Sunday
Spent the weekend working on EU proposals. Has it been worthwhile? With only a 10-15 per cent chance of success, should we have invested three weeks of our time in an 80-page proposal? Yes. The teamwork and new science have been fun.
Monday
An early morning crawl along the M62/M60 to Runcorn. ICI is hosting the Bioremediation Consortium, a North American industry/regulator group that is researching the clean-up of contaminated land and groundwater. Sometimes the group is a little gung-ho and not entirely rigorous in testing its hypotheses. But overall, the results of the non-competitive multi-institutional approach are exciting.
Tuesday
Hand over information from yesterday to Gary. He will discuss how we can link our research on the natural degradation of pollutants with the consortium's work.
Wednesday
To London for the Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
On the train, Ruth, one of my postdocs, and I discuss the unexpected results from her fieldwork at Mansfield Colliery -the pollution is where we expected it, but it is the wrong sort. Back to the drawing board and the large spoil heap we have been ignoring.
Leaving the coal dust behind, we spruce up for the celebration dinner at the Guildhall. Sheffield has won the prize for environmental outreach. Contributions were made by five groups, including my groundwater group. I am not expecting to enjoy it, but I do. Plenty of pomp and ceremony.
A gospel choir provides a wonderful counterpoint to the formality. Good dinner guests, too -a member of the Environment Agency board on one side and the chief scientist of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions on the other. We chat, network and exchange cards.
Thursday
Breakfast with the registrar. Meet with researchers who are off to the palace with the university dignitaries to receive the prize.
Visit an organisation that provides contaminated sites for research and demonstration of clean-up technologies. We are reviewing proposals and spend much more time on them than a typical research council panel.
The research effort in the UK is tiny and fairly amateurish compared with North America. Some people think they waste a lot of money, but they have come up with almost all the new ideas in the past 15 years. The British contribution has been a sense of pragmatism, arguing that only sites that present real risks should be tackled.
Friday
Back in Sheffield to catch up with the group over tea and biscuits. Attend examiners' meetings. Say goodbye to a PhD student and hello to renewed interest from our industrial sponsors.
David Lerner is professor of environmental engineering and leader of the Groundwater Protection and Restoration Group, University of Sheffield.