Duncan Sproul

Seedling growing in the forest

University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...

UKRI opens up grant proposal data to explore using AI to smooth peer review Surging applications has led the UK's main funder to look at ways to reduce the burden on reviewers

UKRI exploring use of AI in grant review - this will prompt debate but interested to know if people think it’d encourage novelty or the opposite? www.chemistryworld.com/news/ukri-op...

We've played around a bit with the available tools for publication review and based on my experience with that I'd agree with the other respondants. Will decrease novelty and the pre-submission optimisation will actually make human review more important.

Nice, I need to add this to my reading list.

www.icbp2026.org

Come join us in beautiful Roscoff for this Conference Jacques Monod on Developmental regulation: from molecular to ecological niches
May 18-22, 2026 Roscoff, France
Abstract deadline: January 31, 2026
Apply here: cjm.sb-roscoff.fr/en

Are you a #devbio postdoc planning to go on the job market in 2026? Then this is the initiative for you! Offering training, networking, mentoring and profile-raising components, Development's PI Programme can give you that extra support you might need while navigating this challenging time...

Postdocs at Center for Gene Expression in Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

We are looking for a Postdoc to join us at the Center for Gene Expression @cgen2025.bsky.social at the University of Copenhagen! Full advertisement here: employment.ku.dk/faculty/?sho...

This coming wednesday Dec. 3rd @college-de-france.fr, the annual #FrançoisJacob symposium. This year is about ‘Biology in the Flow of Time’⏱️. Superbe line up of speakers on various aspects. Come and enjoy (should you have time), free access, no registration🤘

⏰ Final call for online registration!

Online registration for the Australasian Epigenetics Alliance EMCR Mini Symposium closes Wednesday 1 December at 5pm AEDT www.aepia.org.au/emcr-symposium

#EMCR #AEpiA #EpigeneticsResearch #EMCRsymposium #networking

Seconded this! Look forward to seeing your story @brancolab.bsky.social. Enjoyed the Pastor study as well, however, it did feel like a compilation of 2-3 stories and would have been nice to see 1 aspect explored in more depth.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity- come and join us at the Oxford Organoid Hub working under the MRC-BHF REACT programme! If you love in vitro 3D models, the ❤️ and regenerative therapies, this is for you - apply by 18 Dec @oxforddpag.bsky.social @idrm.ox.ac.uk @rdm.ox.ac.uk

The difference in phenotypes between DNMT3B KO and catalytically inactive mutant mice also suggests these are important in vivo:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
While this has not been shown for DNMT3A, the current study doesn't robustly exclude the possibility.
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In support of this, similar effects can explain catalytic-independent effects observed for DNMT3B. We and others have shown catalytically inactive DNMT3B results in methylaytion at H3K36me3-marked loci mediated by recruitment of DNMT3A:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/ncom...
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DNMT3A can form complexes with DNMT3B and the study doesn't exclude this possibility as an explanation for their observations. Ie it could be a DNA-methylation-dependent function of DNMT3A mediated by DNMT3B's catalytic activity.
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Interesting paper, thanks for the writeup! If you don't mind a small comment, however, I would suggest that the use of the term 'DNA-methylation-independent' overstates the evidence in the study. Non-catalytic/non-canonical function would be more accurate. Will explain a bit below:
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Congrats all, lots of cool new centromere work recently!

That is eye opening 😮

I'm teaching a new class in the spring, "The Herbarium: Research, Art & Botany"

I'm looking for your favorite herbarium-based research papers to fill out our reading list of peer-reviewed articles.

Please share your recommendations!

www.bennington.edu/curriculum/c...

😬 Seems like success rates everywhere are going down.

Title slide with text: A guide to writing good code for the busy scientist Black text over stripey pale brown-green background

If you missed my talk but still want some tips for writing good code for scientists, my slides are here:

daxkellie.quarto.pub/a-guide-to-w...

All the links and references are there too in case you want to see more! 😀🧪🌏

#ESA2025 #rstats #quartopub

Next time you are in Edinburgh you should try this place:
www.portofi.com
Don't know if its pecan pie matches up to North American standards but it is good 😋

Very cool opportunity for a #PhD!

Second this advice!

Looks very cool, congrats all!

We are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to study mechanisms of DNA replication stress using single-molecule imaging tools. If you are excited about microscopy, replisome dynamics, and genome stability, we’d love to hear from you.

Application deadline: 24 December

www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Another great PhD opportunity for those interested in cancer!

School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh | The Darwin Trust of Edinburgh | Biology If you require any further information please contact the Trust’s administrators at darwin.trust@ed.ac.uk.

For those interested in designing their own project, we are also happy to consider applicants for Darwin Trust Scholarships (or any others you are eligible for):
biology.ed.ac.uk/darwintrust/...
Deadline 7th January 2026.
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Project 2: Use human ES cells to determine exactly how DNMT3B mutations cause ICF1 syndrome. Collaboration with @hannahlong.bsky.social:
institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk/igc-graduate...
Deadline 11th January 2026
This scheme is flexible if you are interested in other projects.
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Project 1: Use high-throughput mutagenesis and CRISPR screens to understand how gene body methylation impacts transcription. In collaboration with Greg Kudla's group as part of EastBIO program:
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Deadline 15th December 2025
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