Author Archives: Athene Donald

The Need to Join the Dots

Last week, I attended an event organised by The Productivity Institute and, more locally, the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, as part of National Productivity Week. The meeting’s theme was Innovation and Infrastructure in the East. Note, despite the recent … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, appraisal, ASSET 2010, Athena Forum, Austrian science, Book Review, Careers, Education, Equality, Evelyn Fox Keller, gender, natural history, People, professional training, promotion, Women's Issues | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Need to Join the Dots

How Much Does the Scientific Ecosystem Change over Time?

Desmond Bernal was an outstanding crystallographer. Not himself a Nobel Prize winner, he set the likes of Dorothy Hodgkin and Max Perutz on their own successful paths to that accolade. A Communist, he fell from grace during the 50’s and … Continue reading

Posted in deficit model, Interdisciplinary Science, Londa Schiebinger, macho, Project Implicit, Science Culture, Science Funding, social media, Unconscious bias, Universities | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Unreactive Audiences and Pertinent Questions

Given that it is now a decade or more since I was particularly involved in research, if I am asked to give a seminar – usually to students, sometimes undergraduates, sometimes and more commonly PhD students and early career research … Continue reading

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We Haven’t Had Enough of Experts

When I talk to student groups, as I still do quite often, I talk as much as what else one can do with a science/Physics degree beyond the obvious, as about the research I used to do (quite a long … Continue reading

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Praise and Possibility

Anyone who watched the final of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing will have heard words like ‘resilient’, ‘belief’ and ‘self-confidence’ thrown in the direction of the four finalists by the judges, with all contestants having been on a ‘journey’. It got … Continue reading

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