Monthly Archives: February 2018

Nothing’s Wasted

Posted on 26 February 2018 by Athene Donald

No doubt the majority of my readers are far more familiar with TEDx talks than I am, and have watched many more than I have. They are a notion that has floated past me occasionally. I have been asked to … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, media, memory, TEDx, Whitehall | Comments Off on Nothing’s Wasted

Another school shooting–will anything change?

Posted on 24 February 2018 by Steve Caplan

It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep one’s nose to the grindstone and carry on in America of 2018 as though everything is okay. That’s because it isn’t. I have to be optimistic—and despite Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman’s wariness of … Continue reading →

Posted in assault rifle, Daniel Kahneman, empathy, Florida, gun control, guns, military, narcissist, optimist, president, school shootings | Comments Off on Another school shooting–will anything change?

Even scientists have birthdays

Posted on 24 February 2018 by Steve Caplan

What do you get for a scientist who has everything? Except, perhaps, all the grants and papers he wants….

Posted in Birthdays, grants, humor, manuscripts, peer review, Research, reviews, science, scientists | Comments Off on Even scientists have birthdays

In which I get the blues (a tale of miracle surgery)

Posted on 22 February 2018 by Jennifer Rohn

I have a good excuse for not writing for a while: eye surgery in the new year, which made reading or writing of any kind difficult. Only now am I starting to get back to my old literary self. I … Continue reading →

Posted in The ageing process | Comments Off on In which I get the blues (a tale of miracle surgery)

The Only Woman in the Room

Posted on 18 February 2018 by Athene Donald

The Only Woman in the Room, is not only an experience I have frequently endured, but is also the title of a 2015 book by Eileen Pollack (subtitled Why Science is Still a Boy’s Club). I’m not sure why this … Continue reading →

Posted in coeducation, Eileen Pollack, physics, Women in science, Yale | Comments Off on The Only Woman in the Room

Opening peer review for inspection and improvement

Posted on 12 February 2018 by Stephen

For me the most memorable event at last week’s ASAPbio-HHMI-Wellcome meeting on Peer Review, which took place at HHMI’s beautifully appointed headquarters on the outskirts of Washington DC, was losing a $100 bet to Mike Eisen. Who would have guessed he’d know … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic publishing, asapbio, hhmi, peer review, science, Wellcome Trust | Comments Off on Opening peer review for inspection and improvement

What do We Lose if We Lose Access to the ERC?

Posted on 9 February 2018 by Athene Donald

This week I was in Brussels in my capacity as a Scientific Council Member of the European Research Council. One of the roles we are all expected to fulfil from time to time is as observer of the various panels … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Brussels, Research Councils, Science Funding, Unconscious bias | Comments Off on What do We Lose if We Lose Access to the ERC?

One Hundred Years

Posted on 6 February 2018 by Athene Donald

Today we celebrate the Suffragettes’ victory 100 years ago: votes for (some) women. A timely moment to reflect on the state of play in terms of equality. More than seven years ago I wrote the post below about the Equal … Continue reading →

Posted in Dagenham, equal pay, Equality, Mary Beard, Suffragettes | Comments Off on One Hundred Years

One Year In

Posted on 5 February 2018 by Nicola Spaldin

It’s hard to believe that it is now more-or-less a year since our kick-off workshop to launch our curriculum revision project. Right on schedule, we celebrated the occasion with our planned second all-lecturer workshop, this time with the goal of … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Materials Science | Comments Off on One Year In