Author Archives: Athene Donald

It’s Time to Resist the Pressure

As part of my university’s preparation for the transition to open access, there is a project being run out of the University Library to look at how academics approach publishing. (Fellow OT blogger Stephen Curry has written much on the topic … Continue reading

Posted in Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Saying What You Mean to Say

Some years ago I came across a psychology paper which suggested that letters of reference are subtly (or even not-so-subtly) gendered. I had never thought about it before, but it made me think much harder about the adjectives and roles … Continue reading

Posted in Equality, Science Culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Building the Evidence

Evidence-based policy has become something of a catch phrase recently. My own MP, the scientist and my former departmental colleague Julian Huppert, used the phrase in his maiden speech, pledging  to support it, albeit other MPs may be less persuaded … Continue reading

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Leadership Strategies for Dealing with Jerks

My last post about jerks in academia struck a chord with many but also raised questions – jerks abound, yes, but what should we do about them? What can we do to ‘out’ them and so to attempt to ameliorate … Continue reading

Posted in Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Time to Eradicate the Academic Jerk?

There have been several articles/blogposts recently pointing out that scientists are just like everyone else. For instance, they have emotions (see this Observer article from last week detailing the ups and downs of research life); and they get stressed, as … Continue reading

Posted in Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments