Author Archives: Athene Donald

Impact for Women

Next week I am due to share a platform with Dave Delpy, CEO of the EPSRC amongst others, discussing the ‘Impact of Impact’. This is an event organised by a new student body, the Cambridge University Science and Policy Exchange. … Continue reading

Posted in Science Funding, Women in Science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Muddled Mess or Merely Work in Progress?

What do our surroundings say about us? If we choose to work in an office strewn with bits of paper, open files, journals and other debris, is this a testament to the fact our minds are on higher things and … Continue reading

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

Will This Look Good on my CV?

This is a question I was asked recently in the context of outreach work (I answered yes), but it applies across the board. For those climbing the academic ladder specifically, it perhaps amounts to ‘does anything other than research count?’ … Continue reading

Posted in Equality | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Viva Experience

I’ve seen a few posts around recently from anxious PhD students approaching their vivas in fear and trepidation or discussing the experience in the immediate aftermath. For instance, here is @hapsci discussing things after the event in a state of … Continue reading

Posted in Research | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Once Absence of Impact used to be the Fashionable Thing to Claim

Up and down the land, academics from Vice Chancellors down are sweating over 3 letters: REF. This dread acronym, standing for the Research Excellence Framework, must be absorbing a fantastic number of hours of time for many people and it … Continue reading

Posted in History of Science, Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment