Author Archives: Athene Donald

Which Skills for a PhD Student?

Posted on 17 February 2019 by Athene Donald

Training of PhD students. It’s a big topic and large sums of money are involved. As I wrote in the autumn, there are concerns about the decisions that are being made. With the recent announcement of 75 new Centres for … Continue reading →

Posted in CDTs, education, Phd student training, Science Culture, UKRI | Comments Off on Which Skills for a PhD Student?

Reflecting on International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Posted on 11 February 2019 by Athene Donald

Today – February 11th – is the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day not only to celebrate those who have managed to study science and forged their careers within it, but to focus minds on … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, Excellence, Sally Davies, The Lancet, Unconscious bias, Women in science | Comments Off on Reflecting on International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Zombies and Narratives

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Athene Donald

If you have never seen the ‘zombie Marie Curie’ xkcd cartoon I’d encourage you to take a look. In it Marie Curie says ‘I wish they’d get over me’ and enumerates a couple of other key women scientists who don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, Hedy Lamarr, Lise Meitner, Marie Curie, Women in science, xkcd | Comments Off on Zombies and Narratives

Feeling Exhausted

Posted on 24 January 2019 by Athene Donald

This week I came across an article highlighting the accumulated evidence from multiple studies of the disadvantage women in science suffer, with specific reference to the fields of anthropology, ecology and evolution, the field the author – Kathleen Grogan – … Continue reading →

Posted in bias, bullying, leaky pipeline, MIT, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Feeling Exhausted

Creativity Mustn’t be Allowed to be Hijacked

Posted on 20 January 2019 by Athene Donald

 ‘In 2019, the “two cultures” described by CP Snow in 1959 will have finally ceased to have meaning.’ So said Russell Foster in a recent article in Wired. Russell is clearly an optimist and I fear I do not share … Continue reading →

Posted in CP Snow, Russell Foster, science communication, Science Culture | Comments Off on Creativity Mustn’t be Allowed to be Hijacked

Facing up to the Existence of the Jerk

Posted on 13 January 2019 by Athene Donald

As stories of harassment and bullying multiply in the media (social and otherwise), it is worth thinking about what it is in management and leadership that lets situations get out of hand. Too often I hear the phrase that someone … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, bullying, gagging orders, leadership, speaking up | Comments Off on Facing up to the Existence of the Jerk

Pyramid Schemes and the Book Cover Challenge

Posted on 6 January 2019 by Athene Donald

As a child I occasionally got sucked into a strange pyramid form of exchanging postcards, an old-fashioned form of chain mail (but not of the metal variety). The details escape me but the basic idea was that you contacted half … Continue reading →

Posted in Jane Austen, JE Gordon, Materials Science, Richard Jones | Comments Off on Pyramid Schemes and the Book Cover Challenge

A Bad Week to be in Brussels

Posted on 16 December 2018 by Athene Donald

Historians of the future will no doubt make much of the UK’s political ramifications of the moment. This week has seen a particularly strange spectacle as the Tory party tears itself apart and the Labour party seems unable to sort … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, ERC, ERC Scientific Council, Science Funding | Comments Off on A Bad Week to be in Brussels

Loading the Women – or Not?

Posted on 9 December 2018 by Athene Donald

The question of what should the composition of any team ‘look’ like remains one I feel uncertain about. Whereas a list of a dozen invited speakers who are all males smacks of bias or incompetence rather than a true reflection … Continue reading →

Posted in gender balance, manels, Science Culture, Stephen Curry, Women in science | Comments Off on Loading the Women – or Not?

Being Resilient

Posted on 2 December 2018 by Athene Donald

Have a setback, bounce back. That is what all the self-help books would proclaim loud and clear. It applies as much in science as anywhere else, perhaps more so since the setback need not be in one’s career or personal … Continue reading →

Posted in Breakthrough Prize, Impostor syndrome, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Being Resilient