Monthly Archives: January 2017

The president needs a civics lesson

President Trump needs a civics lesson. First I would suggest that he reads 1st amendment of the US Constitution. I know this might be hard for a president who doesn’t read but it is a short read. Alternately, he could … Continue reading

Posted in 1st amendment, Muslim Ban, Trump, Trump executive order | Comments Off on The president needs a civics lesson

Cultural Values in a Time Warp

At the start of the year I wrote about my frustrations with the slow pace of change, specifically with regard to the situation for women in science in academia but also more broadly. This week I am forcibly reminded again … Continue reading

Posted in Barbie dolls, education, Equality, gender stereotypes, self-belief, toys | Comments Off on Cultural Values in a Time Warp

Last Saturday:

  Photo taken outside the Trump building. I borrowed the sign from a lovely group of people I met at the march Up next: March for Science (the Vancouver chapter)

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the White House

Full disclosure: I am not a psychiatrist. But it doesn’t take a board certified psychiatrist to see ominous parallels between the behavior of the recently elected president of the United States and a mental illness known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder … Continue reading

Posted in crowd size, inauguration, narcissistic personality disorder, Politics, president, presidential elections, Trump, US | Comments Off on Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the White House

The ABC of panel scoring: Anchoring, Bias and Committee Procedures

Academic life is particularly full of rank ordered lists, even if they are frequently not transparently available. From undergraduate examinations to professorial promotions, from REF (and in future TEF) marks to grant-awarding panels, the scores matter. Anyone who has ever … Continue reading

Posted in committee meetings, decisions, rank-ordered lists, Research, Science Funding | Comments Off on The ABC of panel scoring: Anchoring, Bias and Committee Procedures

No escape from the geeky scientist phenotype–or is that stereotype?

Professor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., scientist from “The Simpsons.” A familiar stereotype.

Posted in doddering fools, exxon, Geek, humor, intoverts, nerd, phenotype, Research, science, scientist, spotify, stereotype, the simpsons | Comments Off on No escape from the geeky scientist phenotype–or is that stereotype?

In which we sort ourselves out

Writing space: the final frontier When you move into a new house, you unpack about 90% of your belongings in the first months. And then, of course, there’s that lingering tail that seems to get put off indefinitely. This asymptote … Continue reading

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Mentoring Matters, but for Whom?

In response to my recent post on New Year Frustrations, I received a tweet complaining that in this particular person’s university female postdocs contractually could not receive mentoring. That statement can be read in two ways: either that female postdocs … Continue reading

Posted in advice, appraisal, early career researchers, postdocs, Research, Women in science | Comments Off on Mentoring Matters, but for Whom?

Synaptic Transfer and Interdisciplinarity

I spent much of the Christmas break admiring my new granddaughter’s constantly changing and newly acquired skills as she progressed from 8 weeks old to 10; the sense of new synaptic connections being made was very strong as her hand-eye … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, david mitchell, David Rowan, Interdisciplinary Science, Unconscious bias, Virginia Valian | Comments Off on Synaptic Transfer and Interdisciplinarity

In which I bring Lego to lab meeting

Our floor recently initiated a monthly lunchtime meeting as an informal feedback conduit. Although the individual labs all work in one mammoth communal room, the research that goes on is disparate. The key to propelling your project forward might be … Continue reading

Posted in Research, Scientific thinking | Comments Off on In which I bring Lego to lab meeting