About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn
Too many jobs, not enough quiet: In which I am spread too thin
To be in academia is to multitask. As a principal investigator in a big university, it is becoming increasingly apparent that investigation is not my principal role. Yes, I run a lab (which is in turn defined by multitasks: supervising … Continue reading
In which I get angry (again): Science, as vital as ever
Hopefully most of you have heard about the upcoming campaign that we at Science is Vital are frantically working on. The background can be found in our recent Guardian piece, and the fine details are on our website. But for … Continue reading
Posted in science funding, Science is Vital
4 Comments
In which I lose my way
An autumn breeze flutters the paperwork on my desk: a credit card bill; a daily report from my son’s nursery (complete with meals, sleep times and nappy composition); a manuscript I’m proofing for a colleague – all held down by … Continue reading
In which I avoid the topic
I have been downtrodden this week, struggling to stay afloat in this erratic and stormy sea we call academic science. I suspect there is a post in there waiting to get out, but I am too blue (and overworked) to … Continue reading
Posted in Careers, Silliness, Staring into the abyss
1 Comment
In which we respect the tough love: editing your writing is an art
Everyone’s a critic. But how good are people at taking their own medicine? Any why should writers strive to embrace and even welcome constructive criticism? I got to thinking about all this last night at Fiction Lab, our monthly science … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Writing
3 Comments
In which we make do: live from the cash-freeze lab
The government loves to tell us scientists how good we are at doing ‘more with less’. Over at the Guardian, I’ve posted yesterday about how the UK’s core research budget is again under threat, with the possibility of up to … Continue reading
Posted in science funding, The profession of science
8 Comments
In which nature imitates science – number 327
Sometimes when you look at something from a different angle, you see something you’d never otherwise have noticed. We’ve been trying to grow melons in the greenhouse, without much success: hundreds of female flowers have unfurled, but only a handful … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Gardening, Scientific thinking, Silliness
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In which we recommend a classic lab lit novel in honor of the Pluto flyby
The big day is finally arrived: in just a few hours, we are about to get our closest look yet at Pluto. Call it what you will – planet, dwarf planet, even the last word in that classic American solar … Continue reading
In which we kill the messenger: is Twitter dystopian?
In the past week there has been a lot of talk about sexism in science. I don’t want to rehash any of the arguments (though you can hear some of my views on Radio 4 and in the Telegraph). One … Continue reading
Posted in The profession of science, Women in science
16 Comments
In which you can take the girl out of the lab…
I suppose most scientists have the problem of taking their work home with them. And by this I don’t mean the stacks of papers you need to read, or the manuscript you’re writing, or the grant application you’re still cobbling … Continue reading
