Monthly Archives: October 2016

What are science?

Posted on 29 October 2016 by rpg

Get ready to blow things up Apparently we all fucking love science, or at least we love pretty pictures, anecdotal facts, chemical explosions and slightly preachy environmentalism. However, science is none of these things.

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In which I am cloistered

Posted on 28 October 2016 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve had to do a lot of working from home these past two weeks, as our Athena SWAN submission reaches its final denouement. (Let’s pause to appreciate the image of “Athena SWAN” as a reassuringly corpulent opera singer with Viking … Continue reading →

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Open Research London – Oct 2016 meeting

Posted on 27 October 2016 by Frank Norman

I was very relieved that the Open Research London (ORL) meeting on 19 October 2016 went well. Jon Tennant, Ross Mounce and Liz Ing-Simmons established ORL in Jan 2015 but it faded away after a couple of meetings.  I’d been thinking for … Continue reading →

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Harassment Must be Challenged

Posted on 27 October 2016 by Athene Donald

In some senses I am pleased to see increasing attention being given to the topic of sexual harassment in our universities. It would be good if such attention was unnecessary, but regrettably there is no point pretending that that is … Continue reading →

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Inspiring the Future (or Not)

Posted on 21 October 2016 by Athene Donald

How can children find out about life beyond school/university now that careers’ advice has been so drastically cut back? I have been involved with the charity Inspiring the Future for a number of years since the launch of the sister … Continue reading →

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Higher Education and Research Bill – Letter to my MP

Posted on 20 October 2016 by Stephen

Science is Vital this week launched a campaign to seek amendments to the Higher Education and Research Bill 2016. The bill is a rather dry and procedural piece of legislation but hidden amongst its many sections and schedules are real … Continue reading →

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The ‘Mine’s Bigger’ School of Science

Posted on 16 October 2016 by Athene Donald

I didn’t watch the second Trump-Clinton debate, but it is clear from all I’ve read that one of the former’s tactics to attempt to disconcert Clinton was to try to intimidate her physically – by sheer bulk and position on … Continue reading →

Posted in CV, diversity, Equality, ERC, grant income, h index, promotion, Science Culture | Comments Off on The ‘Mine’s Bigger’ School of Science

Ways of Seeing

Posted on 9 October 2016 by Stephen

It is the weekend and I have been treating myself to some time with the paper. I usually buy the Saturday Guardian. Occasionally, I will also get The Observer on a Sunday but I don’t often have the time to … Continue reading →

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The Ultimate Conspiracy–the importance of being Donald

Posted on 9 October 2016 by Steve Caplan

Children–and adults–often believe that when they root or hope for a team or for an event to occur, that their wishes can influence the outcome. This irrational behavior probably underlies the fervent cheering for sports teams. And candidates in political … Continue reading →

Posted in birther, conspiracy, income tax, liar, misogynist, racism, rigged, sex lies and videotape, sexual harassment, temperament, Trump, twitter rampage, US elections | Comments Off on The Ultimate Conspiracy–the importance of being Donald

With Regret

Posted on 9 October 2016 by Athene Donald

It is always difficult to know when to say no, or enough is enough. Turning down or walking away from opportunities is a difficult thing to do, particularly when they are things you’d really like to do. But there comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Durham, Science Culture, Science Museum, Shildon, Wonderlab | Comments Off on With Regret