Is knowledge really the primary product of academic research?
Continue readingacademia
Walk away
Goodbye to all that
If I’d known quitting felt this good, I would have sent in my resignation letter a lot earlier.
Continue readingNew priorities (why the coronavirus pandemic led to me quitting academia)
You always feel better after throwing up, and that’s kind of where the world is right now.
Continue readingScience: vocation to profession…to job?
Might abandoning the vocational aspect of academia in favour of a 9-to-5 commitment be better for all of us? And is it happening already?
Continue reading2022: TIR’s year in review
A look back at a rather rocky 7th year of operations – 2022 was the year that seemed to race by in a matter of hours, but which also felt as though it aged me five years.
Continue readingA letter to a friend
Dear Ruth,
I’m very sorry that you were unhappy about the recent postings on the blog and the generally negative tone that has characterised a lot of the recent material. I’m also very sorry if you, as a fellow group leader, felt that you were being accused of exploiting the students in your care.
Continue readingThe 9 types of Horror Lab
A special Hallowe’en posting. Horror movies and PhD/postdoc projects sometimes unfortunately have a lot in common, with naive and idealistic young things being gobbled up by a gallery of nasties. But what exactly are the 9 types of horror lab?
Continue readingStockholm syndrome
The iron law of scientific oligarchies
The scientific community has entrenched oligarchies. Science would be better served if they were broken up.
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Total Internal Reflection 