A light grey room is filled with 23 grey desks, scattered in pens and books. In one corner sits a refrigerator packed with snacks. Next to it is a rice cooker. The walls are covered in pictures of fun lab memories. Amidst the clutter, some students joke and laugh; chat with a professor about their experimental procedures; analyze data on their laptops and unconsciously wrinkle their brows. Read more
Guest contributor Andy Tay … Read more
In the wake of the US presidential election in November 2017, the scientific community has recognized that it has fallen short in communicating the value of science and research. As a result, scientists are now calling for increased public outreach and communication efforts. While this awareness is important, the path forward is not entirely clear. Read more
Early career scientists are often told that networking is important for future career prospects and mobility. Often, this comes in the form of a nudge to attend university seminars, events for local scientific professionals or national conferences. These are typically great for meeting scientists working in your city or country – but developing an international network can often be much more difficult. First, scientists are most often around others working at their university or research centre, making this their primary network. Second, travel to attend international conferences may be cost-prohibitive, especially for early career scientists. Finally, connecting with colleagues outside of the country may not be on the radar of students and postdocs, or may seem overwhelming at that stage of a scientific career. Read more
Guest contributor Andy Tay … Read more
The majority of the Arab world gained independence from western colonization during the second half of the 20th century. While Western states were building their research base then, most Arab states were focused on education. Now, the Arab world is trying to catch up. The two main challenges we face today are improving scientific training, and engaging more women in science. Read more
Finding the right job and organization to work in after your PhD can be a daunting task. Coming from an academic setting, researchers tend to struggle to identify skill sets needed for a change in their career paths, asking questions like ‘what skills should a medical writer have?’ Job titles sometimes explain little about the actual work responsibilities—did you know, for example, that an ‘Innovation Facilitator’ communicates science and sets up links between academia and industry, to help speed up drug development or begin business opportunities? Read more
A new social psychology study confirms that self-esteem varies across cultures but, unlike earlier perceptions, it doesn’t exactly result from rising up to expectations dictated by the surrounding culture – at least not directly – but instead from a delicate play between the individuals’ intrinsic personal values and how these values are rated within their respective societies or cultures. Read more
Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker is Director of the British Council’s Belief in Dialogue Programme. Belief in Dialogue is a new intercultural programme, which explores how people in the UK and internationally can live peacefully with diversity and difference in an increasingly pluralistic world. Fern currently serves on the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Science in Culture Advisory Group. A passionate believer in the interactive communication of science, history and philosophy, in her spare time she is the recorder for the History of Science section for the British Science Association. She also serves on the programme’s committee for the British Society for the History of Science. Read more