Author Archives: Athene Donald

Harassment Must be Challenged

Posted on 27 October 2016 by Athene Donald

In some senses I am pleased to see increasing attention being given to the topic of sexual harassment in our universities. It would be good if such attention was unnecessary, but regrettably there is no point pretending that that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, NUS, Science Culture, UUK, Women in science, Zellick | Comments Off on Harassment Must be Challenged

Inspiring the Future (or Not)

Posted on 21 October 2016 by Athene Donald

How can children find out about life beyond school/university now that careers’ advice has been so drastically cut back? I have been involved with the charity Inspiring the Future for a number of years since the launch of the sister … Continue reading →

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The ‘Mine’s Bigger’ School of Science

Posted on 16 October 2016 by Athene Donald

I didn’t watch the second Trump-Clinton debate, but it is clear from all I’ve read that one of the former’s tactics to attempt to disconcert Clinton was to try to intimidate her physically – by sheer bulk and position on … Continue reading →

Posted in CV, diversity, Equality, ERC, grant income, h index, promotion, Science Culture | Comments Off on The ‘Mine’s Bigger’ School of Science

With Regret

Posted on 9 October 2016 by Athene Donald

It is always difficult to know when to say no, or enough is enough. Turning down or walking away from opportunities is a difficult thing to do, particularly when they are things you’d really like to do. But there comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Durham, Science Culture, Science Museum, Shildon, Wonderlab | Comments Off on With Regret

Warts and All

Posted on 2 October 2016 by Athene Donald

Are role models useful? What should they look like (metaphorically rather than literally; I’m not channelling dizzy blond here)? And how should they describe themselves? A recent article entitled ‘Successful women do not always make the best role models’ in … Continue reading →

Posted in role model, Science Culture, Sheryl Sandberg, superwoman, Women in science | Comments Off on Warts and All

Expectations

Posted on 25 September 2016 by Athene Donald

Nature this week published its annual (and international) survey on salaries. As the article points out, many respondents use the survey as a means of venting, so the survey also provides a snapshot of (self-selecting and therefore not necessarily representative) … Continue reading →

Posted in advice, careers, early career researchers, Royal Society, Science Culture | Comments Off on Expectations

Withdrawal Symptoms

Posted on 20 September 2016 by Athene Donald

As a new PI what advice is likely to be of assistance? Eight of us old hands were recently asked by the THE to write some words of wisdom, which newly-minted PI’s may or may not have found useful. Their … Continue reading →

Posted in advice, early career researchers, mentoring, principal investigator, Research, Science Culture | Comments Off on Withdrawal Symptoms

Freeing the Brain

Posted on 17 September 2016 by Athene Donald

I’ve been away for the past week somewhere where I really could escape my email. (My previous post about whether one should read email on holiday was written with feeling!) When I go away I particularly like to go somewhere … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, holidays, River Wye | Comments Off on Freeing the Brain

Failure in Real Life

Posted on 8 September 2016 by Athene Donald

Before my university term starts, I have two dates towards the end of September to talk to young women. One of these is directed at girls of school age, the other women at PhD level, to try to encourage them … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, CV, Outreach, school children, Science Culture, Stuart Firestein | Comments Off on Failure in Real Life

Flexible Working or Never Switched Off?

Posted on 3 September 2016 by Athene Donald

A number of years ago I noticed that the secretary to the committee I was chairing was regularly sending me emails late at night. Concerned the organisation was overloading the woman so that she could only catch up by working … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, email, part-time, Pressure, Science Culture | Comments Off on Flexible Working or Never Switched Off?