Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Interdisciplinary Challenge

Posted on 24 February 2019 by Athene Donald

This week I am talking at an event in London marking (I believe) the launch of Nature Reviews Physics, but the emphasis of this event will be on the promotion of best working practices in ‘physics and interdisciplinary science’, as … Continue reading →

Posted in crossing boundaries, Interdisciplinary Science, nature, Research, starch | Comments Off on The Interdisciplinary Challenge

Making it up as I go along

Posted on 24 February 2019 by Erika Cule

Until recently, I dreaded public speaking. Hated it, even. No-one told me, when I set out to become a scientist, that presenting my work in front of an audience would be expected. Being scheduled to give a talk, to immediate … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy, conferences, Fun, Improv, Life, presenting | Comments Off on Making it up as I go along

2018’s Greatest Hits

Posted on 19 February 2019 by Richard Wintle

As promised, 2018’s top eleven photographs, since every year I’m blatantly unable to reduce the list to just ten. Also as promised, for once I haven’t waited for over a year to post them. Saturday night in ZhengzhouUnusually for me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hobbies, Music, nature, Photography, racing, travel | Comments Off on 2018’s Greatest Hits

Which Skills for a PhD Student?

Posted on 17 February 2019 by Athene Donald

Training of PhD students. It’s a big topic and large sums of money are involved. As I wrote in the autumn, there are concerns about the decisions that are being made. With the recent announcement of 75 new Centres for … Continue reading →

Posted in CDTs, education, Phd student training, Science Culture, UKRI | Comments Off on Which Skills for a PhD Student?

Reflecting on International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Posted on 11 February 2019 by Athene Donald

Today – February 11th – is the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day not only to celebrate those who have managed to study science and forged their careers within it, but to focus minds on … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, Excellence, Sally Davies, The Lancet, Unconscious bias, Women in science | Comments Off on Reflecting on International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Retreating on

Posted on 7 February 2019 by Nicola Spaldin

Moving on from the revelation that we are all biased in spite of our best intentions, Day 2 of our curriculum revision retreat started with the task of defining the essential lab skills that every graduating materials scientist should have … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Materials Science | Comments Off on Retreating on

Preprints and science news

Posted on 4 February 2019 by Frank Norman

I’ve written before about preprints and science news. That blogpost was occasioned by the open letter last summer from Fiona Fox at the Science Media Centre on the subject, and the follow-up comment piece by Tom Sheldon in Nature. Mine … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, embargoes, Preprints | Comments Off on Preprints and science news

Zombies and Narratives

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Athene Donald

If you have never seen the ‘zombie Marie Curie’ xkcd cartoon I’d encourage you to take a look. In it Marie Curie says ‘I wish they’d get over me’ and enumerates a couple of other key women scientists who don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, Hedy Lamarr, Lise Meitner, Marie Curie, Women in science, xkcd | Comments Off on Zombies and Narratives