Author Archives: Athene Donald

Parliamentary Debacle?

This past week I have learned some things about our Parliamentary democracy I have never previously known I needed to know. I also got decidedly cross. It started with a tweet, a tweet from the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee … Continue reading

Posted in Science Funding, Women in Science | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Marital High Jinks and Academia

I am quite sure I have never previously had occasion to write the name Wayne Rooney in any situation, but he does seem relevant to the topic of gendered sentences. Hadley Freeman wrote a withering piece last week about how … Continue reading

Posted in Equality, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Summer is Over

I have recently returned (so yes, I feel the summer is over) from a few days holiday in places far less flat than Cambridge which provided enough time to sink into the unusual bliss of uninterrupted reading. So, rather than … Continue reading

Posted in biography, Book Review, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Admissions in Balance

Last October when I sat at the undergraduate Matriculation Dinner and looked across Churchill College’s large Hall, I was dismayed to see that the proportion of Freshers was very far from a 50:50 mix of men and women. I am … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Equality | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

References from the Past

It is a standard part of our job and our responsibilities to write letters of reference for students and postdocs, past and present. But I sometimes get very frustrated by those who ask me to write a letter of support … Continue reading

Posted in Science Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment