Our blogs
- Adventures in Wonderland by Richard Wintle
- Athene Donald's Blog by Athene Donald
- Blogging by Candlelight by Erika Cule
- Confessions by Richard P Grant
- Deep Thoughts and Silliness by Bob O'Hara
- Mind the Gap by Jenny Rohn
- Nicola Spaldin's Blog by Nicola Spaldin
- No Comment by Steve Caplan
- Not ranting – honestly by Austin Elliott
- Reciprocal Space by Stephen Curry
- The End of the Pier Show by Henry Gee
- Trading Knowledge by Frank Norman
- The Occam's Typewriter Irregulars by Guest Bloggers
OT Cloud
- academia
- Apparitions
- book review
- Books
- Canada
- career
- careers
- Communicating Science
- communication
- Cromer
- Domestic bliss
- Domesticrox
- education
- Equality
- Gardening
- Guest posts
- humor
- Lablit
- Music
- nature
- Nostalgia
- Open Access
- personal
- Photography
- photos
- Politicrox
- Politics
- Research
- science
- Science & Politics
- Science-fiction
- Science Culture
- Science Funding
- Science Is Vital
- Scientific Life
- Silliness
- staring into the abyss
- students
- technology
- The profession of science
- travel
- Uncategorized
- Women in science
- Writing
- Writing & Reading
Author Archives: Athene Donald
Changing the Departmental Mind-set
Another bumper batch of Athena Swan awards have just been announced: ever more universities and departments are participating. With the hint of financial consequences looming from RCUK funders for those STEM departments that don’t demonstrate commitment to improving the climate … Continue reading
Posted in Athena Swan, gender equality, leadership, promotion, Science Culture, Women in science
Comments Off on Changing the Departmental Mind-set
Practice, Practice, Practice: Getting that Talk Right
As my last post noted, my mind is inclined to go for a walk during seminars if I’m not careful. Recently these wanderings provoked me to consider all the pitfalls of seminar-giving – by young and old alike. Experience doesn’t … Continue reading
Posted in public speaking, Science Culture, seminars
Comments Off on Practice, Practice, Practice: Getting that Talk Right
Feeling Feverish
Last week I was hit by some nebulous virus (I assume) that left me feverish and under the weather without actually confining me to bed. My brain turned to mush and even answering simple emails felt a challenge, a situation … Continue reading
Posted in brain, Communicating Science, creativity, migraine, Science Culture
Comments Off on Feeling Feverish
Systematic Errors of Judgement
To tie in with International Women’s Day, last month Nature ran a series of articles about the issues still facing women in science and also a podcast with Uta Frith and myself debating some of the issues. The interviewer, Charlotte … Continue reading
Posted in gender stereotypes, Matilda effect, reference letter, Science Culture, Unconscious bias, Women in science
Comments Off on Systematic Errors of Judgement
Lecturer Spotting
The Easter break, relatively short though it may be, offers me an opportunity to introduce another raft of characters from the Athenian University to join my previous lists of Dramatis Personae/ character assassinations. Here I describe variations on the theme of … Continue reading
Posted in education, lecturing, Powerpoint, Science Culture, students
Comments Off on Lecturer Spotting
Trying to Get Away from It All
I’ve been away briefly this week, to an extremely cold and windy Suffolk coast. Not the kind of break one comes back from tanned – other than with wind-burn – or with skiing fractures, but remembering there is a world … Continue reading
Posted in Charles Dickens, holidays, optimism, sand, Science Culture
Comments Off on Trying to Get Away from It All
Learning the Foreign Language of Twitter
Any time I go to Europe, as this week, I come back ashamed of my lack of linguistic skills. This time I struggled through a brief conversation in French with a Brussels taxi driver trying to talk about the impact … Continue reading
Posted in Communicating Science, foreign language, hashtag, tweet
Comments Off on Learning the Foreign Language of Twitter
Fixing the Numbers (well maybe)
This week I read that the Labour party was attempting to redress the lack of women candidates by using all-women shortlists, as women aren’t faring well in open competition to get selected as Parliamentary candidates. In Europe, meanwhile, we see … Continue reading
Posted in committees, ERC, grants, quotas, Science Funding, Women in science
Comments Off on Fixing the Numbers (well maybe)
It’s Time to Resist the Pressure
As part of my university’s preparation for the transition to open access, there is a project being run out of the University Library to look at how academics approach publishing. (Fellow OT blogger Stephen Curry has written much on the topic … Continue reading
Posted in h factor, impact factor, promotion, Research, Science Culture, scientific misconduct
Comments Off on It’s Time to Resist the Pressure
Saying What You Mean to Say
Some years ago I came across a psychology paper which suggested that letters of reference are subtly (or even not-so-subtly) gendered. I had never thought about it before, but it made me think much harder about the adjectives and roles … Continue reading
Posted in Equality, gender, job applications, reference letter, Science Culture
Comments Off on Saying What You Mean to Say
