Clipless vs Platform Pedals

[Stefan Mikes]

Coming from an academic background and with no disrespect to the student, a thesis is a student's work assessed, most likely by two reviewers (it is a Masters thesis). What counts is the publications, if any, that arise from it; where they were published and then their citation record. That provides far greater insight into the quality of the research and findings.

Disclosure: I passed my Masters by Research, but no publications followed. Yes, I passed, but was it quality work? It was a rather abstract study in an area not widely researched, and there were no statistically significant findings, so it was not publishable, so maybe not that great. My Honours, on the other hand, at least resulted in a publication. One loss, one win, I suppose.

I will, when time permits, look for any publications flowing from it.

I'm a M.Sc. Process Engineer. In Poland, a student to graduate with M.Sc. writes a thesis, which is not published but put in a record. The funny thing about my graduation was this:

I was expected to go to the Army as a conscript. If I were a graduated student, I would go to the Military Academy as a cadet. I finished typing my thesis and my wife completed the drawings for it. I left spaces for any Greek characters. In the morning on the day of beginning my military service, I took a bus to my Technical University and first approached the drawing hall. A friendly student lent me the drawing tools, so I could draw the Greek letters in. Then I took my thesis and had it xerocopied and bound. Eventually, I brought my work to my Faculty to register it. Since that moment, I was as good as if I had already graduated.

Finally, I jumped on an Intercity train to Cracow and reported at the Military Academy at 6 p.m. The next day, the Company commander (a Captain) interviewed me. He said: 'Cadet, you should be punished for arriving late. Explain yourself!' to which I answered 'Sir, the draft paper only specified the date but not the hour'. I could convincingly smile Hard to believe, I was not punished. A friend who started his service at the very same Academy 3 months later and was mimicking my actions was punished for the same. The point was, he could not smile

I defended my thesis only in November that year while on a leave from my Warsaw unit. The academic cadre encouraged me to come in the uniform (just for fun!) but I modestly wore my suit