B’s PhD thesis was beautifully presented. Everything was well laid out on the highest quality paper, with a fluent and compelling narrative. I had always thought that he was conducting research into the efficiency of wind turbines, yet – so far – there was no mention of them in the thesis.

Then I turned the page and hit streams and streams of mathematical formula. This was where the technical content of B’s thesis began.

Once again I was reminded that I, amongst others, needed some additional training to cover all elements of my job. (I had mentioned this to X in the past, but she dismissed the idea. At first I had thought that this was because she had a degree in maths herself, but had recently discovered that she had no qualifications – at all!)