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Mammon and the Inferiority of Women

Posted on 22 September 2013 by Athene Donald

I’ve been reading another of those random books I’ve acquired in lieu of payment for a book review, something I wrote about previously. This time I want to turn my attention to a book called ‘The Spectacle of Intimacy: a Public Life for the Victorian Family´, by Karen Chase and Michael Levenson. More specifically I want to look at one particu Continue reading →

Posted in domestic hearth, Equality, History of Science, Sarah Stickney Ellis, Victorian, women's inferiority | Comments Off on Mammon and the Inferiority of Women

Will the real Edinburgh please stand up?

Posted on 21 September 2013 by Steve Caplan

In continuation of my recent blog about travels to Scandinavia, I will stay with the theme of northern Europe because I have recently listened to several audiobooks whose locale is firmly rooted in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The books to which I refer, each belong to a wider series. There is the Isabelle Dalhousie series of fiction/philosophy/mystery by Continue reading →

Posted in authors, Books, Dalhousie, Edinburgh, McCall Smith, Rankin, Rebus, science, Scotland | Comments Off on Will the real Edinburgh please stand up?

The supporting cast

Posted on 15 September 2013 by Erika Cule

A PhD is, by definition, a lonely endeavour. My fellow students and I were taught the fundamentals of team work as part of our transferable skills training, only for one academic to comment that for a career in academia, they would have been better teaching you how to pretend to get on with each other and then turn around and stab each other in the Continue reading →

Posted in 2013, Aren't friends ace, Fun, Happy life events, Life, PhD, PhD Comics, Support network | Comments Off on The supporting cast

Is Helping Women such a Bad Thing to Do?

Posted on 13 September 2013 by Athene Donald

I am not infrequently asked to give talks at other universities about gender issues, including the work we are doing in Cambridge. (Strangely, I find myself doing quite as many of these sorts of talks as physics ones.) I would like to think that talking about our local work can help to inform and encourage others to find their own appropriate solut Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Harvard Business School, intervention, positive action, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Is Helping Women such a Bad Thing to Do?

From Omaha to Umea: Adventures and misadventures

Posted on 12 September 2013 by Steve Caplan

Some time ago I was contacted and asked whether I would be willing to fly to Umea, Sweden, and deliver a seminar. Rhetorical question for someone who loves to travel to new places, and had not yet had the opportunity to visit Scandinavia or Northern Europe. In fact, my infrequent visits to Europe (especially compared to S. America, Central America Continue reading →

Posted in Copenhagen, humor, Nobel, omaha, Research, Scandinavia, science, seminar, Sweden, travel, Umea | Comments Off on From Omaha to Umea: Adventures and misadventures

In which we make a move

Posted on 10 September 2013 by Jennifer Rohn

There’s a lot of change going on in my life right now, all at once. In addition to giving birth sometime in the next fortnight and needing to finish up a major piece of work-related writing before that, my lab has just moved across town.

We leave behind us a remote satellite outpost in Archway, its listed buildings sold to developers for pur Continue reading →

Posted in Nostalgia, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we make a move

Parliamentary committee slams UK policy on open access

Posted on 10 September 2013 by Stephen

The UK House of Commons has its dander up. Having bloodied the prime minister over Syria in the past fortnight, the select committee of MPs that oversees the work of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has issued a report that is heavily critical of the government’s policy on open access (OA).

The report was published earl Continue reading →

Posted in Finch Report, Open Access, RCUK | Comments Off on Parliamentary committee slams UK policy on open access

Yes, chess. Look away now.

Posted on 8 September 2013 by Austin

In which I revisit my youth as a chess-playing dweeb. Sort of.

Contrary to an earlier threat, I haven’t posted much here about my chess-playing activities over the last year and a bit. Partly this is because these days chess stuff mostly goes on the chess club’s Facebook page. Continue reading →

Posted in chess, Getting old, Nerdishness, Procrastination | Comments Off on Yes, chess. Look away now.

Don’t Say Too Much (or Too Little)

Posted on 8 September 2013 by Athene Donald

This week NESTA‘s Executive Director of Research Stian Westlake wrote a piece for the Guardian science policy blogs about those who offer scientific advice. If you want to find out why wonks should avoid being either a ‘berk’ or a ‘wanker’ I’d recommend you read his piece. However he made some telling points whic Continue reading →

Posted in advice, Communicating Science, framing, PhD thesis, Science Culture | Comments Off on Don’t Say Too Much (or Too Little)

Jumpin’ Ginger Therapy!

Posted on 6 September 2013 by Steve Caplan

Ever had a day where you almost wished you hadn’t got up in the morning? Where your computer crashes, your email doesn’t work, you get dumped with 100 different irrelevant bureaucratic busy-tasks, and you wonder why you didn’t become a post-office clerk? If this sounds familiar, you need Ginger Therapy!

Continue reading →
Posted in athlete, dogs, dumps, humor, jump, lab, therapy, vizsla | Comments Off on Jumpin’ Ginger Therapy!