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.
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- rpg on In which we struggle: mental health in higher education
- Jennifer Rohn on In which no scientist is an island – but that’s what we signed up for
- Henry Gee on In which no scientist is an island – but that’s what we signed up for
- Brigitte on In which sadness serves a purpose
- rpg on In which we tell a story: on metaphors in science and life
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Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn
In which I marvel at a serious swag #fail
Who doesn’t love a good conference swag bag? Yes, I know it’s frequently full of useless tat destined to go straight into the hotel bin. But what jolts the adrenalin as you paw through the bulging canvas sack in your … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
19 Comments
In which I tire of the old paradigms
Successful moments in scientific research are famously rare, and people deal with them in various personal ways. Many treat a promising experimental with suspicion bordering on paranoia, refusing to believe what is right before their eyes because an experiment couldn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific method, The profession of science
Tagged Kuhn, Popper, The scientific method
53 Comments
In which I space out
London is beautiful at Christmas, especially when we get proper winter weather. In this lame-duck week in the run up to the 25th, many people in the metropolis have downed tools and taken off work early for the holidays – … Continue reading
Posted in Careers, Staring into the abyss
11 Comments
In which I am outwitted by swag
A good scientific meeting will often lead to more questions than it answers. And sure enough, I’ve recently returned from the American Society for Cell Biology with a mystery object that has evaded all powers of comprehension. In the spirit … Continue reading
In which I question my own sell-by date
The scientific profession is inherently broken. I’ve blogged in the past about the glut of increasingly desperate post-docs battling it out for a diminishing pool of permanent positions funded by a dwindling pot of research funding. As the culture of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged age discrimination, careers, science is broken, staring into the abyss
43 Comments
In which the next train will shortly be arriving on Platform 1
Very soon, Mind The Gap will settle into its new home here at Occam’s Typewriter. It feels good to going indie with my lovely OT colleagues – in fact, I’m all aflutter. Cue gratuitous London underground shot: (gratuitous London underground … Continue reading
Posted in Silliness
14 Comments
In which I come over all SF
Science: it’s not just a profession, but a way of life. And sometimes it’s hard to switch off the all-pervasive geeky filter through which we view the entire world. Of course, the UK press’s habit of weirdly juxtaposing nouns as … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
18 Comments
In which I correspond
In my secret heart, I have always longed to live in the Victorian era. Through the rosy-tinted glow of idealized histories (the sort that neglect to mention things like head lice), I’ve imbibed stories of poets corresponding with ornithologists about … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
23 Comments
In which I contemplate the ranks of the invisible
The word ‘feminist’ has ugly connotations, so much so that I often hesitate before pointing out gender inequities. Does it do any good to state the obvious, given that it is unlikely to rectify injustice, and indeed risks riling up, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
75 Comments
In which we experience a visitation
As a force of nature, you can’t get much more powerful than a first-year rotating graduate student: one part youthful stamina and nine parts unrelenting enthusiasm. This year in our institute I took part in a new experiment for dealing … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
10 Comments
