Patrick Thomson

Obligatory #NotAllResearchers

Excl: Edinburgh University begins compulsory layoffs with department set to be axed Seven staff in the Instute for Academic Development are set to lose their jobs when the department closes

"Not impacting the student experience" my arse. The IAD, like any Academic Development, compounds investment in the student experience by making researchers marginally less shit at teaching. They're also how I ended up in my current career.

thetab.com/2025/10/31/e...

I've gone in different places in the author list on my papers in the SAME JOURNAL because one or more coauthors were in a more precarious career situation and needed it

Oh GREAT, the one transformation that our introductory organic teaching says we can't easily do in one step.

We’re just innocent men

Higher Ed in 2025 is opening your mailbox to see that your institution has sent you:

1. A Center for Teaching and Learning call to integrate AI into your classroom; and

2. An Office of Academic Integrity email encouraging you to crack down on students who use AI to cheat.

I'm in this photo and I don't like it

Rest in peace to Jane Goodall, whose tireless advocacy for primates has brought us closer than ever to the Planet of the Apes becoming a terrifying reality

PC gaming feels a better fit than railroads. There aren't many consumers holding AI bonds about to get devalued, and the remnants won't be hundred-year infrastructures but technologies, products, and shifts in equilibria.

You're welcome. There's also a big kerfuffle about the bins at the moment. Feels like every country could do with a bit of Parish Council energy at the very highest levels of governance.

Quote from an article, which reads: The Highlands and Islands MSP claimed the incident happened in front of security and other parliamentary staff, after the pair had clashed over the scheduling of a summit to discuss "out of control" seagulls.

Heartfelt thanks to the Scottish parliament for keeping its political disasters on a level I can actually tolerate.

Right. My students working two part time jobs and/or having an hour and a half commute to uni because they have to live at home due to the cost of student accommodation lack drive and vigour. Sure thing, Peter. The UK Govt still haven't a clue about the realities of universities today.

Me, begrudgingly dressing for academic processions: www.instagram.com/reel/DNwz2nH...

Congratulations to all the shows that won Emmys, they sound cool, I’ll definitely check them out when I’m done watching 500 episodes of Antiques Roadshow

Yes! I've been saying this for years, AI can at best be an accelerator for expertise; using it without any is utter folly. Teach it critically, to graduates.

Curated meme by Andorian Memeing Consortium. Text and images. Text reads: Don't claim to be a Fan of Star Trek unless you've seen the whole trilogy. Image is three movie posters of the Borne Identity trilogy, only it's edited to be The Morn Identity, The Dorn Supremacy, and the Gorn Ultimatum with the respective characters edited into the images.

We LEAFd but it really feels more of a researcher thing, lots of simple stuff that passes, lots of avoidable consumption that didn't move the needle either way.

Outstanding news that should be shared.

Wonderful #vicephec25, as always!

About to pass through the hated Wavertree Technology Park, voted "station most likely to be the only one that autocompletes when you forget that Edinburgh Waverley isn't just called Waverley"

Update: I am on the way to Liverpool and I did not do the shirt thing.

Scott Gardner (@sgchem.bsky.social)

If anyone's heading over/up/down to @vicephec.bsky.social next week, check out the presentation by Strathclyde student sgchem.bsky.social , who used TikTok to punch up our prelabs! Previously of the YouTube Paper fame, with @lemackz.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

We did an open-access thing! Prelabs, what instructors (you) typically do in them, and what y'all think about them! Now with added "Outwith". pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... with @edinburghchem.bsky.social colleagues Ben and Mairi, @chemistryncl.bsky.social Cristina, and @annajkirkham.bsky.social !

For those arriving for satellite activities, #ViCEPHEC25 is just two weeks away. If you haven't already, this is another great opportunity to follow the conference starter pack.

Get in touch if you'd like to be added to this - it is a work in progress. go.bsky.app/FffPieC

We are fitting our own kitchen (not the royal we! Marrying an engineer has some benefits) and I actually used Duct Tape to Tape up a Duct and I've never been more devastated to realise I was previously stupid.

Seriously considering printing up a custom shirt for @vicephec.bsky.social that just says "Do your SFHEA already", figure I'll probably end up Orient Expressed by about 25% of the delegates.

The @advancehe.bsky.social awards are out - congrats to new chemistry #NationalTeachingFellow @drkevinmorgan.bsky.social ! And recognition for @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social "We are Chemistry" team in the #CATE.

A snippet of an editorial trace document, showing the word outwith has been replaced by the word outside

With the decline of paper money and the "I'll have you know it's legal tender" conversation, us Scots need a new friction to export, so once again I find myself saying "it's a real word, albeit rarely used outwith Scotland"

In about ten years time, any universities depending on international students from China is going to start seeing this come through as well.