Author Archives: Athene Donald

Level Up and Multiply

Posted on 2 December 2021 by Athene Donald

As we await the delayed Levelling Up White paper, to my mind it is encouraging that Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities) is drawing together a cabinet committee to focus on these matters, drawing membership … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in education, Levelling Up, Science Funding, UKSPF, upskilling | Comments Off on Level Up and Multiply

Did Humphry Davy suffer from Impostor Syndrome?

Posted on 25 November 2021 by Athene Donald

When I think of Humphry Davy, I think of a scientist, someone who became a star attraction during the early days of the Royal Institution and inventor of the eponymous Davy Lamp (although at the time others accused him of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Alice Jenkins, History of Science, Humphry Davy, Jan Golinski, Richard Holmes, Science Culture, Zooniverse | Comments Off on Did Humphry Davy suffer from Impostor Syndrome?

Skills, FE and Levelling Up

Posted on 17 November 2021 by Athene Donald

As we await various key Government papers – specifically the long-awaited response to the Augar Report and the Levelling Up White paper – the news is full of labour shortages. Whereas delivering some of Augar’s recommendations about funding for FE … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Augar Review, BTECs, careers, education, productivity, Science Funding, T Levels, technicians | Comments Off on Skills, FE and Levelling Up

Vaccines, Emotion and the Status of Women

Posted on 17 October 2021 by Athene Donald

I’ve been catching up with some reading this weekend: a year’s worth of (hard copy) THE issues, picked up now I’m finally able to get back into my department, and Vaxxers – sub-titled The Inside Story of the Oxford Astrazeneca … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Cath Green, Communicating Science, families, Sarah Gilbert, vaccination, Vaxxers, Women in science | Comments Off on Vaccines, Emotion and the Status of Women

The Problems of Measurement

Posted on 12 October 2021 by Athene Donald

How should we measure what is a good outcome from a university education? As David Willetts puts it in his latest report published through the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) ‘The Treasury cast their beady eye over the evidence and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in careers, education, Further Education, inequality, mobility, skills | Comments Off on The Problems of Measurement

University Traditions

Posted on 20 September 2021 by Athene Donald

This is the time of year when students are in the process of returning to their many campuses (or going for the first time as Freshers). Cambridge University term starts later than many, and as a result few students are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in admission to degrees, education, Freshers, Girton College, matriculation, Senate House | Comments Off on University Traditions

‘Pure’ versus ‘Applied’ Science

Posted on 12 September 2021 by Athene Donald

When I started this blog, more than ten years ago, I imagined I would write about physics, and specifically about physics at the interface with biology. Perhaps, I thought, I would write about exciting papers I’d read; indeed, I asked … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Physics, education, Interdisciplinary Science, James Clerk Maxwell, Mike Cates, Pietro Cicuta, Research | Comments Off on ‘Pure’ versus ‘Applied’ Science

Name-calling, Favourites and Bystanders

Posted on 5 September 2021 by Athene Donald

Name-calling of any kind is painful. My first experience of it that I recall, dates back to primary school when the other kids used to call me teacher’s pet. Probably deserved as an appellation, in so far as I undoubtedly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Equality, insult, intervention, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Name-calling, Favourites and Bystanders

Getting Universities’ People and Culture Right

Posted on 27 August 2021 by Athene Donald

Regular readers of my blog will have noticed there has been nothing to read for some time, regularly or irregularly. As for so many of us, this has been a tough year culminating, for me, in a chest infection (non-Covid) … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Amanda Solloway, BEIS, bullying, ECRs, Equality, Science Culture | Comments Off on Getting Universities’ People and Culture Right

Picture a Scientist – Who Do You See?

Posted on 26 June 2021 by Athene Donald

I am often asked who inspired me. I feel embarrassed to admit the answer is no one, it seems like the wrong answer. Certainly there was no female scientist who triggered my love of science at an early age; I … Continue reading →

Posted in discrimination, Equality, harassment, Jane Willenbring, MIT, Nancy Hopkins, Raychelle Burks, Women in science | Comments Off on Picture a Scientist – Who Do You See?