Once again I am returning to Athene Donald’s blog to highlight a post about being new, and the start of the academic year.  While this clearly applies to Undergraduates, being new is also relevant to Masters and PhD students, as well as staff at any point in their career.  I think we can all relate to being new and feeling a bit overwhelmed:

‘Just remembering that you are not alone in being uncertain, nervous and probably totally confused is a good place to start. It is so easy to be fooled into thinking that you are the only one operating in a fog when the reality is that if you don’t feel like that you are probably missing an awful lot that is going on around you. Admitting to being befogged in that first week is not an admission of failure it is an admission of reality. However, remaining struggling in the mists of confusion most certainly means that you aren’t taking control by asking enough questions. Ask your peers but, probably even more importantly, ask all those who are ahead of you in the game……………’

Once again I am returning to Athene Donald’s blog to highlight an interesting post about quotas:

‘Some women get asked to do many different things, to serve on a wide variety of committees some of which may wield genuine power and influence. These individuals are what one might term the ‘usual suspects’……………….What matters, though, is the next tier of individuals. As yet less visible, without quite the same blend of confidence and experience, these are the ones whom Vice Chancellors and head hunters should be thinking about, those who are ready for that tap on the shoulder which may nevertheless never come………………..’

Are you waiting for that chance to be noticed?  Or are you experiencing committee fatigue?

On 18th September Athene Donald (Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge) published a blog post about the number of female scientists, and also perceptions about science.

‘If you ask a kid to draw a scientist, very often they will draw a ‘mad’ scientist with sticking up hair in a white lab coat, probably holding a test tube containing some evil-looking smoking liquid: an amalgam of Einstein and Frankenstein. Oh yes, and they’ll be male. Perceptions about this really don’t seem to be changing very fast……….’

What more could or should we be doing?

On her Twitter page Athene Donald (Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge) has highlighted the BBC Radio 3 Programme Private Passions, and in particular the episode with Mark Miodownik a Professor of Materials and Society at University College London – ‘Great to get scientists talking about other parts of their life’

A little bit about Mark:

‘From concrete to chocolate and teacups to tennis racquets, it’s the everyday stuff of life that fascinates Mark Miodownik. He’s Professor of Materials and Society at University College London where he is also Director of the Institute of Making, a research hub for scientists, designers, engineers, artists, architects – and musicians. A passionate communicator about the vital role of science in society, he’s written a bestselling book Stuff Matters; he’s the scientist in residence on Dara O’Briain’s Science Club on BBC2; and he’s listed by The Times as one of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK’

What do you think? When you go for coffee or lunch are you still discussing work?  Should we take a proper break from work and discuss other things? Should we share more?  If you want to, there is no pressure!

New challenge –  when you next bump into someone in the corridor or meet for coffee don’t just talk about work, try discussing other topics too.  It could be interesting and you never know what you will learn!

For me, outside work I love gardening and this year I finally have some space to grow more plants.  A few of my successes (even if I say so myself!) are pictured below.  I could talk about my plans/ideas for next year all day (if I didn’t have to work!)…………..  What could you share about your life?

You may have experienced or witnessed a presentation beset with technical difficulties (I did a couple of weeks ago).  It is a horrible experience to be on the stage when this happens, but it is always good to know that you are not alone.  It happens to everyone!  In her latest blog post Athene Donald (Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge) discusses her latest experience –

‘Technical glitches during talks are all too common, but never easy to cope with. Recently I had a simple talk to give, one which could safely be brought along on a memory stick to the event: I was giving a brief talk to a CUSPE meeting on ‘Effective Policy to Bridge the STEM Skills Gap’ in which I had only a handful of slides with some relevant data on, plus a few striking images of the sorts of things that deter girls from sticking with subjects like physics at schools. I couldn’t imagine a problem.  How wrong can one be? I have never seen a computer manage to mangle ten simple Powerpoint slides so comprehensively! Even had I checked beforehand I’m not sure what could have been done. It began with……………..’

On 7th June Athene Donald (Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge) wrote a blog post about ‘Faking It’ – how to fake a lack of experience to appear confident.

http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/

”It is bound to feel a bit unnerving to do anything for the first time and, as a result, there is the danger that you will ‘freeze’ or, at the very least, perform less well than you feel you’re capable of. How to beat that? In my view, the only way to do it is to ‘pretend’ that you know what you’re doing and slowly you’ll find that perhaps you really do. Of course, there are some things you may never be very good at; that is also true for everyone and in time you can work out what your own weaknesses are and avoid the wrong kind of situations and tasks. But, if you avoid everything just in case….you’ll never find out your strengths………….”

Have you put this into practice?  Does this work for you?  Do you have any hints and tips?