Yesterday afternoon I visited the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) – of which I am a Fellow – to attend its 2017 Annual Statutory Meeting. Immediately afterwards the RSE opened its doors to members of the public who had booked places to hear a Presidential Address delivered by RSE President Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Continue reading
RSE roll book signatures 1856-57 (credit D. Miell)
Annually the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) holds an Induction Day to admit its new Fellows, and to introduce them to the work of the Society. I enjoyed yesterday’s event as one of the new cohort of Fellows in 2017.
The order of the day included a number of presentations. The first was a welcome speech from RSE President Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Later on there were short talks on the history of the RSE, the work of the RSE Young Academy, and what it means to be a Fellow.
There was also an opportunity to take a tour of the RSE‘s headquarters at 22-26 George Street. As we were guided through the building we learnt more about the people who have played key roles in the work of the RSE (while some of them looked down at us from their portraits). We were also invited to examine some of the RSE‘s treasures, including scientific notes in the handwriting of James Clerk Maxwell, and the Crown Charter of Incorporation that constituted the formation of the society in 1783. Continue reading
This morning (or I should say ‘evening’ for those in Australia) I took part in a webinar hosted by Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE). First the SAGE team asked me about my experience of leading Edinburgh Napier University to successful achievement on the institutional bronze Athena SWAN award at first attempt in 2014. Continue reading
On Monday 15th June I set off with my colleague Dr Clare Taylor for a day trip to London to participate at the Athena SWAN awards ceremony for all who made successful Athena SWAN award submissions in November 2014. It was a long day: I was up before 4:00am to be sure to catch the tram to the airport in time for the 07:20am flight to London City Airport.
Flight BE1329 to London City airport
Edinburgh Napier University’s celebration of Ada Lovelace Day hosted by Equate Scotland and Edinburgh Napier University’s Athena SWAN team on 14th October was a great success, as can be seen in the photographs from the event.
By Hazel Hall, Edinburgh Napier University
This article of mine is republished from The Conversation on 14th October 2014. Many thanks to Steve Vass working with me on this. It’s great to be an author for The Conversation having learnt about the site at the Digital Personhood network meeting in March 2014.
What was the greatest astronomical discovery of the 20th century? Some would say pulsars – highly magnetised, rotating neutron stars emitting beams of electromagnetic radiation. The scientific world was informed of these in a paper published by Nature in 1968.
Tuesday 14th October 2014 is Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. This evening I’ll be marking the day at a special dinner hosted by Equate Scotland and Edinburgh Napier University’s Athena SWAN team. Our guest of honour and keynote speaker will be astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the first female President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Hazel Hall 