Monthly Archives: September 2017

Corruption is contagious: just ask the former US Health and Human Services Secretary

Posted on 30 September 2017 by Steve Caplan

This week, as Caribbean Islands including Puerto Rico are struggling from the horrific effects of Hurricane Maria, as running water and electricity have all but disappeared, and as the first rumors of possible cholera have emerged from the rubble, America’s … Continue reading →

Posted in chartered jets, CRISPR/Cas9, Dan Diamond, Doudna, funding, grants, NIH, private jets, Rachana Pradhan, Research, science, Tom Price, Trump, waste, Zhang | Comments Off on Corruption is contagious: just ask the former US Health and Human Services Secretary

On taking a knee

Posted on 30 September 2017 by Sylvia McLain

When I was a teenager the 1980’s there was a spate of burning the Stars and Stripes in the US, as a protest to Ronald Reagan’s policies. Which particular policy is hard to remember as Ronnie had a whole heap … Continue reading →

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Equality, Chattels and Judgement

Posted on 26 September 2017 by Athene Donald

‘What was called spirit and wit in him, was cruelly repressed in me’. It is interesting to try to date this quote from a female character in a novel, because the sentiment (if not the phrasing) could still be written … Continue reading →

Posted in Cordelia Fine, Equality, Mary Wollstonecraft, student satisfaction surveys, The Female Lead, Women in science | Comments Off on Equality, Chattels and Judgement

Does science need to be saved? A response to Sarewitz.

Posted on 25 September 2017 by Stephen

I wrote this piece a few months ago at the invitation of The New Atlantis. It was supposed to be one of a collection of responses to a polemical essay that they published last year on the parlous state of … Continue reading →

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Freshers’ Fears

Posted on 22 September 2017 by Athene Donald

Freshers are pouring in to their new universities, finding their way around strange cities, unfamiliar halls of residence, learning the vocabulary of their new alma mater, drinking endless amounts of coffee/tea/beer/wine/shots as they attempt to work out who will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Churchill College, education, Impostor syndrome, Music | Comments Off on Freshers’ Fears

Diversity skips African Americans in science

Posted on 22 September 2017 by Steve Caplan

On a recent grant review panel, I was struck at the degree of diversity among the reviewers  at the table; with roughly twenty scientists in the group, I noted people who who hailed from at least nine different countries (not … Continue reading →

Posted in affirmative action, African American, diversity, education, grant review, minorities, panels, Research, science | Comments Off on Diversity skips African Americans in science

Parliamentary Debacle?

Posted on 17 September 2017 by Athene Donald

This past week I have learned some things about our Parliamentary democracy I have never previously known I needed to know. I also got decidedly cross. It started with a tweet, a tweet from the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee … Continue reading →

Posted in Jo Johnson, Science and Technology Select Committee, Science Funding, Vicky Ford, Women in science | Comments Off on Parliamentary Debacle?

Marital High Jinks and Academia

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Athene Donald

I am quite sure I have never previously had occasion to write the name Wayne Rooney in any situation, but he does seem relevant to the topic of gendered sentences. Hadley Freeman wrote a withering piece last week about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, feisty, Hadley Freeman, letters of reference, Science Culture, Wayne Rooney | Comments Off on Marital High Jinks and Academia

On Louise Richardson and the avoidance of homophobic teaching

Posted on 9 September 2017 by Sylvia McLain

Oxford Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson is causing quite a stir this week. For one, she gets paid a lot of money – which is not as much as footballers or bankers and less than her peers in the US. Prof. Richardson’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Homophobia, Louise Richardson, Oxford University | Comments Off on On Louise Richardson and the avoidance of homophobic teaching

The Summer is Over

Posted on 8 September 2017 by Athene Donald

I have recently returned (so yes, I feel the summer is over) from a few days holiday in places far less flat than Cambridge which provided enough time to sink into the unusual bliss of uninterrupted reading. So, rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Jan Henrik Schön, migraine, Robert McCrum, Science Culture, William Armstrong | Comments Off on The Summer is Over