Monthly Archives: June 2017

BAMEed: the voices of the people

At the beginning of June I attended the first BAMEed conference. It was an unexpectedly memorable and inspiring occasion. Final panel discussion at #BAMEed2017 Though billed as an “unconference” – the sort of self-disorganising gathering popular among millennials of which old … Continue reading

Posted in Teaching | Comments Off on BAMEed: the voices of the people

Eternal Questions

My first tentative toe-dip into the Blogosphere turned out to be less scary than I imagined: No abusive messages or trolls, a little bit of enthusiasm via Twitter, email and the “Responses” section on the blog, and even an encouraging … Continue reading

Comments Off on Eternal Questions

In which I hire

A colleague I respect very highly once likened academic careers to a rocket launch: once you hit escape velocity, you’re safely in orbit. Problem is, achieving this state as a post-doc or untenured faculty is becoming increasingly difficult. Hundreds of … Continue reading

Posted in academia, careers, Recruitment, Research, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which I hire

The Challenge of Taking Time Out

I have been marking exams. However much students may and do hate taking the exams themselves, marking is also a very stressful period for those of us who have to do it. We wish to do it with the utmost … Continue reading

Posted in exams, grieving, Pressure, Science Culture | Comments Off on The Challenge of Taking Time Out

The Chinese Hoax that affects the globe

Something wicked this way comes (R. Bradbury) Our Dear Leader took to Twitter, his favorite media form, some years ago (and one would presume that it is his favorite because reading or writing more than 140 characters may be beyond … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, hail, lightning, Nebraska, president, rain, science, severe weather, thunder, Trump, weather | Comments Off on The Chinese Hoax that affects the globe

The Patronising Colleague

Patronising and mansplaining are both irredeemably etymologically male. I cannot think of female equivalents. That isn’t to say that women can never be patronising or indulge in mansplaining, but I suspect the frequency with which they go in for such … Continue reading

Posted in frustration, mansplaining, Science Culture, sponsorship, Women in science | Comments Off on The Patronising Colleague

The Patronising Colleague

Patronising and mansplaining are both irredeemably etymologically male. I cannot think of female equivalents. That isn’t to say that women can never be patronising or indulge in mansplaining, but I suspect the frequency with which they go in for such … Continue reading

Posted in frustration, mansplaining, Science Culture, sponsorship, Women in science | Comments Off on The Patronising Colleague

The Materials Scientist in 2030, Who is She?

Whenever I ask one of my Physics Department colleagues what it means to be a Physicist, while she might not be able to give me a straightforward answer, she usually has a very clear picture in her head of who … Continue reading

Posted in education, Materials Science | Comments Off on The Materials Scientist in 2030, Who is She?

Get a Life

I should have known better. At the Hay Festival last week, as my last post alluded to, I mentioned the gendering of toys. This point was one of many I tried to put across during my talk on why the … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, Hay Festival, lego, Let Toys be Toys, Women in science | Comments Off on Get a Life

Blog June

Apparently BlogJune is a thing. I’d not heard of it before – it’s a challenge to blog every day in June – or as often as you can manage, or comment on someone else’s blog every day The first part … Continue reading

Posted in blogjune, Blogology | Comments Off on Blog June