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Category Archives: Scientific Life
Leaving Imperial
Today is my last day at Imperial College London. It marks the completion of exactly 29 years as a member of staff. I joined Imperial as a young lecturer in Physics on 1st November 1995 and have travelled a long … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Scientific Life
10 Comments
On the Freedom of Misunderstanding of Speech
“The Ruffian” is great title for Ian Leslie’s Substack given his predilection for roughing up lazy thinking. I first came across him as the author of “Conflicted”, an excellent book about how to disagree constructively, a practice he frequently deploys … Continue reading
Passing the Baton
“The Queen is dead; long live the King!” is such a cliché of stories and films that it was surprising to hear it for real. Not that we did actually hear it for real. The secrecy surrounding the Queen’s final … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific Life
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A Declaration on Bicycle Assessment – the Decision
Reader, I bought a Brompton. After all my research – and a considerable amount of humming and haa-ing – I finally took Henry’s advice and went to my local bike shop to test-ride a couple of different eBike models. The … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific Life, Travel
1 Comment
To the sea
With emails running alongside, barking for attention, we beat a retreat from London. The clamour of work was soon swamped by the heat and light and sights and sounds and smells of Barcelona, and by the newness and oldness of … Continue reading
For my mother
Black masked, weighed down by grey grief, We carried you into the church To be wrung out of our sodden farewells. But you had already gone. It was a slow journey to that sombre altar. In the last years the … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific Life
3 Comments
To be or not to be exceptional?
I can’t remember how I came across this video from philosopher Alain de Botton, but I feel seen. Like many academics, I guess, I have always prized scholarly achievement. And of course, within our systems of research assessment, we are … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific Life
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In defence of the bureaucracy of equality, diversity and inclusion
The UK government’s new policy to reduce bureaucracy in research institutions aims at an easy target. But the bonfire of administration lit by the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, risks burning down the foundations of much-needed efforts to value … Continue reading
Posted in Equality Diversity & Inclusion, Science & Politics, Scientific Life
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In our elements
I have been coming to the Lake District on and off for much of my life. It is my favourite corner of England. I first came in 1981 when I was seventeen, as one of half a dozen venture scouts … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific Life
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The still unsustainable goal of university ranking
The new and improved Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2020 were published this week with as much online fanfare as THE could muster. Unfortunately, they are not improved enough. The Impact Rankings score participating universities on how well their … Continue reading
Posted in Research Assessment, Scientific Life
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2019 in 31 photographs
My computer tells me I took over 3,700 photographs in 2019. Yikes! However, I have winnowed them down to just 31, should you care to take a look. I have been fortunate this year to travel far and wide – or … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, Scientific Life, Travel
2 Comments
My carbon bootprint
What was your carbon footprint for 2019? Mine was more of a bootprint, almost entirely because of flying. International travel has long been considered one of the perks of academic life, something that lifted the job out of the ordinary … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Scientific Life, Travel
10 Comments
