An interview was recently published in Lab Times with Peter Lawrence, who discusses what is wrong with science research - a subject that I've been talking about a fair bit at work, where the majority of other writers have done the PhD/postdoc thing then had nowhere else to go. Its quite an amusing article if you've been in the science game, with observations such as that papers in Nature, the most esteemed journal which everyone wants to get into, are so dense as to be actually unreadable. And that scientists have become little more than paper-spewing machines, where the publication becomes the end in itself rather than any idea of a pursuit of knowledge.
The basic challenge is this - get at least one first author paper out in the 2 (3 if you're lucky) years of your postdoc or thats it, you're out of science. And if you do get it, you get another 2 years (well, more like 18 months if you're going to start work on the next grant). And so on. The ultimate aim is to get your own lab group to manage, at which point you will never see the lab again and instead become buried under paperwork, meetings and bureacracy.
No wonder I, and the majority of people I did my PhD and postdoc with, have come out of science.
The other side of the problem as far as I can see it, is that there are far too many people now in science, in particular biology (especially molecular biology - my ex-field). More PhD's than there are interesting things to study, or at least when they have graduated.
Of course, I was a bit foolish in concentrating almost solely on my studies, and later my research, without really thinking where I was going, what the job scene was likely to be, and whether I was picking up enough competitive skills. Fortunately I wrote a couple of reviews during my postdoc, which must have at least helped my current job as a medical writer; my ability to do PCR and subcloning blindfolded and plate out thousands of yeast transformations couldn't even get me a maternity-leave technician job in a hospital genetics department, never mind another research post.
I don't blame anyone though, I was too focused on small things without seeing a bigger picture. Actually, I would criticise the sciences for that - I might have had much more interesting ideas for my PhD if I'd had more contact with the physics/technology/mathematics department for instance and we'd come up with a design for an artifical pancreas. It would be nice to have a bit more confidence to go an make contacts like that, but unfortunately most researchers are so absorbed into their own fields that such cross-discipline collaboration (or even awareness, at all, at what is going on - the splintering of science into ever-more ridiculously obscure fields - compare to the polymaths of old who knew a bit about everything).
Monday, 9 May 2011
Monday, 2 May 2011
First month as a medical writer
It's been a ridiculously long time since I wrote anything here. My new job is going ok so far. I seem to be fitting in well with the other people, which I suppose is the most important thing. There are quite a few fairly new people, mostly from backgrounds such as my own: did a science degree, PhD, postdoc then decided to go into medical writing.
For the first couple of weeks I was mostly doing admin stuff, like updating databases with information on conferences and journals, as organising events is one of the jobs that the company I work for does. Hopefully I'll get to go to some conferences soon, it's always nice, and something I never got to do during my postdoc at Manchester (well, apart from the Yeast conference, which was in Manchester).
I've now been given my first couple of writing jobs, working on producing a from a clinical for a new Type 2 diabetes drug. Firstly I sat in a teleconference meeting with a couple of members of the editorial team, and listened to our clients (a representative from the drug company and some of the doctors who had worked on the trial as they discussed what the overall aims and direction of the paper should be, what kind of stuff to put in the figures and so on. Then I was sent off to produce an outline which has turned out to be quite detailed. A lot of the time was spent organising the data from the trial into something presentable, and finding references for the introduction. They had some quite good results, so it will be interesting to see how far this new drug goes.
Not much else to say on the job really. Apart from that, I've been getting in some yoga every morning, only doing an hour or so now as I have to leave for the train at about 7.30. The weather has been so nice lately that getting up about 5.30-5.45 hasn't been a problem. I'm not sticking so much to the traditional ashtanga series now, which can take up to 2 hours to complete, I've been mixing the positions around a bit to try and get some practice with the full range of stretches etc. I think you can skip quite a few of the similar moves e.g. the forward bends in the primary series and spend more time on the harder ones.
I went to a barbeque the weekend before last and played some guitar music with some other people there, it was great fun and something I hadn't done for ages. There was four people on guitars at one point, mostly playing blues and Elvis tunes as they make a straightforward common ground. I could do with learning some more tunes though as my girlfriend has been complaining that I've been playing the same things all the time! So any suggestions would be appreciated.
For the first couple of weeks I was mostly doing admin stuff, like updating databases with information on conferences and journals, as organising events is one of the jobs that the company I work for does. Hopefully I'll get to go to some conferences soon, it's always nice, and something I never got to do during my postdoc at Manchester (well, apart from the Yeast conference, which was in Manchester).
I've now been given my first couple of writing jobs, working on producing a from a clinical for a new Type 2 diabetes drug. Firstly I sat in a teleconference meeting with a couple of members of the editorial team, and listened to our clients (a representative from the drug company and some of the doctors who had worked on the trial as they discussed what the overall aims and direction of the paper should be, what kind of stuff to put in the figures and so on. Then I was sent off to produce an outline which has turned out to be quite detailed. A lot of the time was spent organising the data from the trial into something presentable, and finding references for the introduction. They had some quite good results, so it will be interesting to see how far this new drug goes.
Not much else to say on the job really. Apart from that, I've been getting in some yoga every morning, only doing an hour or so now as I have to leave for the train at about 7.30. The weather has been so nice lately that getting up about 5.30-5.45 hasn't been a problem. I'm not sticking so much to the traditional ashtanga series now, which can take up to 2 hours to complete, I've been mixing the positions around a bit to try and get some practice with the full range of stretches etc. I think you can skip quite a few of the similar moves e.g. the forward bends in the primary series and spend more time on the harder ones.
I went to a barbeque the weekend before last and played some guitar music with some other people there, it was great fun and something I hadn't done for ages. There was four people on guitars at one point, mostly playing blues and Elvis tunes as they make a straightforward common ground. I could do with learning some more tunes though as my girlfriend has been complaining that I've been playing the same things all the time! So any suggestions would be appreciated.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Demolition man
Over the last few weeks I've done a fair amount of gardening work. After taking the tree down which I wrote about last time, I cleared a load of brambles and other spikey things from the back, went down to one mates allotment and helped her weed out the vegetable patches and wheelbarrow a load of compost, and on saturday last I went down to another mates allotment, very near to Old Trafford (hawk, spit!) to help him destroy the dodgy looking ramshackle glasshouse there. It was a cool bit of demolition work, we had a crowbar each and managed to take down the double-glazed windows that had been used for a roof on the glasshouse. I only banged my head once, and my friend, lets call him Dr Leverenti, escaped with just a nail gash on the top of his head.
But mostly I'm afraid I've been lost in the world of Assassin's Guild Brotherhood on the Xbox. At first I thought it was just a Tomb Raider clone with the fancy dressing of being set in Medieval Rome, but I've found it highly compulsive. Its very violent, and graphically so. When I was a fair bit younger I played an awful lot of computer games, in many ways they are a waste of time but I do find playing them quite relaxing. Even when you're running and jumping over the tops of buildings and assassinating people by sneeking up behind them and breaking their necks.
And I can do it guilt-free because I've finally got a job sorted out. I start next week so this is my last week of freedom. I'll be working for a medical communications company in Knutsford, mostly writing up clinical trials reports for drugs companies. It seems to be a thing that a lot of ex-science researchers get into. When you realise that you're not going to be a PI (Principle Investigator i.e., the head of a lab), the only way is out of academia really. With the new job I'll still be able to use a lot of my science knowledge and be able to focus just on writing. I was never the most practical person in the lab anyway.
So I'm looking forward to being out of the house, earning some money and basically being useful again. I don't know how I'm going to fit the yoga into it all, as I'll have to leave the house about 6.30 in the morning to get down to Stockport to catch the train, and probably won't get in until about 7 at night. So unless I get up at 4am or something I'm just going to have to go to a class.
The next couple of blogs should be awesome tales of office life, I bet you can't wait!
But mostly I'm afraid I've been lost in the world of Assassin's Guild Brotherhood on the Xbox. At first I thought it was just a Tomb Raider clone with the fancy dressing of being set in Medieval Rome, but I've found it highly compulsive. Its very violent, and graphically so. When I was a fair bit younger I played an awful lot of computer games, in many ways they are a waste of time but I do find playing them quite relaxing. Even when you're running and jumping over the tops of buildings and assassinating people by sneeking up behind them and breaking their necks.
And I can do it guilt-free because I've finally got a job sorted out. I start next week so this is my last week of freedom. I'll be working for a medical communications company in Knutsford, mostly writing up clinical trials reports for drugs companies. It seems to be a thing that a lot of ex-science researchers get into. When you realise that you're not going to be a PI (Principle Investigator i.e., the head of a lab), the only way is out of academia really. With the new job I'll still be able to use a lot of my science knowledge and be able to focus just on writing. I was never the most practical person in the lab anyway.
So I'm looking forward to being out of the house, earning some money and basically being useful again. I don't know how I'm going to fit the yoga into it all, as I'll have to leave the house about 6.30 in the morning to get down to Stockport to catch the train, and probably won't get in until about 7 at night. So unless I get up at 4am or something I'm just going to have to go to a class.
The next couple of blogs should be awesome tales of office life, I bet you can't wait!
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
I'm a lumberjack
Today I made a new personal achievement to add to my cv - tree felling! At the bottom of our garden were two spindly coniferous trees (sorry I'm not an expert so I can't be more specific), one of which was already blocking out most of the sunlight and threatened to further loom in immensity if left unchecked. It turned out that most of the branches were half rotten and could just be pulled off. The tallest tree was about 12 ft and I took it down with the classic technique of cutting a wedge in the same side as I wanted it to fall, cut a slit in the other side then basically pulled it down. The root took ages to get out, but it was very satisfying. I'm revelling in my arm-scratches right now. I worked as a gardner when I first left school, it can be quite nice work but it is very tiring, I fell asleep after my efforts today.
My sleep was aided by watching the "Wonders of the Universe" on BBC i-player, a documentary with Brian Cox warbling on about the arrow of time, while mooching about various moody locations. There were some turtles in it, I'm not sure if it had a major revlatory point to make as I fell asleep about half way through it (the Star Trek effect). There have been quite a few interesting documentaries on BBC lately, Horizon last week had a look at whether humans are still evolving, although it mostly showed the presenter in various moody locations. It touched upon variations in human populations over the world - Sherpas in Nepal having a greater network of blood vessels to aid survival at higher altitudes (although I'm not nc that this was just a physiological rather than genetic adaptation) and the prevalence of the lactase gene for digesting milk, very common in north european populations and very rare in south east asia. Explains why I didn't see many milkman doing the rounds in Cambodia.
My sleep was aided by watching the "Wonders of the Universe" on BBC i-player, a documentary with Brian Cox warbling on about the arrow of time, while mooching about various moody locations. There were some turtles in it, I'm not sure if it had a major revlatory point to make as I fell asleep about half way through it (the Star Trek effect). There have been quite a few interesting documentaries on BBC lately, Horizon last week had a look at whether humans are still evolving, although it mostly showed the presenter in various moody locations. It touched upon variations in human populations over the world - Sherpas in Nepal having a greater network of blood vessels to aid survival at higher altitudes (although I'm not nc that this was just a physiological rather than genetic adaptation) and the prevalence of the lactase gene for digesting milk, very common in north european populations and very rare in south east asia. Explains why I didn't see many milkman doing the rounds in Cambodia.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
An aimless wander to Royston Vasey
Last week I was up in Haltwhistle with Linda, checking out Hadrians wall and Vindolanda, the remains of a Roman settlement. There's not much left of either, just the foundations really, although the supports for the underfloor heating were visible in one of the houses' remains, they looked like weird little tombstones.
The weather was getting nasty and we were feeling over-exposed, luckily Haltwhistle has a great pub in the form of the Black Bull. After three days we were well-established with the locals. They speak with an uncannily Geordie-like accent there, although they are adamant that their accent is different. I had a shock when I walked past a newsagent to read "North East man feared dead in Christchurch earthquake", as I have two good mates from Newcastle who lives there (I stayed with them last year), fortunately they were ok. Such an idyllic place, but with a terrible reality lying in wait underneath (New Zealand that is, not Newcastle. Although...)
I was feeling a bit restless on monday morning so I decided to walk part of the Transpennine trail which runs quite close to where I live in Stockport. Probably the most interesting thing I came across was the ruins of some old mills near Broadbottom, so named I think because the nearby hills look like two giant curvaceous butt-cheeks. I walked for about 5 hours in total, to reach Hadfield, I was feeling a bit fed up by then due to a very painful blister on my right heel (actually caused by my wearing "proper shoes" to an interview over a week ago) so I didn't stop to invetigate the town and just headed for the train station. Only when I read a tourist information board while waiting for the train did I realise that Hadfield was the set for Royston Vasey in the TV programme "The League of Gentlemen". So I missed the opportunity to go into a shop and be asked "Are you local?" before being subjected to some form of surreal torture.
I'll leave you with a weird scarecrow I saw in an allotment as I was coming into Hadfield:
The weather was getting nasty and we were feeling over-exposed, luckily Haltwhistle has a great pub in the form of the Black Bull. After three days we were well-established with the locals. They speak with an uncannily Geordie-like accent there, although they are adamant that their accent is different. I had a shock when I walked past a newsagent to read "North East man feared dead in Christchurch earthquake", as I have two good mates from Newcastle who lives there (I stayed with them last year), fortunately they were ok. Such an idyllic place, but with a terrible reality lying in wait underneath (New Zealand that is, not Newcastle. Although...)
I was feeling a bit restless on monday morning so I decided to walk part of the Transpennine trail which runs quite close to where I live in Stockport. Probably the most interesting thing I came across was the ruins of some old mills near Broadbottom, so named I think because the nearby hills look like two giant curvaceous butt-cheeks. I walked for about 5 hours in total, to reach Hadfield, I was feeling a bit fed up by then due to a very painful blister on my right heel (actually caused by my wearing "proper shoes" to an interview over a week ago) so I didn't stop to invetigate the town and just headed for the train station. Only when I read a tourist information board while waiting for the train did I realise that Hadfield was the set for Royston Vasey in the TV programme "The League of Gentlemen". So I missed the opportunity to go into a shop and be asked "Are you local?" before being subjected to some form of surreal torture.
I'll leave you with a weird scarecrow I saw in an allotment as I was coming into Hadfield:
Monday, 21 February 2011
Album review: King of Limbs
It shows how much I am out of touch when the first thing I knew about the new Radiohead album, King of Limbs, was when I received an email from their website. It is available now as a download for £6, which is a bit steep compared to their last album (In Rainbows, which was free to download at first), but I forked out anyway. The album is little over 30 minutes, and contains 8 tracks (like the limbs of an octopus?), mostly involving complex drum loops, floaty sound fragments and dubby echo effects, modulated vocals and very little guitar.
At first I was distinctly underwhelmed and felt like it all sounded like background music, but after a third listen it is definitely growing on me. The music sounds mostly computer generated, with nods to the likes of Lamb, Massive Attack, Aphex Twin and UNKLE, and is a progression of the techno-fiddiling that began on Kid A. 'Bloom' has a laid back jazzy feel while second track 'Good Morning Mr Magpie', which first appeared on the Radiohead TV DVD as a solo acoustic performance from Thom Yorke, bounces along to an insistently funky riff. Track 3 'Little by little' has the first recognisable guitar and recalls the minor key progression of '2+2=5' from previous Radiohead album 'Hail to the Thief'. The songs in the second half of the album put more emphasis on the vocals, 'Codex' has some nice big shimmering keyboard and last track 'Separator' has an uplifting melody with some spacey chords to finish on.
It feels a bit lightweight for a Radiohead album, but its so short you can happily play it again straight away when its over. It's different enough from their previous output, while still remaining recognisably Radiohead and shows how the band are not scared to continuously change their style. Deep down I would like them to come out with a White Album-style stripped down acoustic album next, but they'll probably continue their metamorphosis into a cybertrance outfit. Which wouldn't be so unwelcome.
At first I was distinctly underwhelmed and felt like it all sounded like background music, but after a third listen it is definitely growing on me. The music sounds mostly computer generated, with nods to the likes of Lamb, Massive Attack, Aphex Twin and UNKLE, and is a progression of the techno-fiddiling that began on Kid A. 'Bloom' has a laid back jazzy feel while second track 'Good Morning Mr Magpie', which first appeared on the Radiohead TV DVD as a solo acoustic performance from Thom Yorke, bounces along to an insistently funky riff. Track 3 'Little by little' has the first recognisable guitar and recalls the minor key progression of '2+2=5' from previous Radiohead album 'Hail to the Thief'. The songs in the second half of the album put more emphasis on the vocals, 'Codex' has some nice big shimmering keyboard and last track 'Separator' has an uplifting melody with some spacey chords to finish on.
It feels a bit lightweight for a Radiohead album, but its so short you can happily play it again straight away when its over. It's different enough from their previous output, while still remaining recognisably Radiohead and shows how the band are not scared to continuously change their style. Deep down I would like them to come out with a White Album-style stripped down acoustic album next, but they'll probably continue their metamorphosis into a cybertrance outfit. Which wouldn't be so unwelcome.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
British heritage
On the breakfast news today there was a feature on vandalism and theft of heritage sites. They showed an old farm that had been set ablaze, some 200 year old paving stones that had been nicked ("to break up for a rockery") and a large fortification from one of the World Wars that had been graffiti'd inside. The worst was a Roman settlement that had been ruined by people driving through it in their 4x4s. Probably on the way to picking their kids up from school.
Its a heartbreaking state of affairs, but it occured to me that maybe a lot of people just don't feel a connection with the past, or value it in anyway. After all, todays society is all about now, now, now, and faster, faster, FASTER! There is so much history in this country that it is almost overwhelming, and what do you see when you look to the future? The country being a shadow of its former self, slowly sinking down into obscurity. No jobs, no joy, living in a police state, being fed by nanny robots. The country is cluttered up by relics, reminders of halcyon days.
The main headline on the local news, which is basically a series of comedic interludes, was that the oldest police horse in Manchester has retired. That's the major news for the whole of the north-west of England. No wonder Londoners think everyone else is provincial. Nothing to worry about for us northies though, apart from where the next cheese is coming from.
Its a heartbreaking state of affairs, but it occured to me that maybe a lot of people just don't feel a connection with the past, or value it in anyway. After all, todays society is all about now, now, now, and faster, faster, FASTER! There is so much history in this country that it is almost overwhelming, and what do you see when you look to the future? The country being a shadow of its former self, slowly sinking down into obscurity. No jobs, no joy, living in a police state, being fed by nanny robots. The country is cluttered up by relics, reminders of halcyon days.
The main headline on the local news, which is basically a series of comedic interludes, was that the oldest police horse in Manchester has retired. That's the major news for the whole of the north-west of England. No wonder Londoners think everyone else is provincial. Nothing to worry about for us northies though, apart from where the next cheese is coming from.
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