Latest posts

Being an expert in (membrane) recycling has perks!

Posted on 8 May 2015 by Steve Caplan

This morning I awoke to the following email (and yes, “OMICS” does it again):

Dear Dr. Steve Caplan,

Greetings of the day. Hope you are doing well. Continue reading →

Posted in barcelona, emminence, endocytosis, humor, mitosis, OMICS, recycling, Research, science | Comments Off on Being an expert in (membrane) recycling has perks!

Knowledge versus Experience

Posted on 4 May 2015 by Athene Donald

One of the things that is always said about teaching is that it shows you what you do or don’t know. You can’t flannel an explanation to a student who keeps asking probing questions though you may manage to do it to yourself. They may be questions that approach a topic in some way you had never considered before but rapidly realise is i Continue reading →

Posted in career progression, Communicating Science, mentoring, public speaking, Science Culture | Comments Off on Knowledge versus Experience

Women and Minorities have got it good, if they are fictional of course.

Posted on 4 May 2015 by Sylvia McLain

As all y’all know, because I am constantly reminding everyone, I am from Tennessee. I like to think I am not racist and I really sincerely hope I am not racist, but the culture I grew up in has a bad, complicated history with racism so I know I have to keep a watchful eye. I have to be vigilant. When I was being drug up in the 1970s, I reme Continue reading →

Posted in racism, Sexism in STEM, Women in science | Comments Off on Women and Minorities have got it good, if they are fictional of course.

Missed opportunity

Posted on 3 May 2015 by Cath@VWXYNot?

From my Facebook feed:

Beehemoth

It should totally be called a beehemoth! Whoever first called it a wasp moth sucks!

Continue reading →
Posted in freakishness, nature, photos, Silliness | Comments Off on Missed opportunity

Can we amend the laws of scholarly publication?

Posted on 29 April 2015 by Stephen

As part of its celebrations to mark the 350th anniversary of the publication of Philosophical Transactions, the world’s longest-running scientific journal, the Royal Society arnessas convened a meeting to examine ‘The Future of Scholarly Scientific Communication’. The first half of the meeting, held over two days last week, sought to identify the k Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Can we amend the laws of scholarly publication?

The Perils of Procrastination

Posted on 29 April 2015 by Athene Donald

Voter registration in the UK showed just how many people are good at procrastination, with nearly half a million people registering on the last possible day. My email inbox is also a good indicator of people’s expectation that we are all procrastinators. How many emails do you get a day headed ‘Last chance – fantastic offers end tomorro Continue reading →

Posted in computers, lectures, preparation, Science Culture | Comments Off on The Perils of Procrastination

In which the small fish contemplates the bigger pond

Posted on 25 April 2015 by Jennifer Rohn

The wandering path of my unconventional scientific life is about to shift yet again. It’s with mixed feelings that I report another lab move – same Division, another new campus. The retro digs in Bloomsbury, with its polished hardwood trimmings, were always meant to be temporary – even more so when the entire street was slated for Continue reading →

Posted in careers, staring into the abyss, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which the small fish contemplates the bigger pond

The Myth of the ‘Myth of Women in Science’

Posted on 21 April 2015 by Athene Donald

If you skimmed through some articles about women in science recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘problem solved’. A recent study by Cecil and Williams, published in no less august a publication than PNAS, claimed women actually had a 2:1 advantage over men when it came to hiring at tenure track level. Isn’t that fantast Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, hiring, microinequities, tenure track, Women in science | Comments Off on The Myth of the ‘Myth of Women in Science’

On the Need for Shiny New Facilities

Posted on 16 April 2015 by Athene Donald

I’m off to open a new block at Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College tomorrow. A shiny new building to provide fresh classrooms and additional study space, something many schools would dearly love to have. A decent working environment is undoubtedly contributory to children finding it easier to learn – rather like Virginia Woolf’s Continue reading →

Posted in careers, education, practical work, school facilities | Comments Off on On the Need for Shiny New Facilities

Leadership (Churchillian style) and Policy

Posted on 12 April 2015 by Athene Donald

Churchill is often seen as the supreme leader, a man whose very voice inspired a nation and who held the country’s nerve during the Battle of Britain. Less often discussed is his leadership and behaviour at other times, although increasingly there are biographies that are far from hagiographic, one notable example being by a Churchill College Continue reading →

Posted in Churchill College, CSaP, de Gaulle, policy-makers, Science policy | Comments Off on Leadership (Churchillian style) and Policy