Endocrine Abstracts

We are all aware of the current anxieties over the future of Academic Medicine and Modernising Medical Careers. 10 years ago the BMA cohort of 1995 Medical graduates: Medical Academic Career Intentions was performed. 545 doctors graduating in 1995 were followed up for 10 years. The key findings included: those doctors working in research were doing so to improve future career prospects or as a means to secure a National Training Number (NTN). However being in the transition pe...

The decision to undertake a PhD launches you on a path of discovery, but not necessarily scientific discovery!You discover a lot about yourself. Can you survive the failed experiments, the confusion about your goals and the uncertainty about a future career?You discover a lot about working in research groups. Sometimes there is stress with your supervisor, sometimes with other members of the team.The problem ...

‘The essence of scientific responsibility is the inner drive, the inner necessity to get to the bottom of things; to be discontented until one has done so; to express one’s reservations fully and honestly; and to be prepared to admit error.’ (A. Weinberg 1978 ‘The Obligations of Citizenship in the Republic of Science’ Minerva 16:1–3). Fraud and plagiarism never knowingly come into the equation. Any form of public communication by you...

Knowledge transfer has now entered common parlance to describe the interaction between industry and universities. Knowledge transfer frequently involves exchange of money. It consists of many different activities which include teaching, consultancy, licensing patents, and spinning out companies. Many academics provide consultancy to industry and this has the attractive benefits of bringing money to the individual and bringing industry to the university. Consultancy is usually ...