Naomi Pollock

I started following you when I joined Bluesky for some new-PI solidarity. This feels like a good place to say how much I appreciate all your content: politics, academia, fishing, jam... Thanks for sharing so much!

Also "he" and "paternity leave". Or indeed "they" and "parental leave".

At least the headline included her name and omitted her marital status.

The CCP4 Northern Structural Biology Meeting is back again in Newcastle 6-7th November 2025. If you are a structural biologist/biochemist in the North of the UK please register and submit abstracts by this Friday 17th.

nusbf.ncl.ac.uk/ccp4-norther...

🚨🚨🚨 We are launching the 2nd application round for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Program MemBioMed, offering cutting-edge training on exploring the complex behavior of cellular membranes & unlocking their therapeutic potential. Students can apply here: life.univ-cotedazur.eu/internationa...

PhD project alert: the excellent MIBTP programme is open for applications. I am offering an exciting project on endogenous membrane protein complexes, jointly supervised with @alangoddard.bsky.social. Please spread the word!
warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...

ECRs have full-time research posts (still fixed-term and shorter than they used to be IMO). I was scandalised when I learned how many excellent ECRs in arts and humanities lead whole modules on fixed term/zero hours contracts, and do research unpaid to try to stay in the game. It's exploitative.

This captures the reason I went on strike in 2023. The lack of solidarity from bioscientists for the wider university community was shocking. I imagine it's because we remain *relatively* well funded.

P.S. Sorry that doesn't answer your question. As a recent post-doc I respect your efforts to create decent jobs.

My impression is that nearly everyone feels one or two rejections away from being in a precarious position. That may not reflect reality, but it's how people feel, even senior profs. Who's left with the mental space to demand better funding, i.e better opportunities for ECRs?

Thanks to @snsf.ch, we are hiring two PhD students to investigate frontier topics in lipid biology using a combination of MD simulations and experiments. Preferred starting date: ASAP. Fribourg - and Switzerland - are quite nice, for both work and private life! Please spread the word!

I read that as a (whimsical?) misspelling of "cells". I wasn't much less confused when I realised it said "cellos".

It's a devastatingly cruel disease, and this breakthrough must bring hope to many affected people and their families. It's also amazing to see successful gene therapies. Suggests a golden age ahead of treating heritable diseases.

Led by Alice Rothnie (@astonaime.bsky.social), @stemuench.bsky.social, @byrnelabicl.bsky.social, plus Paula Booth at KCL/Crick, Tim Dafforn at UoB, and Andrew Quigley (@diamondlightsource.bsky.social), it's going to be a great 3 years of community building and problem solving. Join us!

Job Vacancy at Aston University: IMPALA Network manager We are looking for a network manager for a new research network called "Integral Membrane Proteins And Lipid Assemblies NETwork UK (IMPALPA-NET)." This project is funded by the BBSRC and aims to bring...

Job alert! We are advertising for a network manager for our new BBSRC network IMPALA. Want to organise meetings, promote discussion and help to spread the word about SMALPs to membrane protein researchers in academia and industry? Apply here: jobs.aston.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Another inspiring story to remind me that the painstaking, frustrating and often slow work of science is worthwhile.

And Pollocks.

I gave up paying attention after the time I checked the value of my USS pension and it was going to be £16 per month. Granted I was still in my 20s, but it made the whole thing feel totally insane.

I spent my childhood in and out of hospital. At 19, I finally realised I had a terminal disease Born with cystic fibrosis, Yvonne Hughes was lucky to survive her teens. She definitely didn’t expect to make it into her 50s. The comedian talks about the years she spent struggling to breathe – and ...

Absolutely inspiring to read this story of an adult with cystic fibrosis, and her life since starting to take the new drugs. This is what science is for (in my very biased opinion).

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

I just love going there so much. The local scientists are brilliant and generous. The sense of community and shared endeavour is palpable (and probably measurable on one of the beamlines).

On Friday, my 2 year old had her third trip (5th if you count in utero) to @diamondlightsource.bsky.social to drop off samples. Start 'em young...

Forecasting the Fallout from AMR: Economic Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance in Humans Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health crisis that threatens to undo decades of progress in medicine. This tool allows you to explore the potential impact of different interventions...

The costs of #antimicrobial resistance 🦠 continue to rise 📈. The Center for Global Development reports that by 2050 #AMR could shrink the global economy by US$1.7T.
Improving treatments and funding development of new antimicrobials 💊 could save millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs.

Big news indeed 👏 make sure you check out the post&link below 🤩
#cryoEM #cryoET
#membraneproteins #GPCRs #scivis #scicomm

What does it mean when your workplace has transformed into a combination of a wedding venue and a wizarding school? Graduation season.

J Kenji Lopez-Alt (The Food Lab) and Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking) are two I have that fit this description.

To say nothing of the health, well-being and future productivity of the children involved.

Haha. I'm a lot older than you in that case, and thankfully the YA landscape has changed again. Even so, always room for more! Good luck with the writing.

Ps I still have a branded towel from a cheap french motel, which was their equivalent of hush money for not complaining about the mice in our rooms.

So true! And combined with com-no-rom it sounds brilliant. I was pushed into reading way too many teen romance/teen pregnancy books which put me off YA fiction in my teens.

This sounds superb. I lived through so much YO drama in my teens.