Juliane Borchert

Thank you for this thread. I was a recent immigrant to the UK when the referendum happened. It was unsettling and disorienting, and certainly reduced my will to integrate. I had come as a graduate student on a UK scholarship. So not paying taxes and getting UK government money, but not on benefits.

Natalia in front of academic poster with Dearc plushie

Natalia with 3D print of Liassic Ichthyosaur

Today's 6th Brexit Anniversary for these observing. It's been pivotal to my life. I am the demographic Farage used to fearmonger, a poorly integrated East European immigrant on benefits. After the election, my family, and other migrants, faced increased xenophobia and uncertainty. But I prevailed. 🧵

I still love the UK and treasure the time I lived there. Having left, I do reflect about the ways it enriched and harmed me. I have a complicated relationship with the UK. Currently I am relieved to watch its political absurdities and cruelties from afar and that they no longer directly impact me.

Brexit tarnished my nearly seven years in the UK. It revealed the ugly sides of the country and made it an uglier, more racist, more closed minded country. I did eventually pay taxes and had a great job. But when a job opportunity elsewhere presented itself, I left.

People liked to see me as a "good immigrant" cause of my education level. My rebellious side liked to point out that at the time I paid less into the NHS and in taxes than the maligned Romania cleaner people loved to rant about.

Thank you for this thread. I was a recent immigrant to the UK when the referendum happened. It was unsettling and disorienting, and certainly reduced my will to integrate. I had come as a graduate student on a UK scholarship. So not paying taxes and getting UK government money, but not on benefits.

Lovely to get something crafted by a family member!
I am thinking about putting those felt pads used for furniture, but do far they sit pretty well just from their weight.

Only way to stop me from touching the first project too early. Gotta let the glue dry!

A bathroom with white tiles. The bathtub is mostly covered with three wooden slats

The woodworking project is concluded and I now have a cover for my bathtub that generates extra storage. I oddly have a bathtub and separate shower, so this rarely used bathtub can now serve as storage space in an otherwise crammed bathroom.

Had to improvise a bit to get this home cause it was raining heavily (a trash bag and an IKEA tote were involved).
Any guesses what I was actually making?

Three big pieces of wood drying on a workbench

The second layer of stain also needs to dry 🙄

I love her videos!
I did manage to distract myself long enough to let the glue dry pretty well.

A piece of wood with blobs of thick white paste on it

Time to put more wood stain on. The consistency is a bit off. Kind of like custard? While it is a bit off putting, it does spread nicely and uniformly.

The hardest part of gluing is the patience needed to let the glue dry. So to distract myself I started a little side project with wood scraps.

First up a bit more sanding to deal with the wood grains that are standing up after the first application of wood stain. Then time to glue!

A woman in a woodworkshop. She is wearing over-ear headphones

After a couple of days break, due to life and to give the wood stain time to dry, I am back at it. Let's work some wood!

Assembly is fun! Especially as it is often a sign that the end is near. I guess most of my recent projects didn't involve much assembly as they typically involved touching up existing furniture.

Agreed! I don't really enjoy hand sanding. The workshop I use has a lovely rotary sander so I rarely have to touch the sandpaper.

Two pieces of wood. One looks brighter than the other

Next step is to apply a transparent wood stain. It is subtle but it's nice to see the wood colours pop a bit more.

A workbench, on it pieces of wood, ear protectors. A face mask and an electric rotary sander

I do enjoy sanding. From a tactile standpoint it is the most satisfying step. The sanded wood feels so smooth 😍

A white woman wearing a FFP2 mask and ear protectors

I am ready for some weekend wood-working. The first step consists of a fair amount of sanding and people around me in the community workshop are using routers, and circular saws. So double personal protective equipment for me.

Sonntag, den 23. Januar 1916 Ein schöner Frühlingswarmer Tag. Im Gelände Ruhe, nur in weiter Ferne zeitweise lebhaftes Geschützfeuer. Ein Maschinengewehr der Franzosen bestreicht die Mitte der Kompagniestellung „Höhengra…

23.01.1916
"[...] Es zeigt eine vollkommen unpatriotische Verachtung der für unser liebes Vaterland nötigen wirtschaftlichen Sparsamkeit, die das gute deutsche Herz mit Zorn erfüllen muß."
kurts1662tage.de/2026/01/23/s...

photo of march, signs for renee good and against ICe, crowded street.

this photo. minneapolis. 💜

📷️ Alex Kormann/Star Tribune

This sounds like it could be illegal in German labour law. I am not a lawyer but I suspect my workers council would go ballistic over this. Anybody know if this is also being rolled out in Europe?

SHE!!
You keep proving you didn't even read the first line of the article.

At conferences the constant: "Whose group are you in?"
My god, just phrase your questions more open. "Where are you based?" Is a fine question. When I reply with "I lead a group, we do research on xyz." Don't double down with "Which professor are you attached to?" 🙄

This is one for all the #WomeninSTEM. If you are happy to, could you share some of the more awkward and unusual questions you have been asked? The ones your male colleagues would never be asked.

I'm running an event @helmholtz.de with the awesome Michelle Browne for #IDWAGIS

Special German example because of how teaching degrees are structured here. Heard literally hundreds of times as a student when introducing myself to new people :

"Ach, DU studierst Physik? Aber doch bestimmt auf Lehramt?"

See! Then we even know the mechanism how they contribute to scientific advancements!

Has this been studied? 🤔
I do think fancy nails could be a significant positiv contribution to physics.

Jokes aside, I am sorry this teacher is making ignorant biased comments. As a fellow woman in physics I want to confirm that colourful nails are certainly no impediment to physics learning.