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Category Archives: support
In Academia, Pats on the Back are Rare
How are you doing? I don’t mean either mentally or physically, but are you keeping up with the Jones’? Are you doing as well as you should for the stage of career you’re at, and how do you know? The … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in appraisal, mentors, Science Culture, support
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Of a Retiring Nature
The end of this month marks my retirement from my professorial position at Cambridge, something that I still find rather surprising. My career on that front has just faded out, yet another victim of the pandemic; the conference planned for … Continue reading
Posted in Churchill College, retirement, Science Culture, support, Women in science
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Building Resilience Throughout a Career
How do you develop resilience? This was a question I was asked recently by a mid-career researcher. Not, please note, someone just setting out, but someone who was already well-established. This problem is ubiquitous and does not go away just … Continue reading
Posted in long hours, Research, Science Culture, support, team size, trust
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Getting Away from the Toxic Lab
The journal PLoS Computational Biology recently published an article Ten simple rules towards healthier research labs. Written by a PI it was obviously aimed largely at those who might be just setting out with their own groups, but clearly any … Continue reading
Posted in CV, group leader, mentors, Research, Science Culture, support
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Success does not preclude Humanity
Mental health on campus is frequently in the news. It is widespread, as it is within just about every other sector. If you haven’t suffered from a period of depression yourself, it is almost inevitable you know someone who has … Continue reading
Posted in depression, Meaning of Success, Science Culture, support, Women in science
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The Season of Presents
I have written before of my desire to get my hands on a Pensieve, that wonderful, fantastical creation of JK Rowling characterised as the receptacle described here: One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into the … Continue reading
Posted in Ed Kramer, mentoring, Science Culture, support
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Stand Up and Be Counted
There are times in one’s life when it is important to stand up and be counted. This is a view expressed neatly in a recent blogpost by Hilda Bastian about 7 Tips for Women at Science Conferences with her sub-heading … Continue reading
Posted in criticism, Hilda Bastian, Science Culture, support, Thesis Whisperer
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On Sponsorship and Kindness
Academia is intrinsically competitive, full of the need to win grants – which necessarily implies winning out over nameless others – gaining promotion and trying to beat others to a hot result at the expense of colleagues in the game. … Continue reading
Posted in criticism, early career researcher, Equality, Science Culture, support, Women in science
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Whose Responsbility? It’s too Easy to Say ‘Not Mine’
Despite the news being full of stories about how minorities are disadvantaged in larger or smaller ways, it is far from obvious that rapid progress is being made. The articles I read are full of appropriate shock at everything from … Continue reading
Posted in diversity, Equality, faculty, leadership, support, Women in science
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Mentors: Does Age Matter?
Over the years I have benefitted significantly from mentors. Two in particular stand out: in Cambridge Sir Sam Edwards (whom I wrote about here) and, at that critical juncture when as a postdoc I quit the world of metals that … Continue reading
Posted in Career advice, Science Culture, support
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