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.
Category Archives: Staring into the abyss
In which I cling on
Recently I was kindly invited by the University of Southampton’s branch of the University and College Union to give a talk about the casualization of research jobs. ‘Casualization’ refers to the state whereby workers are employed in a disposable fashion … Continue reading
In which I am not a science cheerleader
There is something seductive about the scientific profession: it exerts a gravity so powerful that it can hoover all of the surrounding universe into its warped perspective. If you have your heart set on being a scientist, you set off … Continue reading
In which I prepare to be terminated – again
The afternoons are darkening, the leaves are scattering to the ground — and the usual seasonal missive from HR has arrived in my inbox. Actually, although I’m on rolling 3-monthly contracts, I haven’t received this kind of notice in writing … Continue reading
Posted in Careers, Staring into the abyss
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In which we leave our mark – or not
I like to watch eddies that form underneath waterfalls in a cascade, the ones you see in creeks of glacial run-off rushing down the sides of mountains. The milky-green water, and everything trapped in it, seems desperate to get from … Continue reading
In which my heart goes out to Postdoc B
What a difference a few words make. Compare this: With this: A modest difference, you might think. But your average postdoctoral stint in the life sciences is probably something like 3-4 years. So the difference between 8 and 12+ years … Continue reading
In which I set my sights
Even the darkest tunnels tend to have lights at the end of them. In the past fortnight, not only have I submitted my big screen paper – the culmination of four years of work – to a very reputable cell … Continue reading
In which the truth hurts – or does it?
As crocuses push through muddy earth, the air softens on campus and the undergraduates wake up from hibernation to resume clogging up the pizza queue in the refectory, I feel the weight, yet again, of the swift passage of days … Continue reading
In which we fail to meet expectations
Sometimes you find yourself in a crowd, experiencing the unreal sense that you’re wearing a disguise, or acting out a part in a play, or watching yourself in a web-cam feed. Last week I attended the biennial meeting of Wellcome … Continue reading
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
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