Kudos to Prof. Wip7 for his excellent research contributions across the globe. He is a great man of high repute! Please permit me to show you just one thing among others he has achieved:

A Nigerian Professor Research Publication Earned Highest Impact Factor in Cyprus and Turkey

For the first time in entire Turkey and Cyprus, Assoc. Prof. Akeem OLADIPO, academician of Cyprus Science University, published an industrial focused SCI RESEARCH paper in the Applied Catalysis B: Environmental Journal with an impact factor of 11.7. The 7 months research work focused on the elimination of toxic pollutants from environmental and industrial processes using novel magnetic nanocatalyst which demonstrated relatively higher efficiency than the expensive commercial products.
Please find details below.

Research title: Magnetic LDH-based CoO–NiFe2O4 catalyst with enhanced performance and recyclability for efficient decolourization of Azo dye via Fenton-like reactions
Research objectives: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Akeem Oladipo’s research combines advanced nanotechnology fabrication with material science and environmental engineering to produce novel magnetic nanocatalyst. The research team are particularly interested in developing cost-efficient nanocatalyst with enhanced performance for capturing toxic pollutants from industrial effluents and carcinogenic environmental wastes. The fabricated magnetic nanocatalyst demonstrated high efficiency (99.5%) under sunlight to destroy organic pollutants from textile wastewater, industrial fumes, textile wastes and automobile exhausts.

Research timeline: The research was completed via 7 months’ lab research, 2 months’ field work and 1-month efficiency testing in Cyprus, Canada, Germany and Netherland laboratories.
Research collaboration: The research is academic based with industrial focus. The laboratory fabrication of magnetic nanocatalyst was completed by Dr. Oladipo at the Cyprus Science University (CSU) Chemistry Laboratory and his PhD student (Ayodeji Ifebajo) at the Lab of Assoc. Prof Mustafa Gazi of Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). Material analyses and characterization were completed at the Carla Catalysis Research Laboratory (Germany) in cooperation with BASF German chemical company.

The outcome of the research: The magnetic nanocatalyst produced is practically useful for various commercial industries as a catalyst for the degradation of pollutants, as electronic materials for energy storage and corrosion inhibition.

Research Publication: Published in the Applied Catalysis B: Environmental Journal, an SCI topmost engineering and catalysis Journal ranked 1/50 with an impact factor of 11.69 which is the first in Turkey and Cyprus.

Source: https://www.csu.edu.tr/en/2019/04/08/prof-oladipo-published-an-sci-topmost-engineering-and-catalysis-journal/

He deserves to be celebrated.

emmahoney:
Kudos to Prof. Wip7 for his excellent research contributions across the globe. He is a great man of high repute! Please permit me to show you just one thing among others he has achieved:
He deserves to be celebrated.

Thanks sir/ma!

Latest publication: Conversion of discarded Chewing Gum into Efficient Magnetic Recyclable Adsorbent for Treatment of Pharmaceutical Wastes


Research: Until now, no studies reported the application of discarded chewing gum derived pyrochar for detoxification of trichlorophenol wastewater. Chewing gum is composed of a non-digestible polymer and the discarded chewing gum (DCG) is a notorious environmental waste which is difficult to deal with. In fact, the DCG is a major and increasingly growing social and environmental issue due to its high stickiness and longer years to biodegrade. We collected 50 kg of discarded chewing gum and pyrolyzed it into efficient material, the efficiency of the final product outperformed variously reported adsorbents in water and wastewater treatment.

Pollutants treated: Wastewaters from hospitals, pharmaceuticals, agricultural run-offs.

Publication: The results of our research is recently published in the Chemical Engineering Communication Journals.

The technique used: Fixed-column bi-layer adsorption system designed for a small scale treatment plant.

Researcher: A female PhD student supervised by Prof. WIP/WIP7.

wip7:


Thanks sir/ma!

You are welcome boss. I wanna be like you when I grow up Sir.

Hello @Prof Wip7
I have a Bachelor's degree in Education Economics, Msc in Development Economics.
I'd love to start my PhD in Economics by fall next year, hopefully with a fully funded scholarship.
I've chosen a research topic of interest "understanding career progression and promotion: a systematic review of actual career paths". But I don't really know how to start...
Note, I don't have any publication yet.
Any advice on the way forward will really be appreciated

is it possible to get foreign schorlaship for an mphil/PhD grade in Masters?..if yes can you give examples of schools overseas that can do that

cc:Wip7

thanks

Beenkay:
Hello @Prof Wip7
I have a Bachelor's degree in Education Economics, Msc in Development Economics.
I'd love to start my PhD in Economics by fall next year, hopefully with a fully funded scholarship.
I've chosen a research topic of interest "understanding career progression and promotion: a systematic review of actual career paths". But I don't really know how to start...
Note, I don't have any publication yet.
Any advice on the way forward will really be appreciated

Am happy to see you are progressing. However, before starting your project and learning how to publish or undertake a research, let talk about your proposed research.

The title of your research up there, has no direct connections with economics....does it ? Can you explain how it’s related to Economics? If not can you change it to research areas that reflects more towards Econs?

Also, don’t localized/nationalized (100%) your research area. Make the research topics have a balanced view (meaning should be applicable in local context, internationally useful, applicable to emerging and developed nations). This way you can easily publish your findings and can be useful to policy makers, researchers and students worldwide.

When you are done selecting newer research topics let me know so as to guide on how to start your literature and so on.

babyfaceafrica:
is it possible to get foreign schorlaship for an mphil/PhD grade in Masters?..if yes can you give examples of schools overseas that can do that

cc:Wip7

thanks

Yes it is possible to get scholarships abroad. You will need to do google search for University that offers scholarship abroad.

Most foreign university does that and they do have selection criteria. Read many page back on this thread you will see have explained possible ways to get scholarships.

Google will be very useful, researchgate, university websites, UNESCO website, THE website etc will be where you should be looking at.

Best wishes in your searches!

wip7:


Yes it is possible to get scholarships abroad. You will need to do google search for University that offers scholarship abroad.

Most foreign university does that and they do have selection criteria. Read many page back on this thread you will see have explained possible ways to get scholarships.

Google will be very useful, researchgate, university websites, UNESCO website, THE website etc will be where you should be looking at.

Best wishes in your searches!

many thanks Prof

wip7:


Oily wastewaters are heterogeneous in nature, thus containing various types of oils, metals, surfactants from detergents, metals etc......The content/composition and concentration of oily wastewaters varies greatly between various industries. Therefore, to design effective treatment technology for oily wastewater, there are few points/parameters to be considered.

1. Type of treatment technology
2. Type/content of oily wastewater
3. The salinity of the oily wastewater
4. What will you use the treated water for will determine the degree of the treatment.
5. Weather system (is it iced water oil spill or ambient temperature (non-frozen) water)
6. Size of the oil droplets

In practical application, combine treatment technology will be effective for enhanced oil spill cleaning. The common effective combination is based on membrane filtration and adsorption technology. You have indicated the use of adsorption technology and your focus is on polymeric adsorbent (chitosan).

Chitosan has gained tremendous success when it comes to wastewater treatment due to its bio-friendly nature and modifiable functional groups. Commonly, we have oil droplets in the range of 10-50 μm which is suitable to be treated by adsorption technique, however, 50-150 μm will be suited for membrane filtration (majorly Forward osmosis) and beyond 150 μm will be suited for advanced oxidation processes.

In recent years, hybrid materials/adsorbents have received much interest owing to high adsorption efficiency, high surface area and strong affinity. You can modify the chitosan with functional agents to make it hydrophilic, considering the hydrophobic property of oil droplet. Hence, you may prepare grafted or modified chitosan considering the following, to modify or graft the chitosan:

1. dimethyl acryloyloxyethyl benzyl ammonium chloride
2. Silica
3. Polyacrylamide
4. Alginate
5. Catalytic metal oxides (CuO, Fe2O4, ZnO)
6. Zeolite (this is commonly used in oil industries)
7. layered double hydroxides composites (LDH)

My suggestion: Prepare LDH and modify chitosan with the LDH. Read about LDH and check the efficiency and properties. LDH/Chitosan adsorbent or membrane can be prepared and used in both the fixed-bed column treatment system or via batch adsorption. If you want to use in batch system, you can prepare LDH/chitosan beads which are easy to prepare.

Here is an example of modified chitosan with alginate for oily wastewater treatment.

Find here my work published on LDH:

Environmental Chemistry Letters 17 (2019), 487-494
Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 243 (2019) 243-252

Find here my work published on chitosan:

Chemical Engineering Research and Design 121 (2017) 329-338
Reactive and Functional Polymers 109 (2016) 23–32
Chemical Engineering Research and Design 112 (2016), 274-288

Best wishes

thank you sir for your response, really appreciate it sir. Have gone through some of published work on adsorption and I have really gained alot going through them. Searching through the internet for all your published work on adsorption. Thanks again for your time.

14 Phd scholarship positions in German university

The scholarship is available from 2020 for those interested to carry out Research in Chemistry, Physics and Biology

https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de

wip7:


Am happy to see you are progressing. However, before starting your project and learning how to publish or undertake a research, let talk about your proposed research.

The title of your research up there, has no direct connections with economics....does it ? Can you explain how it’s related to Economics? If not can you change it to research areas that reflects more towards Econs?

Also, don’t localized/nationalized (100%) your research area. Make the research topics have a balanced view (meaning should be applicable in local context, internationally useful, applicable to emerging and developed nations). This way you can easily publish your findings and can be useful to policy makers, researchers and students worldwide.

When you are done selecting newer research topics let me know so as to guide on how to start your literature and so on.

Thanks Prof.
The topic can be classified under Behavioral Economics, but as you pointed out I'd get back to you on topics that reflects more towards Economics.
Once again, I'm grateful

Beenkay:


Thanks Prof.
The topic can be classified under Behavioral Economics, but as you pointed out I'd get back to you on topics that reflects more towards Economics.
Once again, I'm grateful

Thank you for pointing out that your research area is under behavioral economics (microeconomics). If your major area of focus is microeconomics, would you mind considering environmental Econ or developmental Econs or energy Econ?

Developmental Econ: currently many developing countries have issues and trying to emerg/diversify. I believe Research in this area will be very useful in various emerging markets like Africa, many Asian countries and numbers of European countries even Caribbean countries.

Environmental and energy Econs: without stable energy or conducive environment (all environmental factors) it will be challenging for any economic growth. Various research reports have pointed that this affects both developed and developing nations. I believe Research in this area can play a vital role.

That’s just my personal views, does not mean they are right. You are very free to decide which research area you find interesting and useful to your personal life and community.

Fully funded Phd positions in Austria


FINANCIAL SUPPORT

All PhD students are fully funded, at internationally competitive salary levels, and receive full social security coverage.

There is also financial support for students for attending scientific conferences and workshops. For more information, visit the university website.

https://phd.ist.ac.at/phd-program-overview/

Here are the courses having openings for funding:

PHD scholarship in Norway for Economics


PhD Programme Openings at NHH Norwegian School of Economics – Economics

The annual salary for the PhD Research Scholar position is set according to the Norwegian State Salary, which currently is NOK 479 000 (equivalent to approximately EUR 47 500 or USD 52 300). The salary ensures a fair standard of living in Norway and is subject to Norwegian taxes and benefits, including public health care benefits and pension savings.

Note: Females are particularly encouraged to apply.

Visit : NHH Norwegian School of Economics !

alakaloko:
B.Sc Ed: Political Science Education 2:1 EKSU

M.Ed: Educational Administration and Planning (NOUN)

Phd: Educational Planning EKSU (Prospective)

Ph.D Educational Management
Started: 2016
Completed: October, 2019


Research focus: Education Laws and Teacher's professionalism in Nigeria..

Thanks for the encouragement from this thread.

alakaloko:


Ph.D Educational Management
Started: 2016
Completed: October, 2019


Research focus: Education Laws and Teacher's professionalism in Nigeria..

Thanks for the encouragement from this thread.

Wow, you completed your PhD in a Nigerian university in 3 years.

Congratulations.

Anfieldboss:


Wow, you completed your PhD in a Nigerian university in 3 years.

Congratulations.

Thanks..
It's unconventional especially when the preceding degree was not obtained from the same university. However, the narrations are changing for those who get their research focus right early and are undistracted by some other factors.

Anfieldboss:


Wow, you completed your PhD in a Nigerian university in 3 years.

Congratulations.

Lolz... IF you have a very good and nice supervisor.. It is very feasible!!.. That is why I always advise research students know your supervisor before you start work o...

I am beginning to write my academic masters thesis and will plead if someone can send me a sample copy of completed scientific thesis. I am not trying to copy or plagiarize the work but rather looking for a format to start drafting my own thesis literature.

@wip7

Nice thread

goodmanEU:
I am beginning to write my academic masters thesis and will plead if someone can send me a sample copy of completed scientific thesis. I am not trying to copy or plagiarize the work but rather looking for a format to start drafting my own thesis literature.

@wip7

Why don't you try your department. You can get a ton of theses submitted by past students

.

goodmanEU:
I am beginning to write my academic masters thesis and will plead if someone can send me a sample copy of completed scientific thesis. I am not trying to copy or plagiarize the work but rather looking for a format to start drafting my own thesis literature.

@wip7

Thesis format varies based on university and country even though the elements in all theses have semblance.

Consult your university library or department secretary or dean office for thesis format/sample based on your university format.

Best wishes

Hello, everyone
Just stumbled on this thread. I'm a masters student(Tech Management), I'm concluding my programme though. I have in mind to start my phd immediately after in the same course. Truth is I plan on leaving the country after my phd, my question...is this a right plan? Are our phd degree recognized abroad(US and Canada specifically)?

Kind responses,please


@wip7

alan056:
Hello, everyone
Just stumbled on this thread. I'm a masters student(Tech Management), I'm concluding my programme though. I have in mind to start my phd immediately after in the same course. Truth is I plan on leaving the country after my phd, my question...is this a right plan? Are our phd degree recognized abroad(US and Canada specifically)?

Kind responses,please


@wip7

my question...is this a right plan? Are our phd degree recognized abroad(US and Canada specifically?


Is this a right plan....... Yes, as long as you have the financial capability and acadsmical requirements... It is a very good plan


Are our degrees recognized abroad... Yes.... Just make sure apart from the certificats, you have good and well recognize papers on international journals.



Above all, if you have the means to study abroad, please leave, you are opened to new ideas and inventions.. Better job prospects and better life sustainability. This country kills talents

babyfaceafrica:


my question...is this a right plan? Are our phd degree recognized abroad(US and Canada specifically?


Is this a right plan....... Yes, as long as you have the financial capability and acadsmical requirements... It is a very good plan


Are our degrees recognized abroad... Yes.... Just make sure apart from the certificats, you have good and well recognize papers on international journals.



Above all, if you have the means to study abroad, please leave, you are opened to new ideas and inventions.. Better job prospects and better life sustainability. This country kills talents

Thank you for your response. Much appreciated
You have any ideas the cost of running a phd programme in North America? Are there opportunities to work and study as well??

Greetings to progressive minds especially prof wip7. After quite long time, I’m now onboard.
I think about modifying organic compound from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. E.g furfural is hydrophilic how do we make it hydrophobic. I wish to hear your candid contribution. Thanks

bilal4riid:
Greetings to progressive minds especially prof wip7. After quite long time, I’m now onboard.
I think about modifying organic compound from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. E.g furfural is hydrophilic how do we make it hydrophobic. I wish to hear your candid contribution. Thanks

When you are Converting material from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, you must first think of reason for this conversion, it’s application and the end product, so as not to damage the raw material.

1. You can convert using plasma treatment technique, especially atmospheric pressure based plasma.

2. Organosilane: You can use silanes with aliphatic or fluorinated hydrocarbon sub-
stituents to induce surface hydrophobicity. Example: poly[(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)methylsiloxane] (PTFPMS)

PhD positions in Political Science in Amsterdam.

https://www.uva.nl/en/content/vacancies/2019/11/19-811-phd-candidate-in-political-science-with-a-focus-on-nigeria.html?1577083002037

Good evening @prof wip7.

I am writing a research proposal on the topic: REMOVAL OF PETROLEUM SPILL IN WATER USING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MODIFIED CHITOSAN BEADS.

I saw a research work in which chitosan was grafted with polyethyleneimine and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to improve its adsorption capacity and mechanical strength. It was then used to remove Amaranth Red dye as a model pollutant, from an aqueous solution.
I am thinking of following this research path. But here are my worries:
1. I am just a Masters student. Do you think the project work would be"too big" to embark on?

2. The adsorption study technique used in the research was kinetic adsorption experiment to determine equilibrium time and adsorption isotherm experiment using a spectrophotometer. I have seen other studies where Fourier transform IR spectroscopy was used. My technique is supposed to be "low-cost". Are these procedures not expensive? Can you recommend cheaper ones?

3. I am really interested in oil spill cleanup. Can you recommend a better low-cost and environmentally friendly method?

I am just a newly admitted MSc student, yet to start my course work. My supervisor told me he'll like to know my area of interest. I really want to do something reasonable in my MSc project. I look forward to hearing from you prof.

...and compliments of the season!

doggedemmy:
Good evening @prof wip7.
I am writing a research proposal on the topic: REMOVAL OF PETROLEUM SPILL IN WATER USING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MODIFIED CHITOSAN BEADS.

Good idea. You can do that and switch the topic/title to SYNTHESIS OF ECO-FRIENDLY CHITOSAN-BASED HYDROPHOBIC SPONGE FOR TREATMENT OF OILY WATER

First, to design any material for whatsoever application you must have very good knowledge of the intended use. For instance, you need to do more literature and extensive reading on the characteristic of oily wastewater, composition and characterization. Oily wastewater could mean restaurant oily wastewater, produced oily wastewater, soya-bean oil, maybe lubricants, heavy hydrocarbons such as grease, crude oils, and diesel oils, and also light hydrocarbons such as gasoline, jet fuel and kerosene.

At a master level, you can just test for soya-bean oil, diesel oil on an individual basis and also as a mixture. This level will help you understand some of the mechanisms and what can be improved and many other things.

I saw a research work in which chitosan was grafted with polyethyleneimine and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to improve its adsorption capacity and mechanical strength. It was then used to remove Amaranth Red dye as a model pollutant, from an aqueous solution.

As I mentioned above, each adsorbate (pollutant) must be understood first before designing an adsorbent (material to remove them). Dye chemistry is different from oil chemistry. Oils are non-polar in nature while the molecules making up the dye are most likely polar containing chromophore and auxochrome. So, since oils are non-polar then you will need to tailor your adsorbent to be hydrophobic in nature so as to retain the oil and allow it to be separated from the water.

So; you can use chitosan or wood (cellulose) shavings as the based material and look for any material that will make the chitosan/wood (cellulose) hydrophobic. However, the presence of reactive hydroxyl and amino groups along the chitosan chain offers the possibility for chemical modifications and production of highly hydrophobic derivatives. Also, instead of preparing beads is better to prepare sponge or aerogel.

Aerogels are porous ultralight materials obtained from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel was replaced with a gas, resulting in a solid with extremely low density. This will be more practical for oil remediation.

I am thinking of following this research path. But here are my worries:
1. I am just a Masters student. Do you think the project work would be"too big" to embark on?

No, you can finish it within just 2-12 months depending on the availability of raw materials and equipment for analysis/characterization.

2. The adsorption study technique used in the research was kinetic adsorption experiment to determine equilibrium time and adsorption isotherm experiment using a spectrophotometer. I have seen other studies where Fourier transform IR spectroscopy was used. My technique is supposed to be "low-cost". Are these procedures not expensive? Can you recommend cheaper ones?

All you stated here are very mixed-up and wrong. Please first download sets of papers on sciencedirect.com to read about adsorption technology. In a brief explanation:

Name of treatment technique you want to use is called Adsorption, it has either batch or fixed-bed column as types of adsorption. Adsorption contains adsorbent (the material that will remove the oil) and adsorbate (the oil or pollutant).

1. So the first step is to synthesize the adsorbent since you already know your adsorbate.

2. After the adsorbent is fabricated/synthesized/manufactured: The character of the adsorbent must be checked to ensure it fits the target application. So you will need to characterize the adsorbent using various techniques such as FTIR (Fourier transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy, to check presence of functional groups on the adsorbent, SEM (to check the morphology of the adsorbent), BET (to check the surface area/porosity of the adsorbent), TGA (To check the thermal stability), XRD/EDX (to check the crystallinity/elemental component) etc. After you are satisfied then, you perform adsorption technique using either the batch or fixed-bed system.

3. During adsorption, there are various factors that affect adsorption efficiencies such as treatment time or contact time of adsorbent with adsorbate, pH of the adsorbate, concentration of adsorbate, dosage of adsorbent, treatment temperature, presence of competing species in the solution etc, So a researcher or manufacturer must check each of these effects to help them design effective and high-performance adsorbent tailored for the treatment of the target pollutant.

4. To understand the mechanism on how the adsorbent removes the pollutant and also to modify its performance, you will need to study the removal kinetics (time and rate of pollutant removal, their various models used to do this), isotherm (how concentration changes affect the adsorbent performance, meaning can it remove heavy crude or light crude (changes in concentration), various models to be used) and Thermodynamics (how temperature changes during the treatment affect the adsorption capacity). All these will help you understand the removal mechanism and formulate possible pathway with which the adsorbent remove the oil.

5. Then, reuse cycle of the adsorbent: this will help you understand how long your adsorbent can last and its efficiency and performance and costing.

3. I am really interested in oil spill cleanup. Can you recommend a better low-cost and environmentally friendly method?

Adsorption is low cost and fine for your level. When you understand it well and see the performance of your material/technology you can move to more advanced treatment tech.

I am just a newly admitted MSc student, yet to start my course work. My supervisor told me he'll like to know my area of interest. I really want to do something reasonable in my MSc project. I look forward to hearing from you prof.
...and compliments of the season!

This a nice area of research, 6 years ago I designed a low-cost UV-vacuum-photocatalytic polymeric membrane system for treatment of 100 L of oily wastewater for 5 differents restaurants it cost roughly 150k (naira) for each set-up. This is a private project and working effectively. So when you understand the treatment tech you can ace up.

Attached here is a chitosan-based sponge for treatment of oily wastewater. Also, you can synthesize your own chitosan from shrimp shells or use commercial one and compare the efficiency.

Chitosan preparation: collect shrimp shells and demineralized overnight in an aqueous HCl solution (5%; w/v) at room temperature with the ratio of 1:14 (w/v). Then, the demineralized shells should be washed with distilled water for removing the excess of acid, then soak in a solution of NaOH (5%; w/v) for 24 h with the ratio of 1:12 (w/v). You will obtain chitin, the extracted chitin should be washed several times with distilled water to remove the excess of alkali, then left to dry at room temperature. To chitosan, the extracted chitin should be deacetylated using NaOH (50%; w/v) at 120 °C (1:50 (w/v) for 12 h. Finally, the rinse the chitosan obtain till neutrality and followed with drying at room temperature. There are various procedure to do this, this one is kind of simple and straight forward. Note that, the performance of commercially prepared chitosan may be higher but you can compare and give your work some novelty as well.


Read more on sciencedirect.com before you start anything.

Best wishes in your research.