American sociologist Ray Oldenburg is known for his theory of ‘third places’. The concept of us having a first place (home), a second place (work) and a third place, where we spend time between the other two places, exchanging ideas, building relationships and, essentially, having a kind of community that is centred around a shared […]
At the start of 2020, Sarah Gilbert was the professor of vaccinology at the university of Oxford and had been working on developing vaccines for a number of years. Dr Cath Green had a half-time role as head of the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility (CBF) and half-time running a research team at the Welcome Centre for […]
I’ve been a fan of the composer Max Richter for some time now. I was particularly fascinated in his piece Sleep – which suggests new ways for music and consciousness to interact, ‘a personal lullaby for a frenetic world…, a manifesto for a slower pace of existence’. It’s a piece that is designed to […]
Alexandra Hammond What is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? During 1941 at a secret code-breaking facility in the English countryside, mathematicians and code breakers solved a problem that would go on to significantly affect the outcome of World War II. This problem of course, was that of the Enigma cipher device which was used […]
Reading has been one of those absolute luxuries that has been ok to overdo in lockdown. I’ve set myself a 40-book target for 2021 which promises a mix of business books and some much over-looked fiction. I recently read Breath by James Nestor – The New Science of a Lost Art. Not only is […]
A year ago, I posted a Christmas message that was fairly typical – we were pleased with the opportunities that arose in 2019 and we were optimistic about 2020. None of us could have imagined the year ahead. I’ve looked back at some of the business magazines/journals which predicted events for 2020 and life seemed […]
Technology today is having an increasing impact on global daily life. According to Statista (2020), 4.7 billion people use the internet, equalling 59% of the global population. The advancement of modern technology has affected society in numerous ways, such as how people communicate, learn and think. Figure 1: Graph created by Office of National […]
Nowadays, video games are one of the most popular sources of entertainment. However it is still often criticised for causing increased aggression, isolation and rising obesity. This is simply not the case! In fact, many studies suggest that video games can do the opposite by helping the player keep healthy (in mind and body). […]
Gemma Skellern joined us in August on a Work Based Learning placement from the University of Chester. It was wonderful to welcome Gemma into the team and, as she is just about to embark on her third year in Microbiology, she brought some real value to our projects. After some brief introductions, we were really […]
It seems like a lifetime ago we were going into the office each day and our daily interactions were generally face-to-face – how times change. Initially, we were busy ensuring that all our businesses were made aware of the immediate calls regarding PPE supply, diagnostics and home monitoring. We spent a good deal of time […]
