Helen Walden

UKRI award rate halves in seven years as grant applications double - Research Professional News Trends across research councils prompt warning that system is “overstretched or broken”

Feels about right

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Please RT! Call for Fellows! If you’re a structural biologist and wanting to start your lab by applying for an external Fellowship then we at Imperial may be excited to host you. Synthetic biologists too.. Please submit expression of interest with details below 🙏

www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperi...

Superb #Lionesses

It's hard to grasp just how stupid he is, but this helps

Fifteen years later, Science retracts ‘arsenic life’ paper despite study authors’ protests Belated decision on widely disputed 2010 study pleases some critics but puzzles and dismays others

Science finally retracts the Arsenic life paper www.science.org/content/arti...

Better version of the meme.

Happy to share the latest work from the lab, led by @mudgal17.bsky.social‬, in collaboration with the Weis lab @ethzurich.bsky.social.
How do nuclear membranes fuse during NPC assembly? We answer this question in our latest work, where we identify a new mechanism for membrane fusion… (1/13)

Yasss!! #Lionesses

Fab postdoc job opportunity!

Petition to have Steve perform this for a couple to dance to on the upcoming series of #Strictly

Could AI slow science? Confronting the production-progress paradox

Fabulous post by @randomwalker.bsky.social & Sayash raising the same concern many of us have about whether we're on the right track with how we're using AI for science. Everyone should read it, take a deep breath & think through the implications.

www.aisnakeoil.com/p/could-ai-s...

Colin Kleanthous' fundraiser for Motor Neurone Disease Association Help Colin Kleanthous raise money to support Motor Neurone Disease Association

My wonderful colleage Colin Kleanthous is raising money for the MND association. Please support Colin in this worthy endeavor! www.justgiving.com/page/colin-k...
(Please repost!)

Storyville - The Contestant A Storyville documentary that tells the true story of Tomoaki Hamatsu, who spent 15 months in a small room, naked, starving and alone, unaware he was being broadcast to millions of people on TV.

This on IPlayer about a nice naive young man who was essentially held prisoner naked and without food by a reality TV company for 15 months in the 90s is, and I don’t say this lightly, essential viewing.

People who make reality TV are actual sadistic psychos.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

The art of ‘travelling hopefully’ Twenty years after being caught up in the 7/7 London terror attacks, Rivka Isaacson reflects on the lasting impact of that day

I wrote about my 7/7 experience for the 20th (!) anniversary: The art of ‘travelling hopefully’ ft.com/content/ac05... via @ftweekend.com
This, from the comments section, is going on my CV: In a world of pontificating dim wits, a voice that is crystal clear on what it means to carry on fully awake

Decades of mechanistic talk about university degrees as if they were bundles of 'skills' and 'prep' are about to be proved completely wrong (obviously). Want to get a real boost? Do History or English.

Fantastic opportunity to start your independent career at the JIC here. Great startup package. Repost = nice. Thank you!!!

It’s too late on a Friday night for me to post sensibly about this work! But I’m super proud of Joanna’s determination to validate Parkin substrates and I love working with her robust and creative science!

Pulp tour t shirt

So yeah. That was feckin awesome. 30 years since I last saw Pulp (in Bournemouth), what a treat to see them kick-off their More tour tonight in Glasgow with my 17 yo son who is a huge fan! #Pulp #SpikeIsland

A postdoc position is available in our lab to study ADP-ribosylation and ubiquitylation signalling! We are looking for someone with experience in structural biology and biochemistry. The application deadline is June 20th.
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

It’s the nuance, stupid Binary thinking has broken our politics. Is there a way back?

With tech-driven echo chambers we ‘slipped into a new way of thinking, a kind of singularity, where both intellectual and emotional satisfaction came exclusively from a confirmation of the self,’ writes @aiannucci.bsky.social in his brilliant essay: www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

What Are People Still Doing on X? Imagine if your favorite neighborhood bar turned into a Nazi hangout

I realize posting this here is preaching to the choir. But after the Grok White Genocide thing & Ye essentially launching an exclusive Neo Nazi single on the platform... I felt motivated to write about X and how bizarre it is that so many people (news outlets, celebrities, politicians) use it

I’ve lost my husband to Eurovision yet again this year 🤣 Sweden’s his favourite, never seen him show any interest in sauna, sauna, but okaaayyyy…!

Strongly considering starting a ‘To-Don’t’ list to record how many times a day I say no to things!

I have just about had it with ‘gentle reminders’ to complete grant reviews and paper reviews. This is FREE work! On top of all my other tasks. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting on a paper decision 2.5 months after submitting ‘final’ edits. I think I’m taking a break from being nice.

Congratulations!

International students can save Britain’s broke universities They can find money at home, or they can find it abroad. But if they don’t find it, some are going under.

Sooner or later, one of three things is going to happen. Universities can find money at home, or they can find it abroad. But if they don’t find it, some are going under.

In defence of international students.

Yeah this is sadly the conclusion I’ve come to. I just feel totally overwhelmed with how much service work I’m asked to do while the institutions declare how important representation is to them.

Buzzing after seeing the incredible Skunk Anansie in Glasgow tonight. Totally awesome show!

Another day another review request (10 days). With the usual ‘suggest alternatives from underrepresented communities’. This approach doesn’t just overburden the underrepresented groups, it under-burdens the overrepresented ones, freeing them up to do stuff that is ‘objectively’ judged as ‘better’.

Looking forward to the ‘your tariffs times infinity PLUS ONE’ stage of these kindergarteners currently occupying positions of power 🙄