Latest posts

Whose Responsbility? It’s too Easy to Say ‘Not Mine’

Posted on 27 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Despite the news being full of stories about how minorities are disadvantaged in larger or smaller ways, it is far from obvious that rapid progress is being made. The articles I read are full of appropriate shock at everything from the gender pay gap to the lack of women in the board room and misogyny in social media, yet are the organisations that Continue reading →

Posted in diversity, Equality, faculty, leadership, support, Women in science | Comments Off on Whose Responsbility? It’s too Easy to Say ‘Not Mine’

I’m a student, graduate student (found poem)

Posted on 26 August 2014 by Richard Wintle

Coming to you from the twenty-first wonder that is automated voicemail audio-to-text transcription. I have used editorial license to slightly alter some words, and lightly apply punctuation and line breaks. I have not changed any names to protect the innocent – it seemed unnecessary.

 

Continue reading →
Posted in Poem, poetry, science (possibly), voicemail, Writing | Comments Off on I’m a student, graduate student (found poem)

I sense a problem with undergraduate education

Posted on 24 August 2014 by Steve Caplan

A lot has been said about job prospects of biomedical graduate students and the ever-declining percentage of Ph.D. graduates who are ultimately able to find academic faculty positions. Indeed, the importance of exposing graduate students to a variety of scientific career options has become recognized in recent years. Many graduate programs, includi Continue reading →

Posted in academia, biomedical researcher, career, critical thinking, education, grades, graduate education, graduate program, GRE, IDP, individual development plan, Occam's underwear, Ph.D., PhD, Research, researcher, science, science career, science careers, science jobs, student, students, undergraduate, undergraduate education, undergraduate students | Comments Off on I sense a problem with undergraduate education

Why Athletics Resembles Academia

Posted on 22 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Today it’s four years exactly since my first blogpost appeared. Four years of having fun writing about different sorts of things: academic life, committee work and membership, the issues facing women and the joys and frustrations of working at disciplinary interfaces. I have been encouraged by the comments I receive in person, on Twitter and Continue reading →

Posted in academia, advice, careers, luck | Comments Off on Why Athletics Resembles Academia

Good bye my old friend

Posted on 20 August 2014 by Sylvia McLain

I met Rick Bigbee, like many people met Rick Bigbee, in Long Creek, South Carolina. He was the head guide for Wildwater, Ltd on the Chattooga River, I was a new guide, intimidated and more than a tiny bit scared. Rick made me feel like I belonged. In the early days, he was my daily cheerleader. He always believed I could do it. Continue reading →

Comments Off on Good bye my old friend

On the Email Mountain

Posted on 16 August 2014 by Athene Donald

August is a quiet month on the email front. Few committee meetings are occurring to clog up the inbox with their multiple attachments of papers. Plus many people are away from their own computers during the school holidays and they probably don’t want to be caught sneaking peeks at their smart phones or tossing off a quick response when they& Continue reading →

Posted in August, inbox, language, Science Culture | Comments Off on On the Email Mountain

On biological modelling

Posted on 12 August 2014 by rpg

You can take the rat out of the lab…

mRNA in search of a ribosome

… but you can’t complete translation without a ribosome.

Posted in biological modelling, London, Nonsense, science, Silliness | Comments Off on On biological modelling

Transparency versus Diversity

Posted on 11 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Within the EU, Commissioner Neelie Kroes is leading the push to have a Commission with a female contingent that is at least beginning to be representative of the population. Her call for #TenOrMore women commissioners doesn’t sound unreasonable: it would still only amount to around 30% of them and is roughly the composition of José Manuel Bar Continue reading →

Posted in committee membership, diversity, Equality, nomination, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Transparency versus Diversity

Accelerate the progress of your research by using this one weird old tip!

Posted on 11 August 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

(Photo and title by Sonja Babovic; used with her permission)

Other geeky things that made me laugh recently:

Posted in grant wrangling, photos, science, Silliness | Comments Off on Accelerate the progress of your research by using this one weird old tip!

It’s time to take responsibility – why the editor of The Lancet should resign

Posted on 9 August 2014 by Steve Caplan

There are a lot of people, governments, and organizations who need to step up and take responsibility. But in this piece about taking responsibility, I call on Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, the UK’s premier medical journal, to apologize and resign. If publishing the deceitful and fallacious  “Open letter to the people o Continue reading →

Posted in "open letter to the people of Gaza, 9-11, academic boycott, deceit, doctors, editor, Gaza, Hamas, Interpal, Israel, Lancet Declaration of Interests Policy, lies, Manduca, Palestine, political agenda, Research, RESIGN!, Richard Horton, science, scientists, terror, terrorist, The Lancet | Comments Off on It’s time to take responsibility – why the editor of The Lancet should resign