Author Archives: Athene Donald

Feeling Feverish

Posted on 13 April 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 7 April 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 1 April 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 28 March 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 23 March 2013 by Athene Donald

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)

Posted on 19 March 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 14 March 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Posted on 10 March 2013 by Athene Donald

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

Building the Evidence

Posted on 3 March 2013 by Athene Donald

Evidence-based policy has become something of a catch phrase recently. My own MP, the scientist and my former departmental colleague Julian Huppert, used the phrase in his maiden speech, pledging  to support it, albeit other MPs may be less persuaded … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Mark Henderson, Mark Walport, randomised controlled trials, wellcome | Comments Off on Building the Evidence

Leadership Strategies for Dealing with Jerks

Posted on 25 February 2013 by Athene Donald

My last post about jerks in academia struck a chord with many but also raised questions – jerks abound, yes, but what should we do about them? What can we do to ‘out’ them and so to attempt to ameliorate … Continue reading →

Posted in administration, Athena Swan, head of department, promotion, Research, Science Culture | Comments Off on Leadership Strategies for Dealing with Jerks