Author Archives: Athene Donald

Seminars that Bomb

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Athene Donald

It’s a strange thing how giving essentially the same talk at different venues/to different audiences can lead to such variable responses. The reasons for this are many and complex, and not always under one’s control; sometimes it is far from … Continue reading →

Posted in Interdisciplinary Science, Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Training for Professors?

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Athene Donald

Recently I was asked to describe what professors do day-by-day in 200 words. I declined; I felt it was an impossible task. Some days are spent being ground down by committees of the sort that sap all one’s energy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Education, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Innovating with Sex and Gender in Mind

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Athene Donald

If you are designing seat-belts, who do you design them for? Or if teaching aspiring doctors the symptoms of heart disease and the presentation of heart attacks, whose symptoms do you describe? Clearly the correct answer to both questions should … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Levelling the Playing Field

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Athene Donald

This article has been published in the November issue of Physics World. The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE),which has been used to measure the quality of UK research for more than 20 years, has now morphed into the equally clunky sounding … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Research, Women in Science | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

David Willetts and the Round Table

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Athene Donald

Last week, fellow OT blogger Jenny Rohn and I were among the attendees at the roundtable discussion headed up by Paul Nurse (President of the Royal Society) and David Willetts (Minister of State for Universities and Science), held at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Science Culture, Science Funding | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments