Science communication can take many forms. I’ve seen people communicate (or attempt to communicate) science using painting, music, dance, drag, games, exercise classes and even pottery. This huge diversity leads to some very strange events but also it helps reach a plethora of audiences who might not normally see much science. It is also a …
This year I have had one very singular purpose – get money. Research tends to flow in cycles between running experiments, writing papers and applying for grants. For me, 2017 is all about applying for grants. And writing grants, when you strip away all the flowery words about impact and wider scientific improvement is about …
Planning out a new project is a rollercoaster of ups and downs and fighting (mostly about money). A new project proposal, be it in academia or in a company, is made up of many parameters and conflicting parts, from resources to its possible usefulness and even where it’s being done. Planning out a project is …
So over the last few months there have been lots of extra ErrantScience cartoons which have been on social media but never made it to the blog. If you missed them, today is your lucky day because this week in lieu of a full blog post, have a compilation of 13 cartoons you might not …
The workloads in Academia are bad.
This is not news, this is a long complained about state of academia. In fact, it’s so much not news that it’s got to the point where if I say something so cliched on Twitter, people tell me to stop going on about it – particularly other academics, who I suspect are just annoyed to be reminded of it all the time.
I don’t get out much – both socially, and from a research perspective. The first one is mostly due to the ridiculous hours required by the second one. But either way, I spend more time inside basking in the glow of fluorescent tubes (or tubes of fancy, expensive energy saving LEDS) than I do with …
Becoming an academic is obviously the pinnacle achievement anyone can attain. It’s the job that all kids dream of and is looked up to by almost all layers of society with dignity and respect. When leaving school many youngsters all dream of one day joining this beloved profession. Now there are two ways into academia. …
Some years ago now, I started a new project. I went into the project with a lot of bold ideas about everything from what to buy, and what side projects I could start – and even one or two ideas about maybe doing the actual project. But one idea that I felt very strongly about was …
I have, for the most part, lived a charmed life in research. My labs have been located in the middle of the UK a country best known for its dull, grey weather which at worst is ‘a bit damp’ or ‘slightly warm’. Also, being in the middle means that by the time any mildly more …
When I was in school, I was often told that I had to practice essay writing because I’ll need to do it later in life. When I was about 10, it honestly sounded like the sort of thing your teachers tell you so that you’ll actually keep doing something that is clearly pointless. Up until …
