Mike Fowler

The scary thing is the total failure of VCs across the UK to stabilise sector finances across the last 15 years. For those who can leave, there are few other options around. For those who can't... a cohort of weak, overpaid VCs have installed a gaggle of even weaker PVCs who won't do a better job 😞

Insecurity of fixed term posts

70,000 HE academic staff.

Almost half of teaching only staff.

Two-thirds of research-only academic staff.

ALL on fixed term contracts.

This isn’t flexibility, it’s exploitation.

Live tomorrow at 7 PM we expose the hypocrisy at the top of HE: youtube.com/live/rZRbCP0YJ…

...but maybe not too surprised?

Vote of no confidence in Swansea University vice chancellor over job cuts - BBC News UCU members at Swansea University pass a vote of no confidence in its vice chancellor due to job cuts.

I am, dear followers, quite confident the people responsible will continue to avoid responsibility.
@ucu.org.uk
#JoinAUnion
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Something, something, dying embers of a globally disasterous industry.
☀️💨🌊❤️

We have a PhD position in population genomics of sheep scab mites available from October 2026. The project will investigate Psoroptes populations in the context of eradication programs on Scottish island groups and spreading drug resistance. www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

YouTube video by Rock N' Roll True Stories Gone Too Soon…The TRAGIC Story of Fountains of Wayne (Stacy’s Mom)

Someone beat you to it.
(Great channel, worth subscribing for researching your next PhD topic.)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=To5q...

*its :(

Exemptions for any organism that is more commonly called "PERKELE!" than it's other common name.

The new Wiley journal review system is an absolute nightmare. Editorial assistants have been replaced by a clunky, AI-enabled website that makes it harder to find and invite reviewers. Associate editor workloads have increased. I'm not convinced the invitations to reviewers are even going through.

Mollusc ado about nothing.

I haven't heard anyone mention the "academic journey" since approximately... [checks notes] student number caps were lifted.

Internet archive to the rescue!!

web.archive.org/web/20191108...

You can shove all that right up yer pipe.

YouTube video by Andrew Jackson Opening R for the first time

Feeling very badly let down by @yodacomplex.bsky.social today.

After parasitising his very helpful "Intro to (base) #Rstats" videos for years to supplement my teaching, he's finally taken them down and replaced them with an RStudio version.

End of an era 😢

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvhb...

You: A researcher who is asking for massive sums of public money to investigate the biggest challenges of our times, by thinking very deeply and carefully about them.

Also you: finDing answErs & reseaRching temPoral synchronY: DERPY

a man is sitting at a table with a plate of food . ALT: a man is sitting at a table with a plate of food .

Project acrocnyms that don't use the first letter of each word in the title but do pick random letters within the words.
💩

Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...

More fool them. There's almost always a manager above them.

Large Language Muddle | The Editors The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

YES! THIS on GenAI!

Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:

"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."

If all they're doing is collating AI generated slop, it really won't be long before a manager notices and finds a more efficient way of collating it?

My pop culture references are all positively Baroque.

Sorry to hear about this. Absolutely terrible behaviour.

It may be covered by sporting association codes of conduct and/or safeguarding requirements.

(Luckily, I've been reading up after some unpleasant in-person and online abuse during and after refereeing a kids' football game last weekend.)

a cartoon character with a blue nose and mouth is smiling and saying `` oh joy '' . Alt: a cartoon character with a blue nose and mouth (Stimpson J. Cat) is smiling and saying `` oh joy '' .

Turns on "Pet Shop Boys" on Spotify.
Enjoys first track.
Presented with advert for private hospital specialising in hip replacements.
Relief that at least the algorithm finally gets me.

A sunflower, denuded of its petals, basks in the early autumnal sunshine.

Somewhere, in the distance, Don Henley softly rises from a radio.
Dylan Thomas raises an eyebrow.

Wait, is @sizeofwales.bsky.social here?
They'll probably want a word about this.

Oh em gee, I need to see that.
Honourable mention for Black Sheep (2006), too.

Browser preferences updated – thanks for the tip.

Expert-led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology Response diversity aims to capture and explain the variation in ecological responses to environmental change. Response diversity is expected to drive ecological stability since a wider variety of resp...

New #preprint online!
What do we mean when talking about #ResponseDiversity in #ecology & related fields?
Do we agree on relevant scales, stability dimensions, etc? (Spoiler alert: do we ever?)
🧪🌍

Expert-led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
doi.org/10.1101/2025...