Monthly Archives: January 2022

Januaread

Posted on 31 January 2022 by Henry Gee

This year’s pile of books got off to a promising start, and the ones I’ve read this month will set a high standard for the year. So, here they are, in order of reading. J. R. R. Tolkien (ed. Carl … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Carl Hostetter, Christopher Tolkien, Ehsan Masood, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, God An Anatomy, J R R Tolkien, Richard Osman, The Great Invention, The Man Who Died Twice, The Nature Of Middle Earth, the silmarillion, The Thursday Night Murder Club, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Januaread

Getting the Skills Right for Successful Levelling Up

Posted on 30 January 2022 by Athene Donald

We await the Levelling Up White Paper. It is not easy to read the tealeaves of this turbulent political time to work out when the delay is likely to be terminated, although the last rumour I heard has it down … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in A levels, Core Maths, education, michael gove, qualifications, technicians | Comments Off on Getting the Skills Right for Successful Levelling Up

FAIR data in practice

Posted on 26 January 2022 by Frank Norman

Introducing the next Open Research London event, which will be about FAIR data.  It’s easy to agree that making research data FAIR is A Good Thing. Of course research data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. But is it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Research data | Comments Off on FAIR data in practice

In which I imagine a dystopian future

Posted on 23 January 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

Despite my dedication to promoting the Lab Lit genre, I’ve always been an avid science fiction fan too. I admire how a good dystopian tale can transport you into a terrifying alternative future so convincingly that when you emerge from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Science-fiction, Writing | Comments Off on In which I imagine a dystopian future

Strong Women, Wise Words

Posted on 23 January 2022 by Athene Donald

Today I read two interviews with academic leaders, strong women both working in decidedly male-dominated fields. Their experiences are salutary and their advice worth taking to heart, much of it applying regardless of gender. Firstly, and more famously at least … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in economics, luck, Minouche Shafik, Rama Govindarajan, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Strong Women, Wise Words

Unconscious Bias 2.0

Posted on 15 January 2022 by Athene Donald

‘Unconscious bias’ has become very much part of the conscious process that many organisations try to bring to bear on their decision-making, be it with regard to promotions or appointments. However, what do they mean by it and how do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in appointment committees, CV, Equality, promotion, publishing, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Unconscious Bias 2.0

Girls on film

Posted on 13 January 2022 by rpg

You will remember, in the Before Times, how Professor Robert Kelly’s interview with the BBC was photobombed by his children (and how ninja-ly his wife, Jung-a Kim, rounded them up). Even then I thought how very humanizing was this little … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in children, chime, Ill-considered rants, Office life, People, teams, webcam, you, Zoom | Comments Off on Girls on film

Opinions

Posted on 13 January 2022 by Henry Gee

Never a truer word was spoke than when Abraham Lincoln said that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. At least, I think it was Abraham Lincoln. Anyway, the same fellow who said that 95% of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in a very short history of life on earth, Books, language, Una muy breve historia de la vida en la Tierra, Writing | Comments Off on Opinions

Cynical and Irritable

Posted on 9 January 2022 by Athene Donald

‘This is not an era in which good things are taken at face value. We are cynical, irritable and tired, and if there is a bad intention to be read into anything, someone will scratch away at it until they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in committees, pandemic, resilience, Science Culture | Comments Off on Cynical and Irritable

In which I break through

Posted on 7 January 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

Sometimes the things you fear the most aren’t as bad as the fear itself. About two years ago, I gave my first media interview on what was then generally referred to as “the Wuhan coronavirus”. It was still three days … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Epidemics, media | Comments Off on In which I break through