Dan Richards-Doran

Dreaming spires won’t save UK universities that downplay impact Isolated domains of academic excellence must transform into dynamic enterprises integrated with local industry and community, says Aleks Subic

Really thought-provoking piece from Aston Uni's VC on the need for universities to adopt an innovation and enterprise culture to survive ⤵️
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/drea...

Banana bread cooling on a wire rack.

I'm not a natural baker, so I've been reluctant to experiment since buying my first breadmaker a few weeks ago.

In a departure from our usual wholemeal loaf, tonight I bit the bullet and attempted banana bread.

Oh my god it's good. 😋

Does hype really sell claims of research impact? After a recent paper indicated the level of hype language in research impact statements has become pervasive with negative consequences for research assessment, Gemma Derrick finds the use of ‘hype…

Is research impact being over-stated by the colourful use of language? #scicom

blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

Making Sense of Statistics - Sense about Science Published: 29 April 2010

Do you know your good #statistics from your bad statistics? #scicomm

I rediscovered this guide to stats from Sense About Science when I was preparing for some training this week.

Very useful background reading for science communicators and press officers.

senseaboutscience.org/activities/m...

🙌

A Christmas decoration shaped like a silver robot, hanging on a tree

A Christmas decoration shaped like a black robot, hanging on a tree

A woolen Christmas decoration, it's a smiling alpaca

From behind - some people walk alpacas in the mountains.

Our tree is an eclectic mix of deccys collected over the past 15 years. It's more like a memory tree 🎄

The robots are a staff secret Santa gift from British Science Association - many years ago.

This year's addition is an alpaca from a morning walking alpacas in the Welsh mountains with friends ♥️

At the heart of the philosophy of science is that it's socially constructed - created by people.

So only humans can truly interrogate research, develop opinions and put the humanity into writing - giving it authority and integrity.

In science, this is paramount.

I sometimes have the same challenge with articles... Getting together a bullet-point structure helps.

Sometimes I just say what I want to write, then jot it down. It could be a sentence from any part of the piece, but saying it really helps to break the block.

Ursula von der Leyen prioritises research as MEPs approve new Commission Returning European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has given research and innovation top billing as her picks for commissioner were approved by MEPs in Strasbourg today.

“We will put research and innovation, science and technology at the heart of our economy. We will invest more and focus better.”

sciencebusiness.net/news/europea...

👀 And if you're interested in reading the newsletter, you can find it here: mailchi.mp/email.parlia...

📩 Or sign-up here: parliament.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

Screengrab of UK Parliament website, committees section showing a call for evidence about social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms. It reads: Between 30 July and 7 August 2024, a wave of anti-immigration demonstrations and riots took place across the UK. Some targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, driven in part by false claims that spread on social media platforms relating to the killing of three children in Southport. Ofcom, the regulator, has said that illegal content and disinformation spread "widely and quickly" online following the attack, and that the riots demonstrated the role that “algorithmic recommendations” can play in driving divisive narratives in a crisis period. It said the response by social media companies to this content had been “uneven”. The Online Safety Act 2023 tightens the law on disinformation and gives providers new duties to reduce the risk that their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching an inquiry into the links between algorithms used by social media and search engines to rank content, generative AI, and the spread of harmful or false content online. The inquiry will examine the effectiveness of current and proposed regulation for these technologies, including the Online Safety Act, and what further measures might be needed. It will investigate the role of these technologies in driving social harms, with a particular focus on their role in the summer 2024 riots. The Committee welcomes submissions on some or all of the following points by 23:59 Wednesday 18th December: To what extent do the business models of social media companies, search engines and others encourage the spread of harmful content, and contribute to wider social harms?

The UK Parliament Knowledge Exchange Unit's newsletter is always an interesting read - it's great for getting a sense of what's on the #policy agenda and where researchers can contribute.

This week they're plugging a call for #evidence about misinformation
committees.parliament.uk/work/8641/so...

I'm intrigued - I've signed up via your website! I've been learning on and off for a couple of years but haven't made much progress - though I understand the basics now.

I volunteered to do the marketing for the last 3 Gŵyliau Lên Llandeilo Lit Fests and learnt the hard way how hard writing is!

Slay 👌

I love Word of the Year, mainly because I've always been fascinated by how language evolves, and who owns language.

Demure has my vote.

But here's my favourite word from our little corner of Cymru:

"Bendigedig beyond" - more fantastic than you can possibly imagine.

Iawn, diolch! And thanks for the message and the add! I'm very new to learning Welsh, and so far I'm much better at listening/reading and speaking than writing...! Dwi'n caru Ceridigion ♥️ Rwy'n byw yn Llandeilo.

Diolch! Shwmae, Toby!

I loved making this research into action film with Grace @ Bounce Video and @oxsocsci.bsky.social Can you spot the puppies? 🐶 It's great to see the series launched today ⤵️

Diolch, Sarah!

I miss it very much... and definately the best xmas parties 😉

Thanks @stsikel.bsky.social !

Hi Trish! 👋

Love this, season 2 feels like a slow build to something truly epic.

Two sugar-coated mince pies and two mugs with Nadolig Llawen written on them in a decorative style.

Too soon? 😆🎄

Yes!! This is one of my favourite little hacks at Christmas (cos that's generally the only time I buy stilton)

If there's room for a little one, I'd love to be added please! Been working in sci comm for 20 years across universities, charities like British Science Assoc and funders.

Hi I'm Dan, a science communicator at Campus PR. I specialise in research comms and have worked in sci comm for 20 years - mostly for unis and non-profits. Here's my biog and my ORCID:
www.campuspr.co.uk/dan-richards...
orcid.org/0000-0002-05...

Time for an #introduction

I'm a science communicator (of other people's research), my comms superpowers are writing and strategy and I lead Campus PR, a specialist sci comm agency in the UK. 🧪

I live in a vibrant community in rural Wales. I'm learning Welsh (badly), poetry and attempting Mozart 🎹

NASA’s new rendering of the Christmas Tree Nebula