Effects of wax-based anti-graffiti on copper patina composition and dissolution during four years of outdoor urban exposure

The protection against graffiti has become a serious problem in most cities. Unfortunately such form of vandalism does not save the cultural heritage. The use of anti-graffiti coatings is a common treatment that can also temporary protect the surface from degradation due to interactions with the environment. Aspects that have not yet been sufficiently investigated from a metal artefact perspective are whether the presence of the anti-graffiti coating will influence the patina composition and reduce the degree of patina dissolution. Long-term (four years) effects of wax-based anti-graffiti coatings on bare copper sheet and pre-patinated copper exposed to urban atmospheric conditions are presented and discussed in terms of changes in patina dissolution rates, barrier properties and composition. The investigation is based on a multi-analytical approach combining chemical analysis, analytical and electrochemical tools (stereomicroscopy, FTIR, XRD, SEM/EDS, AAS, EIS, colorimetric measurements). Results are believed to provide important information related to the long-term applicability of such coatings to preserve the Cultural Heritage.     

Academic superheroes? A critical analysis of academic job descriptions

For over a decade, debate has raged about the nature and purpose of the PhD, including its role as preparation for working in academia. Academic work has changed a great deal in the last 60 years, yet our doctoral curriculum has remained relatively static. While there is increasing interest in matching PhD programmes to ‘real world’ needs, there is a surprising lack of research to inform research curriculum development at this level. If we take the position that the PhD is still the best way to prepare for academic work, what skills and attributes should we help graduates develop for this destination? This article analyses a set of academic job advertisements and asks: What do academic employers really want from the PhD now?     

Concerns of new university teachers

Eighty-one newly appointed university teachers at the University of Copenhagen were interviewed about their concerns in connection with their forthcoming class-room début. It appeared that most of them had some previous teaching experience. Only one out of four had never taught before. Primary among their concerns ranked problems with their personal subject matter adequacy and with organizing and verbally presenting subject matter in an adequate form. A comparison of their chief concerns with the content components that are most frequently included in education courses for University staff, suggests that some of the latter have little relevance for specifically beginner teachers. A particular analysis of inexperienced new teachers relative to those with ample previous experience unequivocally supports the assumption that inexperienced new teachers are primarily ego-centered in their concerns whilst their more experienced colleagues are primarily teaching- or student-centered in their concerns about teaching. The implications for the design of training programmes for university staff are discussed.     

Everyday common sense and school mathematics

In recent years, proposals have been made to build mathematics teaching more closely on children's informal knowledge, i.e. on concepts and strategies formed in natural, everday settings. The article focuses on questions concerning this trend, more specifically on issues concerning how and in what sense children benefit from everyday common sense knowledge when they learn mathematics at school. Three empirical examples, collected within a field-based research project at the intermediate children, when using their everyday life experience, sometimes fail to make mathematical sense of a given task. Two factors which complicate the creation of links between common sense and mathematics are discussed: one that deals with the problem of using everyday life experience as a basis for abstracting mathematical ideas, and one which concerns the pupil's abilities to interpret an assigned task in a mathematically relevant way.