Helen Bowes-Catton

For the project below, we're partic keen to hear from people who considered applying but decided not to/ applied but weren't successful/got a place but didn't start/started a PhD but didn't finish it.

Would be really grateful for any tips on where to find people!

Details- bsky.app/profile/hbow...

Thanks so much! Participants can be based anywhere in the world and they don't need a formal diagnosis :)

A desk with tangled yarn on one side of the keyboard, and de-tangled balls of yarn on the other.

Finished 'Crip Spacetime', and made great progress on my tangle. Felt very appropriate to be working through a complex tangle while reading about the entanglements of bodyminds, environments, and objects, and the endless accommodation loop...

hey @greenparty.org.uk I'm having trouble voting in the leadership election. I keep getting an error message 'Slim Application Error'. Is it just me?

A big tangle of yarn with lots of different colours and textures.

To help me focus while reading I'm keeping my hands busy with this huge yarn tangle I discovered in my stash yesterday. So satisfying!

Reading @margaretprice.bsky.social 's brilliant "Crip Spacetime" this week as part of ongoing work on disabled PGR experiences. Such a brilliant, well - theorised, engaging, incisive book. Compelling stuff.

Trying a new approach to research time - structured reading with colleagues. We're all reading the same book and we check back in every couple of hours to discuss progress and how the book relates to our planned paper. It's a really lovely way to read and feels luxurious.

Critics claim gender clinics are seeing an excess of trans boys. But new data suggest otherwise Some claim ‘social contagion’ is driving teenagers who were assigned female at birth to identify as transgender and seek medical care.

I'm glad this specifically names and discusses the mechanisms of societal transmisogyny and harsh policing of transfemininity under patriarchy, which results in transfems staying closeted for longer. While the number of trans men and women are roughly equal, trans women tend to come out later.

The EHRC is ignoring trans voices Leaked documents confirm that the EHRC is planning to ignore 50% of the consultation submission.

🚨 NEW 🚨

Leaked documents confirm that the EHRC is planning to ignore 50% of the consultation submissions
goodlawproject.org/the-ehrc-is-...

New report shows 24 million people in the UK are below minimum socially acceptable living standards New research reveals a sharp rise in the number of individuals in the UK living in households with incomes below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS).

The state we are in.

24m Britons, 36% of the population, live below minimum socially acceptable living standard.

Wealth systematically transferred to the rich - 1% have more than 70% of the population combined.

Can't rebuild without improving spending power of the bottom 50% of population.

The EHRC is ignoring trans voices Leaked documents confirm that the EHRC is planning to ignore 50% of the consultation submission.

We think, in the EHRC's haste to embed its anti trans agenda, it is breaching its legal obligations conscientiously to consider consultation responses - and we expect to sue. goodlawproject.org/the-ehrc-is-...

Yeah, like sometimes people have suggested to me that it's odd that I avoid watching very violent films bc I find them distressing and I'm like... Do you _not_ find it distressing to witness violence?

The Minister for Women and Equalities has confirmed the appointment of Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson as the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Dr Stephenson was announced as the UK government’s preferred candidate in June and completed a pre-appointment hearing in front of the Women and Equalities Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 1 July. Dr Stephenson will take up the post from 1 December 2025, when Baroness Falkner’s extended term comes to an end. Responding to the confirmation of her appointment, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “It is a great honour to be appointed as the new Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission at such a critical time. “I have spent over 30 years building my career across the equality and human rights sector and I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring my insight and experience to lead the EHRC with compassion, honesty and dedication. “I look forward to working with the Government and all stakeholders alongside my new colleagues at the EHRC to uphold equality and human rights and ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.” John Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “We welcome confirmation of the appointment of Dr Stephenson as our next Chair. “She brings a track record of working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, and her experience in addressing inequalities and human rights issues will be invaluable as we deliver our new Strategic Plan and continue our work to make Britain a fairer country. “Now our next Chair has been confirmed, we look forward to progress being made on the appointment of additional Commissioners, including a Wales Commissioner, and a new Deputy Chair and Scotland Commissioner to replace Dr Lesley Sawers, whose term will also end on 30 November 2025.”

Holy crap, Bridget Phillipson has appointed Dr Mary-Ann Stevenson as the new chair of the EHRC, despite the explicit objections of both @commonswec.parliament.uk and the Joint Committee on Human Rights here: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre...
1/

Will you read my consultation? - a Freedom of Information request to Equality and Human Rights Commission Given you plan to ignore a bunch of consultation ( https://goodlawproject.org/the-ehrc-is-ignoring-trans-voices/ ) can you please confirm if you will be including my response to your consultation? Yo...

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/will...

I've just used the FOI system to ask the EHRC if they will be processing my response to their consultation.

I urge everyone who has submitted a consultation to do the same.

Are you a PI in a biology field looking for postdocs? Here is a Starter Pack of early career biologists currently seeking postdoctoral positions! (Also if you are searching for a postdoc, let me know if you want to be added!) go.bsky.app/8zZNEGV

Corrected, thank you so much!

Thanks so much for spotting this!

We have just sent an urgent message to the Tribunal in the PEGGIE case:

Any Expert in this field wishes to supply a credentialed statement to the Tribunal, DM us **urgently** please.

@warwickrdo.bsky.social @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social @zjayres.bsky.social @edicaucus.bsky.social @petraboynton.bsky.social @holby83.bsky.social @ines-perpetuo.bsky.social @katherinefirth.bsky.social

Three shelves of brightly coloured books

Are you neurodivergent & have done, or considered, a PhD? We’re researching how doctoral study works (or doesn’t) for neurodivergent people. Take our 30min survey & help make academia more inclusive forms.office.com/e/ft9jyWsPUW

Questions? Email lindsay.odell@open.ac.uk

#PhD #Neurodivergent

Watch Nancy's explainer on the EHRC draft code of practice ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Don't let them take away our rights behind closed doors The EHRC's proposed Code of Practice would devastate trans+ lives and put everybody at risk. This trans bathroom ban is set to become law with no debate, no scrutiny and no vote in Parliament. We have to act now.

The EHRC – the body which is meant to protect our human rights – is proposing guidance which would turn the Equality Act into a bathroom ban. If this becomes law, it would force trans people out of public life.

And terrifyingly - this is all happening behind closed doors 🧵

IF YOU HAVE THE POWER, YOU MUST USE IT. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is calling on every single leader in the world: DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO GET FOOD and WATER INTO GAZA RIGHT AWAY. JUST DO IT. Just do it. Genocide must not be allowed to continue while we all watch.

IF YOU HAVE THE POWER,
YOU MUST USE IT.

ECR opportunity: 20 funded places on our Early Career Researchers Day.

Successful applicants will join us in Glasgow for workshops on migration studies & ethnographic practice led by Shahram Khosravi & @profkarenoreilly.bsky.social

Apply by 8 September. thesociologicalreview.org/announcement...

Human Rights Hijacked: The Politicisation of the EHRC Labour’s push for contested ECHR Chair reveals how UK institutions are being bent to serve politics, profit, and ideologies, not people.

🚨 New blog: Human Rights Hijacked – The Politicisation of the EHRC

Labour is pushing through the appointment of a contested EHRC Chair — ignoring Parliament, civil society, and international standards. Here’s why it matters.

🧵
medium.com/@mimmymum/hu...

It's a balance they're not always going to get right, and when they get it wrong in one direction they're often harshly criticised by their communities.

Move too far in the other, and you lose access to those in power. It's hard.

have been very successful at moving the dial towards greater equality.

I understand that orgs like Stonewall and LGBT Foundation have to find a tricky balance between representing the interests of their communities and being palatable to the powerful.

Throughout my career I've often been in the position of liaising between radical and assimilationist groups. I genuinely do value both.

It's undeniable that assimilationist approaches to LGBTQIA politics, which have deployed rights- and - citizenship arguments based on strategic essentialism...

I do see the argument that you have to be in the room to make a difference. That you have to keep the channels of communication open with those in power.

I've always avoided criticising Stonewall publicly. I don't like to bring in-community squabbles to the attention of those who seek to divide us and remove our rights. It's important to present a united front.