Category Archives: Uncategorized

Changing the Departmental Mind-set

Another bumper batch of Athena Swan awards have just been announced: ever more universities and departments are participating. With the hint of financial consequences looming from RCUK funders for those STEM departments that don’t demonstrate commitment to improving the climate … Continue reading

Posted in Science Culture, Uncategorized, Women in Science | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Let’s Get Stereotypes out of Science Education

Women are from Venus, like making cupcakes, like bright colours – particularly pink – and need to be told at frequent intervals that ‘math is meant to be hard’. That seems to be the verdict you could cull from many … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Equality, Uncategorized, Women in Science | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Raising Expectations: Funders Get Tough(ish)

About 18 months ago, Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, unilaterally raised the bar for Medical Schools wanting to apply to future rounds of funding through the Biomedical Research Centre scheme, demanding (in essence) that they obtain an … Continue reading

Posted in Equality, Uncategorized, Women in Science | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Culture, Class and Quakers

Last week Melvyn Bragg ran a special series of In Our Time discussing the meaning of culture in both the past and present.  Because of the timing of the programme I rarely listen to it, although it’s great for listening … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Science Culture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Splattering Cream across Tradition

The Royal Institution is a venerable organisation: dating back to 1799, it is situated in an amazingly impressive building on Albemarle Street in London. This was the road that became the original one way street in order to cope with … Continue reading

Posted in Biological Physics, Communicating Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments