Category Archives: Academia

In which I dream

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

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In which the wheel turns

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

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In which we land

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

Posted in Academia, Nostalgia, Research, science funding, Scientific papers, Staring into the abyss, The profession of science, Work/life balance | 1 Comment

In which we migrate

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

Posted in Academia, Research, The profession of science | 2 Comments

In which I capture the present, but forget why

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

Posted in Academia, Art, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Music, Nostalgia, The ageing process, Work/life balance, Writing | 3 Comments

In which my lab is a garden

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

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 →

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In which we fall

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

Fireworks crackle in the darkness: yesterday’s Bonfire Night stretching to fill the entire weekend. The torrential rains have given way to an almost full moon, glowing cold-silver in the eastern sky. November is always a positive month, with the cosiness … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, Research, Staring into the abyss, Students, Teaching, The profession of science, Work/life balance | 2 Comments

In which pandemic storm clouds gather – again

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

A number of months have slipped past since I last wrote here, two seasons under the bridge as my ramped-up academic life has consumed most of my free time. Then, it was the height of optimistic summer; now, the year … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Epidemics, Teaching, The profession of science, Work/life balance | 1 Comment

In which academic dreams come true: a belated professorship

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

I have wanted to be a scientist since before I can remember. I did all the right things: I studied hard, finished my homework, raised my hand in class, failed to hide the fact that I loved learning, even though … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Careers, Nostalgia, Research, Staring into the abyss, The ageing process, The profession of science, Women in science | 5 Comments

In which summers shrink

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

Academics talk nostalgically about rosy-tinted times of yore when summers meant a lull in lecturing duties. The months would unfold before you, a vast landscape of research possibilities. It was a time to write papers, craft grants, catch up with … Continue reading →

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