83. Rachel Bedder: Rumination, teaching without grades, and managing yourself as a PhD student

Dec 3, 2023

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Rachel Bedder is a postdoc with Yael Niv at Princeton. In this conversation, we talk about her research on rumination and repetitive negative thinking (in the context of a partially observable Markov decision process), her work as a curator, why she enjoys teaching without grades, how to manage yourself as a PhD student, and much more.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
0:00:00: Teaching maths in prison
0:06:40: Teaching without grades
0:15:42: Working as a full-time research assistant (after BSc) and dealing with lots of rejections
0:25:51: How Rachel ended up doing a postdoc with Yael Niv
0:32:08: Discussing Rachel's conference proceedings 'Modelling Rumination as a State-Inference Process' (featuring partially observable Markov decision processes)
0:56:49: Rachel's background in art and curation
1:10:58: How to not turn hobbies into a stressful thing you need to get done
1:14:46: A book or paper more people should read
1:16:47: Something Rachel wishes she'd learnt sooner
1:19:05: Advice for PhD students/postdocs, with a twist: 5 tips for managing yourself during a PhD

Podcast links

Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Rachel's links

Website: https://geni.us/bedder-web
Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bedder-scholar
Twitter: https://geni.us/bedder-twt

Ben's links

Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links

Episodes with Matthias Stangl and Toby Wise about postdoc jobs & fellowships:
https://geni.us/bjks-wise-postdoc
https://geni.us/bjks-postdoc-stangl

Episode with Paul Smaldino on modelling social behaviour, and with Eiko Fried on theories in psychology
https://geni.us/bjks-smaldino_2
https://geni.us/bjks-fried

POMDPs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partially_observable_Markov_decision_process

Dear World Project: https://engagement.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/projects/dear-world-project/

5 tips for managing yourself during a PhD: https://www.rachelbedder.com/phdtips

Scientific virtues (including stupidity): https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/02/10/the-scientific-virtues/

Bedder, Pisupati & Niv (2023) Modelling Rumination as a State-Inference Process. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/tfjqn
Burkeman (2021). Four thousand weeks: Time management for mortals.
McCullers (1940). The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
Montague, Dolan, Friston & Dayan (2012). Computational psychiatry. Trends in cognitive sciences.