Author Archives: Athene Donald

Strategic Developments at UKRI

The new super-research council (in UK terms) UKRI that acts as an umbrella organisation – sitting above the seven research councils plus Innovate UK and Research England – launched its Strategic Prospectus a few days ago. Not so much a … Continue reading

Posted in Horizon2020, interdisciplinarity, Interdisciplinary Science, Nurse Review, place, Science Funding | Comments Off on Strategic Developments at UKRI

How might the Athena Swan Process Emerge?

When groups of (comparative) strangers sit around a table, it is impossible to predict what will emerge in the way of new ideas. Readers of this blog will not be surprised to know that I think diversity – of background, … Continue reading

Posted in AdvanceHE, Athena Forum, diversity, Equality, letters of reference, Women in science | Comments Off on How might the Athena Swan Process Emerge?

The Meeting of the Ways

There are many reasons why people believe – as I do – that interdisciplinarity has to sit at the heart of any research agenda. It does not require that two disciplines bring cutting edge tools and ideas together to create … Continue reading

Posted in Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Eldar Shafir, Equality, Interdisciplinary Science, Policy, stereotype threat, values affirmation | Comments Off on The Meeting of the Ways

Will Biography be a Lost Art?

As a young postdoc I arrived, fairly literally penniless in the USA in October 1977. I had flown with the forerunner of today’s low-cost airlines, Freddie Laker, on his new invention of ‘standby’ fares. You turned up on the day … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, email, letters, Maggie Thatcher, New York, Science Culture, Winston Churchill | Comments Off on Will Biography be a Lost Art?

Are Women Underpaid?

The deadline is past for companies in the UK employing more than 250 employees to report their gender pay gap. The numbers are not pretty and the University sector is no different from other types of employers in manifesting an … Continue reading

Posted in equal pay, Equality, gender pay gap, Unconscious bias, Women in science | Comments Off on Are Women Underpaid?

Guilty of Rambling On

As a PhD student it is an exciting moment when you know you’re off to your first international conference. Whether or not you get to present (either orally or via a poster), there is still a thrill in just being … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Keller, conferences, Research, Science Culture, speakers | Comments Off on Guilty of Rambling On

The Potholes in Life

As regular readers of this blog will know, I rely on my bike to get me around to the myriad committee meetings I need to attend across Cambridge. It is my lifeline to get me speedily to the railway station … Continue reading

Posted in alpha male, bicycle, obstacles, opportunities, Science Culture | Comments Off on The Potholes in Life

Sold for a Mess of Potage

A couple of weeks back I undertook another trip to Europe. A trip that got extended by nearly a day due to snow which disrupted my travel plans, thereby making it impossible for me to get back to the UK … Continue reading

Posted in EMBL, ERC, Frankfurt, Janet Thornton, Research, Science Culture, Science Funding | Comments Off on Sold for a Mess of Potage

What Can I Do? Press for Progress….

What follows is a lightly edited version of the address I gave at the joint Churchill/Murray Edwards Colleges ‘Humanist Happenings’ last Sunday, in advance of International Women’s Day today. Today is International Women’s Day, with its theme of Press for … Continue reading

Posted in Amplification, Bystander, Equality, International Women's Day, Women in science, Women's Lib | Comments Off on What Can I Do? Press for Progress….

Nothing’s Wasted

No doubt the majority of my readers are far more familiar with TEDx talks than I am, and have watched many more than I have. They are a notion that has floated past me occasionally. I have been asked to … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, media, memory, TEDx, Whitehall | Comments Off on Nothing’s Wasted