Monthly Archives: February 2012

What Next and How to Get There

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Athene Donald

Last week I visited Edinburgh University to participate in their inaugural ‘Innovative Learning Week’. Whilst many universities, though not my own, have study weeks or mid-term breaks, I haven’t come across the idea of teaching a different kind of teaching … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Lesser? Spotted? Well, that’s just the Professors

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Athene Donald

This piece first appeared in Times Higher Education on February 23rd 2012 in their Off Piste series. As a child and teenager, I spent many happy hours in cold, wet and uncomfortable conditions peering through my binoculars at small dots … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Science Culture | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Quotas, Good and Bad

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Athene Donald

I have always felt that the idea of quotas –  for increasing the number of women on FTSE100 Boards, for instance – is a bad idea because it implies women need help in order to get themselves into positions of … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Women in Science | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

On Geeks and Humanity

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Athene Donald

There has been a fair amount of self-disclosure on OT blogs in the last couple of weeks. Most recently fellow blogger Cromercrox described his painful battle with depression; over the past couple of weeks on my own blog many people … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Education | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Some Scores are More Equal than Others

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Athene Donald

Having committed to sit on an EPSRC panel for the first time in many years, I had my sights set on a post about the Shared Services Centre of the Research Councils. Clearly this is a popular topic for academics … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Culture, Science Funding | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments