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In which we need more lab coats in the Commons

Posted on 11 September 2014 by Jennifer Rohn

Like many commuters serving as a captive audience on the London Underground, I tend to read the free Evening Standard most nights. I enjoy the op ed pieces by Rosamund Urwin, who has always struck me as both light-hearted and eminently sensible – a good combination for any journalist desirous of keeping the attention of exhausted people trapp Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Politics | Leave a comment

Fresh Start, Fresh Anxieties

Posted on 10 September 2014 by Athene Donald

This is the time of year when anxious students-to-be – and their parents – are contemplating their future. Having established that they have got into University X once A level results are known, they have to work out what the shape of their future life will be. Where will they live? What will their accommodation be like? What will be provided by th Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge University, Churchill College, Freshers, Science Culture | Leave a comment

We strapped this baby into a chair. You won’t believe what happened next!

Posted on 7 September 2014 by rpg

Tired and hungry

Posted in caption competition, Don't try this at home, Nonsense | Leave a comment

Men are Parents Too

Posted on 4 September 2014 by Athene Donald

Another shocking headline) graced the pages of the Daily Telegraph this week, albeit apparently only temporarily before removal. ‘Mother of 3 poised to lead the BBC’ it shrieked, a sentence curiously reminiscent of the way Dorothy Hodgkin’s Nobel Prize was celebrated 50 years ago. Back then the Daily Telegraph announced “Bri Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, headlines, Laura Bates, Rona Fairhead, tabpp | Leave a comment

In which I am still largely at large: another mother in academia

Posted on 2 September 2014 by Jennifer Rohn

Blogging appearances to the contrary, I am still alive, clinging gamely to some semblance of work-life balance as a new mother in academia.

Not so new anymore, I realize, as Joshua hurtles, one milestone at a time, toward his first birthday. He sways on his feet, unsupported, for long periods of time, yet is still reluctant to let go as he steps a Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Science-fiction, students, Teaching, The profession of science, Women in science, Writing | Leave a comment

Street signs

Posted on 31 August 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My sister and I had very active imaginations when we were kids. We acted out plays with our stuffed animals, pretended we were time travellers, and frequently visited Narnia – but what we really loved was solving mysteries. Fuelled by a diet of books such as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Adventure series1, we’d pedal around our ne Continue reading →

Posted in book review, family, photos, Silliness, Vancouver | Leave a comment

Whose Responsbility? It’s too Easy to Say ‘Not Mine’

Posted on 27 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Despite the news being full of stories about how minorities are disadvantaged in larger or smaller ways, it is far from obvious that rapid progress is being made. The articles I read are full of appropriate shock at everything from the gender pay gap to the lack of women in the board room and misogyny in social media, yet are the organisations that Continue reading →

Posted in diversity, Equality, faculty, leadership, support, Women in science | Leave a comment

I’m a student, graduate student (found poem)

Posted on 26 August 2014 by Richard Wintle

Coming to you from the twenty-first wonder that is automated voicemail audio-to-text transcription. I have used editorial license to slightly alter some words, and lightly apply punctuation and line breaks. I have not changed any names to protect the innocent – it seemed unnecessary.

 

Continue reading →
Posted in Poem, poetry, science (possibly), voicemail, Writing | Leave a comment

I sense a problem with undergraduate education

Posted on 24 August 2014 by Steve Caplan

A lot has been said about job prospects of biomedical graduate students and the ever-declining percentage of Ph.D. graduates who are ultimately able to find academic faculty positions. Indeed, the importance of exposing graduate students to a variety of scientific career options has become recognized in recent years. Many graduate programs, includi Continue reading →

Posted in academia, biomedical researcher, career, critical thinking, education, grades, graduate education, graduate program, GRE, IDP, individual development plan, Occam's underwear, Ph.D., PhD, Research, researcher, science, science career, science careers, science jobs, student, students, undergraduate, undergraduate education, undergraduate students | Leave a comment

Why Athletics Resembles Academia

Posted on 22 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Today it’s four years exactly since my first blogpost appeared. Four years of having fun writing about different sorts of things: academic life, committee work and membership, the issues facing women and the joys and frustrations of working at disciplinary interfaces. I have been encouraged by the comments I receive in person, on Twitter and Continue reading →

Posted in academia, advice, careers, luck | Leave a comment

Good bye my old friend

Posted on 20 August 2014 by Sylvia McLain

I met Rick Bigbee, like many people met Rick Bigbee, in Long Creek, South Carolina. He was the head guide for Wildwater, Ltd on the Chattooga River, I was a new guide, intimidated and more than a tiny bit scared. Rick made me feel like I belonged. In the early days, he was my daily cheerleader. He always believed I could do it. Continue reading →

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On the Email Mountain

Posted on 16 August 2014 by Athene Donald

August is a quiet month on the email front. Few committee meetings are occurring to clog up the inbox with their multiple attachments of papers. Plus many people are away from their own computers during the school holidays and they probably don’t want to be caught sneaking peeks at their smart phones or tossing off a quick response when they& Continue reading →

Posted in August, inbox, language, Science Culture | Leave a comment

On biological modelling

Posted on 12 August 2014 by rpg

You can take the rat out of the lab…

mRNA in search of a ribosome

… but you can’t complete translation without a ribosome.

Posted in biological modelling, London, Nonsense, science, Silliness | Comments Off

Transparency versus Diversity

Posted on 11 August 2014 by Athene Donald

Within the EU, Commissioner Neelie Kroes is leading the push to have a Commission with a female contingent that is at least beginning to be representative of the population. Her call for #TenOrMore women commissioners doesn’t sound unreasonable: it would still only amount to around 30% of them and is roughly the composition of José Manuel Bar Continue reading →

Posted in committee membership, diversity, Equality, nomination, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off

Accelerate the progress of your research by using this one weird old tip!

Posted on 11 August 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

(Photo and title by Sonja Babovic; used with her permission)

Other geeky things that made me laugh recently:

Posted in grant wrangling, photos, science, Silliness | Comments Off