Margot Finn

Rather a lot of founders fund these disciplines BA, Leverhulme etc but I think this is not the issue: who is minding the disciplines?

Are they really? Art History and Anthropology and Theatre Studies are disciplines. Is RC funding ‘based’ on them? In what sense?

Ah, the Singles Market...

Parliamentlive.tv Science and Technology Committee

A morsel of food for thought. When STEM funding is between a rock and a hard place, many STEM learned societies write the Science and Technology Committee, which clearly does take note, and asks relevant ministers to respond.

How many SHAPE learned societies do? If not, why not?

Single market The European single market is one of the EU’s greatest achievements. It has fuelled economic growth and made the everyday life of European businesses and consumers easier. Find information on the sing...

Not if you're in Europe: single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-marke...

One of the many weird about current academic "I handed over most of my research to Claude and triplemaxxed my productivity" discourse is the focus on time-saving rather than quality. It's not about producing better research, but about producing three times as much just-about-good-enough research.

YouTube video by Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator

"Make people dependent enough, and then make it shitty"

Still giggling at this hilarious video from the Norwegian Consumer Council "A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator" which seems a perfect embodiment of Silicon Valley and tech generally these days

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Up...

Thanks!

Parliamentlive.tv Science and Technology Committee

If you want to watch the hearing in full it's here. The UKRI/STFC discussion is the first ~30minutes.
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

Disappointment as Rachel Reeves silent on student loans Critics decry ‘missed opportunity’ to help graduates as chancellor skips opportunity to cut debt levels

Unpopular opinion of the week: It would have been reckless & bad for the higher education ecosystem if she had announced a major decision on student loans. It's a fiendishly complicated issue, the wider university sector is also in crisis, there is a major war in the Middle East. Haste lays waste.

'In his letter, Chapman emphasised that funding for applicant-led research is increasing and that the core QR research budget is protected.'

Protected in aggregate, or across the full range of 'science' for which DSIT is responsible, from SHAPE to STEM & Medicine? 3/3

Categorising 'QR as curiosity-driven research has been challenged by some...experts. Daniel Rathbone...said that QR “is not all curiosity-led” and that “this eliding of definitions is part of the reason that there is confusion around the statement that curiosity research is protected”.' 2/3

'Chapman states that curiosity-driven research “will continue to be delivered mainly through council‑based, applicant‑led funding”, but...QR funding is by far the largest chunk of the curiosity-driven bucket, accounting for £2.26 billion of £3.65bn in 2026-27.'

Curiouser and curiouser? 1/3

'The review will explore how well the UK’s immigration system allows talented people to come to the UK, how well immigration routes interact with each other and what economic benefits talented migrants offer the UK.'

'Talented people' vs 'Untalented people': the new eugenics of 'UK Science'?

Victoria Memorial Hall and the geo-logics of empire

Historical geographers of the world unite, to hear Professor Swati Chattopadhyay's talk on Victorian Memorial Hall and the Geo-logics of Empire. 10 March at 530pm BST in London at the Institute of Historical Research & online on Zoom. All welcome and free. Register with the link below. #Skystorians

What icon will they choose for removing the 'expert' and replacing with the 'influencer'?

2029.ref.ac.uk

OMG. support.grammarly.com/hc/en-us/art...

Does the use of the personas of real people without permission scream ‘class action lawsuit’ to you too?

Smearing Sussex (and Me): Responding to Nigel Biggar’s Latest Attack in The Spectator The University of Sussex, Feb 2026, taken by the author. Alan Lester The Spectator has published an article by Nigel Biggar smearing the University of Sussex as repressing students who ‘don&#…

The Spectator published this attack on me & colleagues just as the High Court is considering Sussex’s request for review of the Office for Students fine. It accuses us of ‘repressing’ our students. The magazine ignored my request for to reply. Please disseminate.

alanlester.co.uk/blog/smearin...

The BBC is lost

Silhouette of a woman with an enormous updo hairdo, long 18th century gown, and an absurd hat perched atop.

How can you be talking about HISTORY with everything that's going on. 18th century history? Women's history? Waves hands.

Friends, it is precisely because of everything that's going on that we need to talk about history much, much more.

Reminded of a colleague years ago whose child, in Camden, was ill for months without a successful diagnosis but, when taken to Ireland on summer holiday, immediately (and correctly) identified by a 60-something-year-old GP as likely having TB.

Mood music & vibes are all very Industrial Strategy orientated. A, in my view, very worrying potential (mooted, not confirmed) development is recalibration of QR algorithm in the current cycle. Given mood music/vibes, this would surely reward some 'curiosities' more than others, more than even now.

Bookshelves. Mezzanine. Banners.

IN A LOCAL ARCHIVES. WONDERFUL PLACE.

Yes, and another problem with 'curiosity driven' is that by allocating all of QR into Bucket 1 the model mistakes how QR is often deployed once decanted into university coffers.

New Publication: Dr Lantschner Launches The Cambridge Urban History of Europe UCL History congratulates Dr Patrick Lantschner on co-editing The Cambridge Urban History of Europe and invites colleagues and friends to the international launch on 27 March 2026.

📚 Congratulations to Dr Patrick Lantschner on co-editing The Cambridge Urban History of Europe, a landmark three-volume history of Europe’s urban past!

Join us for the the international launch on 27 March 2026, 6:15pm ✨

👉 Find our more and book your free place: shorturl.at/TXhEJ 👈

18 Mar 2026, 17:00 – 19:00, at UCL in Bloomsbury. #Skystorians

Or a sprinkler system to put out the bonfire of Humanities and Social Science research?

Ha! Who will tell DSIT and UKRI? (Perhaps, given the contents of the letter, it can be delivered by a further government investment in Comedy).