Heritage science is used to not fitting in.

Straddling a vaulted archway between scientific research and cultural preservation, management, and communication, it has often struggled to eke out it’s position in the context of economic and political shifts. Semantics aside, anything that is self-defined as inter-, trans-, and cross-disciplinary without a safe haven of its own risks homelessness in times of uncertainty. This is inextricably linked to finding financial and institutional support. Decision makers love putting things in boxes, and yet heritage science can sometimes seem to tick too many boxes for practical results.

Heritage, as a wider field, has seen its share of uncertainty regarding its operational procedures. (more…)

In recent news, the OECD PISA study on Gender Equality in Education reminded us again of the well-known fact: girls and women are under-represented in science A-levels, university graduates and scientific careers. What’s new, are their survey results, according to which “girls lack the same self-confidence as boys in science and maths” despite achieving high scores. Also, “differences in parental encouragement” seems to “exacerbate the problem”. Considering my parents’ generation this would seem likely, but still? Has the apple really not fallen further afield by now? (more…)

Should academics spend time to talk about their research with the general public?  Academic careers depend on publishing high-quality papers and demonstrating the positive impacts of research for society, and it is easy to concentrate solely on these.  Yet I believe a key role for universities is to inspire the next generation of researchers.  This has been highlighted by two events I’ve attended in the last week. (more…)

By Tia Kansara, UCL Energy Institute PhD student. Continue the conversation with Tia: @2050city

Thermal comfort is the study of the human psychological, physiological and physical environment. It is a vast subject buried in the science of comfort in the outdoors and indoors. Research, like how we feel comfortable in the buildings and cities we design – is of core value for architects (designers), governments (policy-makers), engineers (construction specialists) and occupants (you and me). (more…)