Dave O'Brien

In this talk Professor Glen O'Hara discusses his new book New Labour, New Britain? How the Blair governments reshaped the country. The New Labour governments of the 1990's and 2000's seem a long… New Labour, New Britain? How the Blair governments reshaped the country

What could the current Labour government learn from the Blair years?

In this talk @gsoh31.bsky.social discusses his new book 'New Labour, New Britain?: How the Blair governments reshaped the country' at @yorkstjohn.bsky.social. Watch it on YouTube here:

Congratulations 👏👏👏👏👏

FULLY FUNDED PHDs IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

I'm looking for *two* PhD students to join my ERC project on refugee-led approaches to displacement justice. The positions are funded for four years, and you get to join our lovely community in Bristol. Please share widely!

philjobs.org/job/show/30997

“We Are Making A Film About Mark Fisher” is coming to @edincollegeofart.bsky.social.
Delighted to welcome co-director Simon Poulter for this screening on 20 March - all welcome. Book your tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/we-are-mak...

PhD Funding!

University of Leeds

The School of History invites Black, Asian and other minoritised ethnic scholars who wish to pursue a PhD to apply for the Access to Research Scholarship.

Scholarship is open to those who are eligible to pay UK fees.

phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/387-...

You star, will do

We should do a @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast!

The book cover for The Umbrella Man and Other Stories

“I wanted to write a book that would provide an easy fancy dress option for introverted children on World Book Day. I think I’ve done that.” - Martin Fitzgerald

Physical Disability and Deformity in Nineteenth-Century Britain Offering historical primary sources that outline both medical and experiential perspectives of physical disability, this book provides frequently mentioned but rarely provided material and supports re...

I have an edited primary source collection coming out on disability and deformity in c19th Britain. My hope is that you find it useful for teaching (apologies for the abstract, I did not write it! and the cost) #histmed #dishist www.routledge.com/Physical-Dis...

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A black holding cover for the book 'Star Wars: Star Pilots' by Chris Kempshall

Wedge Antilles from the Star Wars franchise piloting a snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back

‘I have never wanted to suggest that my wartime experiences were any more important or heroic than any other pilot. But so many of them are gone now and I am still here. Their words deserve to be heard’ - Wedge Antilles

'Star Wars: Star Pilots' Oct 2026 (DK) geni.us/StarWarsStar...

YouTube video by UK Research and Innovation UKRI update from Professor Sir Ian Chapman

And here is the UKRI video explaining buckets. 2/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnq...

Ian Chapman maps the changes to UKRI’s budget between 2026 and 2030 Changes to how UKRI will deliver its investments have prompted questions and debate. UKRI’s CEO Ian Chapman discusses the rationale and mapping the old world onto the new

'Today, in a video published on the UKRI website, and in this piece, I want to describe what this means for individual researchers and innovators and, in particular, the place for curiosity-driven research within that.' 1/2

BREAKING NEWS in the world of Sticky Toffee Puddings

Hi! Come and work with me!

Thanks for recording it!!!

One interesting point in the UKRI letter is the statement that before the buckets UKRI's investment was 'tracked largely by discipline'. Is it very difficult to map this assertion onto how 'disciplines' are normally defined in research and academic contexts, or am I missing something? 2/2

UKRI shares first detailed comparisons of past and future spending under new ‘bucket’ model - Committees - UK Parliament Professor Sir Ian Chapman, Chief Executive of UKRI, has written to the Committee Chair, Dame Chi Onwurah, to provide previously unavailable information about its new 'bucket'-led approach to funding r...

Back to buckets. Four of them. Or, three buckets and a trough. 1/2

Listen! @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social spoke to @kennyailbhe.bsky.social about the hugely important "Music Refuge: Living Asylum Through Music" newbooksnetwork.com/music-refuge

The mapping shows that the curiosity-led research ('bucket one') is applicant-led research, QR, and a sprinkling of smaller items from across UKRI. Applicant-led funding and QR are increasing from financial years 2025-26 to 2026-27, but overall curiosity-led research is receiving a smaller share of the increase in 2026-27 than other 'buckets'. . From this mapping, it appears 'curiosity-led' research as UKRI are defining it, is being protected, and is over 50% of the total investment. However, as we said in our question to Sir lan, QR is not all curiosity-led, it is at best 'non-Government directed'. This eliding of definitions is part of the reason that there is confusion around the statement that curiosity research is protected. Further, the statement that curiosity-led research is over 50% of the total budget risks looking dis-ingenious when a big chunk of it is QR funding.

Response from @sciencecampaign.bsky.social says ‘the statement that curiosity-led research is over 50% of the total budget risks looking disingenuous when a big chunk of it is QR funding.’
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...

A key para is this: ‘The budget for [responsive mode] in 2025/26 is
£737m. You will see above that, in 2026/27, this maps to the ‘applicant-led’ funding for
which the budget is £815m. This increases year-on-year to £821 million in FY27/28, £836
million in FY28/29, and £866 million in FY29/30.

Important on how the new science (which includes social and arts and humanities!) works

Complex UKRI diagram

Today @ukri.org has provided a bit more information about how past funding maps onto its new structures in this letter to the Science Select Committee. It’s quite a hard diagram to get your head round at first glance but the letter also gives more context
committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Going to be talking to UofM colleagues about this very point later this week!

As Maria Sobolewska and I first said in Brexitland, the legacy parties under FPP are like Tinkerbell - they need belief to survive. if people cease to believe they see the best and only options, they can die fast. Is this the moment Labour’s Tinkerbell dies?

Sutton Trust reaction to the Government's response to consultation on unpaid internships - The Sutton Trust The Government has published its response to the consultation on unpaid internships.

paid internships must be the norm, transparently advertised and properly enforced.

Opportunity shouldn’t depend on your parents’ bank balance. www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

with financial backing and insider networks over those with talent and potential.

We know internships are a key route into many professions. When access depends on who can afford to work for free, that isn’t meritocracy, it’s structural advantage.

If we’re serious about social mobility, 2/

The government’s response on unpaid internships is welcome but it must lead to real change.

As the Sutton has pointed out below, unpaid and unadvertised internships remain a significant barrier to opportunity. They privilege those with financial backing and insider networks over those 1/

🚀 Postdoc Alert! Are you passionate about social learning & cultural evolution? @dominikdeffner.bsky.social & I have a 3-year position with freedom to develop your research and work on cutting-edge multiplayer and immersive experiments. Apply by March 30! hmc-lab.com/SocialLearni... Pls share 🙏