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Worrying about Deserts of Nothingness

Posted on 18 November 2018 by Athene Donald

Recently a website calling itself UKRI Observatory published two blogposts analysing information obtained by them under FoI regarding assessments of EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training. The point the blogpost was making was that it appeared at first sight that many of these highly competitive and extremely financially valuable centres were not performing particularly well. Analysis of what the cal Continue reading →

Posted in Centres for Doctoral Training, EPSRC, PhD students, Research, Science Culture, Science Funding, training | Comments Off on Worrying about Deserts of Nothingness

Tracking less tangible research outputs

Posted on 18 November 2018 by Frank Norman

When I spot a problem then I start wondering what the solution is. It might be a bottleneck in some workflow, or a process that requires excessive effort to achieve a small effect. So I feel that there must be some way to improve the situation. Sometimes I can find a better way, other times I’m defeated – I throw up my arms and say “sorry – can’t help!”

In those cases, I sit down and w Continue reading →

Posted in Metadata, Research management | Comments Off on Tracking less tangible research outputs

Ten papers for ten years

Posted on 18 November 2018 by Erika Cule
Scientific paper clip-art

Scientific paper clip-art

Blogging Beyond is about ten years old now. 

To celebrate, here are ten papers I like, in chronological order by publication date. Each is accompanied by a short justification for its inclusion in this list. 

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Posted in Blogging, Favourites, papers, science | Comments Off on Ten papers for ten years

The Lure of Procrastination

Posted on 11 November 2018 by Athene Donald

Why do you procrastinate? Since most people are guilty of this failing at least some of the time, few readers are likely to say ‘what me, I never do!’ I believe the reasons are many and various but I must admit I hadn’t thought the remedy lay in taking on a mentoring role. But apparently there is some evidence to suggest that, by mentoring someone more junior, it is possible to rebuild confidence Continue reading →

Posted in coffee, internet, Research, Science Culture, seminar, students | Comments Off on The Lure of Procrastination

Scientific archives workshop 2018

Posted on 5 November 2018 by Frank Norman

I attended the Second Workshop on Scientific Archives held at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, D.C. on the 13 & 14 August 2018.

The first Workshop on Scientific Archives was held at EMBL in 2016, and was organised entirely by Anne-Flore Laloe, the archivist at EMBL. It was (I think) the first time that archivists working in the scientific area had come together internationally Continue reading →

Posted in Archives, C-CAST, Research data | Comments Off on Scientific archives workshop 2018

To Be or Not to Be a Role Model

Posted on 4 November 2018 by Athene Donald

When you grow up what do you want to be? That is a familiar enough question but I’ve never heard of anyone who expected the answer to be ‘a role model’. Yet there are those who have an expectation that women who become visible in the hard sciences should automatically step up to the mark to help the next generation. Don’t get me wrong, I am all in favour of women supporting other women, wherever t Continue reading →

Posted in academic housekeeping, Donna Strickland, Equality, inspiration, Women in science | Comments Off on To Be or Not to Be a Role Model

Tears for lives and an ideal lost

Posted on 30 October 2018 by Steve Caplan

Unknown-1

Mindlessly meandering down Dodge

Tears flowing like blood oozing from an arterial wound

Lies and lunatics, spiraling out of control

And all decency unmoored, with no captain at the moral helm

 

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Balancing science and the need to be politically active

Posted on 28 October 2018 by Steve Caplan

Many fine articles have been written on the need for scientists to find the right “work-life balance.” Most of the time, the meaning of a work-life balance is equated with identifying a healthy balance between the need to dedicate significant time and energy in one’s scientific career together with spending time with one’s family. Finding the “right balance” has always been a difficult and m Continue reading →

Posted in assassination, elections, murder, nationalism, racism, science, scientists, Trump, white supremacist, work-life balance | Comments Off on Balancing science and the need to be politically active

Will I not be ‘Important’?

Posted on 21 October 2018 by Athene Donald

This is the troubled question Jeremy Baumberg asks rhetorically in his recent book The Secret Life of Science when he discusses the vexed question of what happens if he decides not to attend some conference, along with

‘Will I no longer be seen as a significant actor in the discipline?’ and

‘Will I not be party to conversations that build a mutual support club?’

Jeremy – a colleague of mine in Ca Continue reading →

Posted in conferences, display, Science Culture, travel | Comments Off on Will I not be ‘Important’?

Rock Lobster

Posted on 20 October 2018 by rpg

This list is written on a crumpled Post-It note.

I like it. Crisp, business-like, no nonsense. Actually scrunched up to be discarded when it had served its purpose.

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Posted in chicken, children, list, pungent, shopping, Shopping lists | Comments Off on Rock Lobster