Category Archives: Research

Once Absence of Impact used to be the Fashionable Thing to Claim

Up and down the land, academics from Vice Chancellors down are sweating over 3 letters: REF. This dread acronym, standing for the Research Excellence Framework, must be absorbing a fantastic number of hours of time for many people and it … Continue reading

Posted in History of Science, Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

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

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

Classifying Group Leaders

It’s the season for lists: best photos of the year, best quotes, best-dressed (even worst-dressed) celebs, momentous moments – you name it, there’s probably a list for it somewhere on the web. Since I’ve just covered the other seasonal topic … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Research, Science Culture | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Charisma throughout a Convoluted Career

One of the joys of Christmas is having the time to reduce the number of unread books on one’s mental ‘to do’ list by a handful, although this is a good intention sometimes challenged by the gain of a few … Continue reading

Posted in Book Review, Interdisciplinary Science, Research | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Charisma throughout a Convoluted Career