Latest posts

Trying Not to Discourage Others

Posted on 29 August 2019 by Athene Donald

What should one say to school children about to make university choices regarding life after school? Of course there are lots of positive things – clichés abound to supply them – but there are also the darker elements of the conveyor belt they are on. Talking to a group of around 50 teenage girls considering applying to Cambridge for maths or natural sciences last week, I found myself wondering wh Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge admissions, education, Maths, sixth form choices, Women in science | Comments Off on Trying Not to Discourage Others

I told myself…

Posted on 21 August 2019 by Stephen

I am on holiday – on the island of Mauritius, a tiny tropical island in the Indian Ocean. And when I go on holiday, I make ridiculous plans. 

Mauritius beach

I told myself I’d start running again. I’d get up early every morning, slip out of bed without disturbing my wife and cross the road to the beach. Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Scientific Life | Comments Off on I told myself…

In which I realize I am part of a select sci/art group

Posted on 13 August 2019 by Jennifer Rohn

Me talking about the antimicrobial resistance crisis back in 2015

I haven’t written here for a gazillion years – life is just too full-on. But I found out an amusing fact that I wanted to share. I’m not sure how it came up, but my Fiction Lab contact at the Royal Institution recently told me he’d done a little digging and found out that only three published fiction authors Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Nostalgia | Comments Off on In which I realize I am part of a select sci/art group

How Groupthink Contributes to Harassment

Posted on 7 August 2019 by Athene Donald

I was recently challenged by a colleague after a meeting as to whether we had all been guilty more of ‘groupthink’ than was apparent at the time or that any of us would have wished. I’m not sure that I think he was right in his conclusion, but he was certainly right to ask the question. The trouble is, it is such an insidious way to behave. We have all been in situations where you arrive at a meet Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, bystanders, consensus, Equality, Margaret Heffernan, Science Culture | Comments Off on How Groupthink Contributes to Harassment

The Transition Period

Posted on 26 July 2019 by Nicola Spaldin

“What’s going to happen with the second year students that I usually teach in the old curriculum when I’m teaching the new curriculum to the first years?” asked a colleague. YIKES! Somehow I had naively pictured our entire student body morphing smoothly into our new program in Autumn 2020, and had entirely repressed the reality that the Fall 2019 incoming class will be taug Continue reading →

Posted in education, Materials Science | Comments Off on The Transition Period

Sausage Machines in the Academic Lab

Posted on 22 July 2019 by Athene Donald

There was a bit of a spat over Twitter last week regarding how many hours students (and postdocs) should be expected to do at the bench. This originated in a tweet from a professor of chemistry but I don’t think it is necessary to go through the exchanges in any detail. Suffice it to say that the originator believed that it was impossible to

‘do world class science in 38 hrs per week’.

Others chal Continue reading →

Posted in Phd student training, PhD students, Science Culture, Science Funding, skills | Comments Off on Sausage Machines in the Academic Lab

Do You Know How Many Children Boris Has?

Posted on 17 July 2019 by Athene Donald

Today I was giving a talk within the University about building an inclusive workplace; more than just about gender, of course, but that is where the majority of my experience lies. There are so many obstacles, big and small, which prevent inclusion for minorities of all sorts. They need articulating; to be evidenced, accepted and acted upon by those with the power to effect change. The trouble wit Continue reading →

Posted in Dorothy Hodgkin, Equality, Inclusion, Ursula Von der Leyen | Comments Off on Do You Know How Many Children Boris Has?

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted on 14 July 2019 by Athene Donald

This is not about the TV programme of the same name. I would not be a good contender for that because, at least on one side of the family, I know quite a lot about my antecedents so I doubt they could dig up surprises about my grandparents (as a child I lived with two of them right up till their deaths and we had a filing cabinet of even earlier diaries dating back to the 1880s or so). On the cont Continue reading →

Posted in compliments, Impostor syndrome, poise, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Who Do You Think You Are?

50 Years Is Not Long Enough

Posted on 2 July 2019 by Athene Donald

Last weekend I returned to Girton College to join the celebrations for 150 years since its Foundation (albeit the college was originally situated in Hitchin). This was the college of my undergraduate and postgraduate years. When I entered the college in 1971 its centenary was not far past, so all but 50 years have passed. This coming weekend alumni will be coming back to Churchill College to celeb Continue reading →

Posted in admission to degrees, Churchill College, education, Equality, Girton College, Philippa Fawcett, Women in science | Comments Off on 50 Years Is Not Long Enough

Unconscious Bias Training Isn’t a Magic Wand

Posted on 22 June 2019 by Athene Donald

This week saw a sober assessment of the impact – both positive but also depressingly negative – of schemes to improve gender equality. As the Athena Swan Review Group wrestles with how to improve their own awards, it is important to learn from mistakes as well as successes. In years gone by I spoke up for Athena Swan pointing out it wasn’t a ‘tickbox’ exercise, but as time has passed its bureaucra Continue reading →

Posted in Athena Swan, bullying, Equality, implicit bias, Science Culture, training | Comments Off on Unconscious Bias Training Isn’t a Magic Wand