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Author Archives: Athene Donald
For the Last Time
For the Last Time I have written in the past about the challenges of doing something for the first time. For early career researchers, this could be anything from giving a conference presentation to travelling to another lab to learn … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in careers, challenges, Churchill College, committees
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Getting Feedback
Academics do not necessarily get regular or even useful ‘performance reviews’, call them what you will. Businesses typically take this a lot more seriously, but a recent report highlights the many problems that can arise even with the best of … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in appraisal, careers, emotional, minorities, Science Culture, stereotype threat
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Does Working from Home make you more Productive?
Does working from home (and hybrid working) improve productivity or the opposite? Two recent reports have come to slightly different conclusions, and I suspect this is not surprising because the answer almost certainly is ‘it depends’. Clearly if you are … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in careers, Equality, hybrid, job satifsfaction, mentoring, retention
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More Than A-Levels
Last week saw the annual media interest in A-Level results (at least in England). Commentators noticed, for instance, the substantial increase in STEM subjects, with over 100,000 students taking Maths. This figure was remarkable as it was the first time … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in BTECs, careers, education, funding, productivity, T Levels
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In Transition
Readers may think I’ve given up on my blog, but the reality is more prosaic: as my ten-year stint as Master of Churchill College comes to an end (at the end of September), I have been moving out of the … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Churchill College, moving house, writing blogs
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Not Knowing Where You Are Going
One of the initiatives I started when I became Master of Churchill College was a series of public conversations with eminent women, many – but by no means all – academics. To start with I was quite nervous: would I … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in A levels, careers, Churchill College, education, Fens, Science 2040, Science Culture, Sharon Peacock
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Stupid Chemists (perhaps)
I’ve recently returned from my annual visit to the High Polymer Research Group Conference, held at the picturesquely named village of Pott Shrigley at the Western edge of the Peak District. This is a conference about which I have written … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in careers, data, Pott Shrigley, Research, robots, Science Culture
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Moving On from a Victorian Ideal
I’ve recently been reading How the Victorians took us to the Moon by Iwan Rhys Morus. It’s an interesting book, but what particularly struck me was the Epilogue, which has reflections on how the Victorian way of doing science in … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Amanda Solloway, incentives, lone genius, Research, reward, Science Culture
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