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September 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Author Archives: Athene Donald
Alexander Borodin and the Education of Women
For those of a certain age who remember Chris Tarrant’s Who wants to be a millionaire?’, there was a moment when the contestant had reached the million dollar question which was: What was the composer Borodin’s profession? To me, that … Continue reading Continue reading
Mentors in Passing
Recently I was approached by a young woman after a talk, requesting we met so I could give her some advice. In fact, I suspect she didn’t actually want advice, so much as reassurance that what she had in mind … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in advice, careers, mentoring, sponsor
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Steamboat Ladies
The University of Cambridge has not had a very good week or two in the media. I’m not going to enter that fray given how much has already been written and I’m a long way away from the details of … Continue reading Continue reading
How did we manage before the Internet?
If you’ve read George Eliot’s Middlemarch (the Guardian’s recent choice as the best novel in the English language), you will recognize the problem Mr Casaubon faced in trying to write his magnum opus, relying on multiple books in a range … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Aspasia, Hildegard of Bingen, HJ Mozans, JA Zahm, Research, Science Culture, Women in science
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Team Working and Loneliness
Some years ago, the Science Council created a list of ten different kinds of scientists, to showcase the fact that not every scientist does the same kind of work. Ranging from technician scientist to entrepreneur scientist via the more obvious … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in collaboration, Jenny Rohn, Science Council, Science Culture, Venki
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Tackling the NEET Crisis
We hear a lot about NEET’s (those not in Education, Employment or Training); they are a major source of concern and form the focus of the recent Milburn Review. His recent, if interim report, has dug down into the characteristics … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Andy Burnham, careers, education, Milburn Review, practical work, T Levels
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A Man of the People?
In the run-up to the recent Makerfield by-election, I saw comments to the effect that Andy Burnham couldn’t be the ‘man of the people’ he claimed to be, because he had been educated at Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge. A remark … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Andy Burnham, careers, education, Fiona Hill, Manchester, Oxbridge, stereotyping
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Victims and Perpetrators
Some readers may have noticed in the media, recent (separate) reports that two Fellows of Kings College, Cambridge, have resigned/been stripped of their fellowship due to allegations of harassment and misconduct. I haven’t seen any particular details about the accusations, … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in bad behaviour, complicit, harassment, Science Culture, Women in science
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Work Experience
Alan Milburn’s interim diagnostic report, Young People and Work, looking into the causes of the substantial increase in NEETs (18-24 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training), makes sober reading. The causes are many, across multiple Government departments and … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in careers, domesticity, education, Flatford Mill, Milburn Review, NEETs, snowflake
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Science, Society and Responsibility
The Royal Society’s recent report Science for Society spells out the importance of Public Engagement around science for wider society. It is the successor to the so-called Bodmer Report of 1985, which had a profound impact across the sector, indeed … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Communicating Science, Public Engagement, Science Culture, Soapbox Science, Walter Bodmer
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