Category Archives: academia

The Need to Join the Dots

Last week, I attended an event organised by The Productivity Institute and, more locally, the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, as part of National Productivity Week. The meeting’s theme was Innovation and Infrastructure in the East. Note, despite the recent … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, appraisal, ASSET 2010, Athena Forum, Austrian science, book review, careers, education, Equality, Evelyn Fox Keller, Further Education, gender, growth, natural history, NEETs, Opportunity Mission, Oxford-Cambridge Corridor, People, professional training, promotion, Women's Issues | Comments Off on The Need to Join the Dots

In which I languish in limbo

You could write an entire PhD thesis about how difficult it is for academics to relax on holiday. (And whoever’s writing it would be lying on the sofa by the Christmas tree right now, fretting about how they really ought … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, Domestic bliss, The profession of science, work-life balance | Comments Off on In which I languish in limbo

Invest in Women: Venture Capitalists and Female Entrepreneurs

Back in 2019, The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship was published, spelling out just how bad the environment was for would-be female entrepreneurs. She was blunt in the opening words of her introduction “I firmly believe that the disparity … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, Alison Rose, appraisal, ASSET 2010, Athena Forum, Austrian science, book review, careers, Equality, Evelyn Fox Keller, femtech, gender, History of Science, innovation, Invest in Women Taskforce, professional training, promotion, Science Funding, Women's Issues | Comments Off on Invest in Women: Venture Capitalists and Female Entrepreneurs

In which I make the best of things

Greetings from the tail end of a typical British bank holiday, where the big highlight was gardening in the rain. In all seriousness, it was rather lovely to be out tidying up the flower beds in the fresh air, among … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, careers, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Research, staring into the abyss, The profession of science, work-life balance | 1 Comment

In which I dream

Last night I dreamt I was pipetting. It was a beautiful Gilson p200, the classic model of my formative years. The precision instrument felt reassuringly heavy and solid in my right hand. Despite its age, the movements were smooth and … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, careers, Nostalgia, Research, Scientific thinking, The ageing process, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which I dream

In which the wheel turns

Time is a wheel, speeding me along in ever quicker circuits. As individual moments rush towards me, flare into immediacy and then blur past, most are soon forgotten save for those captured as digital images, or in some dashed lines … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, careers, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, Research, The ageing process | Comments Off on In which the wheel turns

In which we land

Our migration is complete: my lab now has a new home. And for me, a new office space. Numerous studies have scrutinised the effect of environment on work productivity. Anecdotally, I know that my own focus and output are greatly … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, Nostalgia, Research, Science Funding, Scientific papers, staring into the abyss, The profession of science, work-life balance | Comments Off on In which we land

In which we migrate

After about eight years in residence at the Royal Free Hospital, my itinerant scientific journey is about to embark on its next exciting leg. In a few weeks’ time, my lab is uprooting itself and moving to a new home … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, Research, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we migrate

In which I capture the present, but forget why

I have always been a compulsive chronicler, ever since I was a small child starting off my first journal. I still write an entry nearly every day, taking a few months to fill in all the pages with my increasingly … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, art, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Music, Nostalgia, The ageing process, work-life balance, Writing | Comments Off on In which I capture the present, but forget why

In which my lab is a garden

It’s a grey afternoon, the light already fading. R. and I have just done a circuit of the back garden – ‘inspecting the troops’, we call it. The entire space is dishevelled, as it always is this time of year: … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in academia, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Research, The profession of science, work-life balance | Comments Off on In which my lab is a garden