-01-27T23:04:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T23:04:49","slug":"phd-sisters-shirley-cheung-and-marina-loucaides-passed-their-viva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/2019\/12\/15\/phd-sisters-shirley-cheung-and-marina-loucaides-passed-their-viva\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD Sisters Shirley C and Marina L passed their Viva"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our lovely PhDsisters &#8212; <strong>Shirley Cheung and Marina Loucaides<\/strong> passed their Viva with minor correction!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Congratulations to Dr. Cheung and Dr. Loucaides!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/SC_viva.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-573 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/SC_viva-e1576423803264-300x268.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"308\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/SC_viva-e1576423803264-300x268.jpg 300w, http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/SC_viva-e1576423803264-768x687.jpg 768w, http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/SC_viva-e1576423803264.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 308px) 100vw, 308px\" \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>For Shirley&#8217;s PhD, she explored phonemic perception in monolinguals and bilinguals using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).<\/p>\n<p>Here is what she said after her viva:<\/p>\n<p>This is a moment where I can truly say that I am so proud of myself for overcoming all of the struggles to achieve one of my biggest dreams. I taught myself computer and statistical programming, how to use fNIRS and process brain data, and tested over 200 infants and adults. I seriously worked my butt off for this and many tears have been shed!<br \/>\n\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800 \u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800\u2800<span class=\"text_exposed_show\">\u2800\u2800<br \/>\nI\u2019m very thankful that I decided to move across the world four years ago to independently pursue my interests in neuroscience. During the process I\u2019ve built lasting friendships with amazing people and established a more solid understanding of myself. I guess the main point I am trying to make here is that I want to encourage everyone to go after whatever excites and sparks their curiosities, because you might very well be pleased with where you find yourself!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>During Marina&#8217;s PhD, she investigated how children\u2019s interaction with their environment affects their word learning by using head-mounted eye trackers. <a href=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/ML_viva2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-572 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/ML_viva2-300x275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/ML_viva2-300x275.jpg 300w, http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/files\/2019\/12\/ML_viva2.jpg 455w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here is how she felt after awarded the title of &#8216;Dr&#8217;:<\/p>\n<p>Today I defended my PhD thesis in cognitive and developmental psychology and was awarded the title \u201cDr.\u201d<br \/>\nI am so proud to use this in front of my name now! In the four full years of hard work, with many tears and breakdowns in between, I tested 150 infants for my three empirical studies and did endless hours of coding and writing. <span style=\"font-size: 13px\">I am so happy that I had spent 8 years of my life and earned 3 degrees in the beautiful city of Lancaster. Lancaster, you will be missed and you will always be my second home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our lovely PhDsisters &#8212; Shirley Cheung and Marina Loucaides passed their Viva with minor correction! Congratulations to Dr. Cheung and Dr. Loucaides!\u00a0 \u00a0 For Shirley&#8217;s PhD, she explored phonemic perception in monolinguals and bilinguals using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Here is what she said after her viva: This is a moment where I can truly&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":575,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions\/575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/westermann-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}