Markdown is a conversion process that takes simple text docuemnts and configuration files and turns them into a full static website directory. Github Pages can automatically generate a simple website based on Jekyll’s markdown language. Let’s look at a simple mapping of the default directories used by Jekyll, to get an idea of how markdown can make for an easy-to-update website.
Looking for a research advisor in graduate school is scary. You probably don’t know the professors very well yet, and you might not even know what they like to do. They have whole research lives at this point, and understanding what they have done and what they are currenly working on requires reading articles and making a list of professors that might be doing the kind of research you are interested in. There are so many reasons to continue to procrastinate–but here’s some advice: just start talking.
Be prepared to be disappointed. Some of the most successful professors I have met told me that they did not get into many of the grad schools they applied to. Personally, I did not get into any of the PhD programs I applied to the first time around. However, if you’re smart about it, and understand a little about how academia works, then you can downgrade your stress from unbearable to just above annoying.