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Lay it on the line

Posted on 31 January 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

As I mentioned way back in 2008, I’m often called upon to write lay abstracts for my department’s grant applications and website, and – less often – for press releases and assorted other documents. This is still one of my favourite tasks, and I like to think that through frequent practice I’m somewhat adept at it by no Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, English language, grant wrangling, science | Comments Off on Lay it on the line

Question About “VWXYNot?”

Posted on 30 January 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Thus read the title of an email in my inbox this morning. The message continued:

Hey,
I consult for a Canadian immigration lawyer who is looking to expand her presence online.  I am  interested in having a mention within one of your upcoming blog posts
Posted in Canada, cancer research, communication, idiocy, Meta, personal, science | Comments Off on Question About “VWXYNot?”

Communiqué

Posted on 29 January 2012 by Henry Gee

I haven’t been around much lately so I thought I’d drop in to carve a word. I’ve been busily trying to finish the draft of The Beowulf Effect (thanks to those who’ve been reading and commenting on the several excerpts) while getting to grips with being in a proper rock band with a lot of material to learn and a busy roster o Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, descendants, Domesticrox, George Clooney, head for the beach, mahalo, midlife crisis, olinda road, surfs up aloha | Comments Off on Communiqué

What Am I Doing Here?

Posted on 29 January 2012 by Athene Donald

This past week reminded me of the seeming ubiquity of impostor syndrome, even in the visibly successful and apparently supremely confident. Or at least, this statement is true as it pertains to women. One outcome of what follows is I would love to know whether the same state of mind is a permanent undercurrent for males too.

Impostor syndrome, in c Continue reading →

Posted in Frances Ashcroft, Impostor syndrome, Linda Partridge, Vivienne Parry, Women in science | Comments Off on What Am I Doing Here?

Have you started writing yet?

Posted on 29 January 2012 by Erika Cule

Have you started writing yet?

is a question I get asked (what feels like) often. Normally, it is a follow-up to

What year are you in [of your PhD]? Continue reading →

Posted in Daunting, PhD, Thesis, Writing | Comments Off on Have you started writing yet?

The power of music

Posted on 29 January 2012 by Frank Norman

Some pieces of music really should carry a government health warning. The first time I saw Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde live, the Liebestod scene was unforgettable. The intensity of the music mounted and mounted, receded and then mounted again and again until the all-enveloping release of the climax. It made my heart race and I was panti Continue reading →

Posted in Carol Lashof, CEFC, Chile, James McCarthy, Koyaanisqatsi, Music, Philip Glass | Comments Off on The power of music

Making the grade?

Posted on 28 January 2012 by Austin

Note:  Now with added game: scroll down

As the three chess-playing readers of this blog will know, club chess players who play regularly in club leagues end up with what in English chess is commonly called a ‘grade’ or ‘grading’, and in many other countries a ‘rating’.

This number is based on the gradings/ratings Continue reading →

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On ghostwriting

Posted on 28 January 2012 by rpg

A long time ago, when the world was young, I did a research project towards my Biochemistry Part II exam. Three months in a lab, learning how to do cell culture, how not to kill myself with iodine-125, and making hundreds of very pretty immunofluorescence photographs. It was a nice little project, and I got some publishable results. So publishable Continue reading →

Posted in big pharma, ghostwriting, rants | Comments Off on On ghostwriting

A New Angle of View, Part II

Posted on 28 January 2012 by Richard Wintle

Yes, I’m at it again.

Hot on the heels of my acquisition, via the twenty-first-century e-commerce miracle that is Ebay, of a medium format film camera from 1937, I’ve spent another ten dollars (plus rather more for shipping) on another film camera.

Stop running away, that’s going to be it for a while. Continue reading →

Posted in Agfa, Film, Hobbies, Photography, Silette | Comments Off on A New Angle of View, Part II

Why I chose to decline an invitation to review by Elsevier

Posted on 28 January 2012 by Stephen

All relationships suffer tensions from time to time, especially those based on love-hate.

Scientists have a complex relationship with their publishers — they love to get published in high-impact journals (most of which are run by major publishing companies) but hate the abuses of impact factors made by their own community in promotion and funding c Continue reading →

Posted in elsevier, love-hate, Open Access, science, science publishing, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Why I chose to decline an invitation to review by Elsevier