Issues at British universities are often met with the same answer - restructure & centralise. This push towards 'efficiency' has led universities into further crisis. How do we fight back? More from this contribution to our Dispatches series https://isrf.org/blog/dispatch-from-a-middle-manager #UKHE

A love letter to the sky above Valencia 🍊

Local & independent journalism matters! Support your news outlets!

Oof. Missed this the other day. By our measure Nottingham is the UK big city most reliant on the universities for local 'knowledge' jobs. One in four of all of these high skilled jobs in the city are academic and non academic staff in higher education. Could be a big blow

📝 Exciting new paper from my fellowship at @uonsoe.bsky.social "The research/teaching nexus in sociology: Perspectives from Norway, Hungary and England" Jointly with Betul, Asad and Tom we wrote about the transformative experiences that help to shape students’ possible sociological futures

Easily the most heartwarming moment at Péter Magyar’s inauguration today: the Romani boys ensemble from the small town of Sükösd performing live in the Hungarian Parliament. Just as he promised them during his campaign stop last November. All the feels. 🙏🏼💝🕊️ 📹 Tamás Jónás

The 250th edition celebration of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training offers a timely return to one of the most debated frameworks in VET research: the capabilities approach. Find out more here: jvet.co.uk #JVET250 #VETResearch #CapabilitiesApproach #FurtherEducation #SocialJustice

"The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a nominally private institution offering ‘supplementary education’ to students in order to create the next Fidesz elite, received more government funding than the rest of the higher education sector combined"

📒 Jointly with my brother Ádám we wrote a "thing" reflecting on Tisza's win in the HU elections. Neither of us are political scientists, so focusing on the "feels" and the hopes. There certainly are some of the latter, for once... open.substack.com/pub/guliverk...

Jointly with @fghaffar.bsky.social we wrote a blog for @hepi-news.bsky.social on our research on graduate's views on student debt @uonsoe.bsky.social - they (and the sector) are indeed between a rock and a hard place www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/04/25/w...

It’s a great moment to remember that in the leadup to this popular uprising, the first major gut-punch was delivered by Budapest Pride. Poetic justice. 🇭🇺🏳️‍🌈

I spent the evening in a bar in Veszprém, where most people (apart from me 👵🏼) never voted in an election that wasn't then won by Fidesz. Tonight the mood was electric, proud and excited for a different country tomorrow

I'm proud to report that my child sings "tülülü, tülülü, lüüü" when referring to trains stopping in train stations

Mapped: The Reform-Orbán Network Ahead of elections in both countries, DeSmog has catalogued the connections between Hungary’s autocratic government and Farage’s operation.

Can I just add the moment MP calls out a Russian propaganda outlet at his rally and references this song from 1990? youtu.be/-3pIN-FGho8?...

Good thread on where we are in a campaign finish that feels more bonkers by the day. An important issue to note is that Tisza is perhaps the first party in a long while that managed to cut through in the countryside (i.e. not just Budapest and cities) www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Superb commentary on the Hungarian elections in a few weeks "...the usual language of democracy becomes misleading. This is not a democracy with flaws. It’s an autocracy with elections."

🚨 Call for Papers 🚨 Special Issue on Longitudinal and Lifecourse Approaches in Higher Education Research We invite contributions that use longitudinal or lifecourse research designs to deepen understanding of how change unfolds within higher education. Call: www.slls.org.uk/pages/llcs-j...

The *anger* I feel at the sector // HE policy after talking to some incredible ECRs/recent PhDs over the state of the academic labour market and short/medium term prospects... Just employ these enthusiastic, amazing scholars!! (Or don't turn my research funding apps down, so I can!)

Nottingham cuts ‘threaten status as research-intensive university’. Move to reduce academics’ protected research time to 25 per cent brings union warning. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Job losses at UK research-intensive universities double in two years. Exclusive: Scale of redundancies branded a “disaster”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Where are we with widening participation and student experience? ✍ SIGN UP: srhe.ac.uk/civicrm/?civ... 🗓️ WHEN: June 23rd 2026 11:00-15:45 🗺️ WHERE: in person at the SRHE offices in London (maps.app.goo.gl/9mR4pEyYo1yE...) @mannymadriaga.bsky.social @ddubdrahcir.bsky.social @soniailie.bsky.social

📜 ...another paper assigned to an issue now in @edreview.bsky.social, jointly with Meryem Betül YASDIMAN and Jenny Norris doi.org/10.1080/0013... Why sociology?– comparing the driving forces behind university degree choice in Norway, Hungary and England

📃Superb paper by Dr Zihao Liu using the possible selves framework to explore post-college transitions: How Chinese Higher Vocational Education and Training (HVET) Students Determine Their Post-College Pathway in the Post-Covid 19 Era journals.suub.uni-bremen.de/index.php/ij...

Share a photo of a mountain you have taken

We all needed a break - and had some lovely time visiting family and seeing friends over the holidays in HU ❄️

...whilst celebrating Anto getting her thesis finalised and Biz's graduation, we got a notification that our paper out earlier this year has been assigned to an issue: “How ‘International’ Are Sociology Journals? Analysis of Stated Aims and Editorial Board Networks” - lnkd.in/eiF2pSG5

My lovely colleague Charlie Davis @uonsoe.bsky.social talking about his experience of getting a Newer Researchers Award from @srhe.bsky.social, and the immense changes this prompted in his research career, networks and thinking. Awards are now open, deadline March 2026: srhe.ac.uk/research/pri...

Looking forward to the @srhe.bsky.social conference from today and catching up with colleagues I rarely get to see. Come and say hi to @soniailie.bsky.social & @mannymadriaga.bsky.social, the Student Access and Experience network always looks for new ideas! (We'll miss @ddubdrahcir.bsky.social)

Register for the online Educational Review Article of the Year seminar! 🎉 Featuring our latest winners, expert discussants, and audience Q&A! Plus #FreeAccess to the winning article via the events page 👇 www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/educa...

Read 'em and weep. (www.nber.org/system/files...)

A great discussion with amazing colleagues; catching up with @pallavibanerjee.bsky.social was the icing on the cake. We have superb seminars planned for @srhe.bsky.social #SAEN for 2026, watch this space! Say hi at the SRHE conference in Nottingham next month! srhe.ac.uk/internationa...

@mannymadriaga.bsky.social is leading a #ESRC funded project drawing on Black, mad and disability studies to explore and enhance the mental health of Black students in four English universities. Project details: bit.ly/3KZOBk4

Darker times ahead www.bbc.com/news/article...

Are you a graduate who started their university journey in the first years of the 9K fees? If so, please consider contributing to this important research project lead by my colleague Farhana Ghaffar

🧵🚨 The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news. Today our report is published! www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n... 1/11

Academic authors, here's a peek into the black box of journal publishing from an journal editor if you can bear it:

Ooh we've opened our call for small research grants. £10k for any humanities or social sciences research. Open to independent scholars. We use partial randomisation to allocate the funding: random allocation between all that meet the quality threshold www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...

I can't quite believe that @seatsixtyone.bsky.social was on the same Eurostar and sat next to us in the bar in Brussels before boarding different night trains.

Going to work after a lovely weekend. Glad S. doesn't know this was left in my coat pocket by accident...

JOB : Join RoRI as a Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow in Metascience https://researchonresearch.org/join-rori-as-a-research-fellow-senior-research-fellow-in-metascience/ Closing 9th of July, based in London/hybrid. Full time, fixed term until 31/12/2027 (apologies for late notice, full […]

Our ballot results are in! -63% of members voted -84% of voting members said YES to action short of strike -72% of voting members said YES to strike action Which means our call for industrial action has passed and we have a mandate to fight back!

Thanks to Fidesz banning Pride, the 30th seems to have become the biggest celebration to date 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 444.hu/kepek/2025/0...

Last year we ran a survey on UK HE redundancies. Based on 349 responses, the UNIVERSITIES DEGRADED REPORT uncovers awful conditions, targeting of marginalised groups, & far more cuts than estimated. People's stories matter. We can hold leaders to account. Please share widely tinyurl.com/48nzf7ew

Fabulous week and a bit in Scotland, visiting our lovely friends along the way. First time S. has been and we managed to see dolphins too 🐬

#MiniHungarianLanguageLesson: to be or not to be the "be" verb is never straightforward, just look at the unbearable lightness of being in english, i can "am", you can "are", and he can "is", but not only do they not look like they're the same word, they definitely don't look anything like "be"

You are warmly invited to join us in Nottingham to discuss internationalisation of higher education in challenging times; with an amazing line up of speakers 👇🏼 attendance is free with lunch provided. but please register for catering purpose: www.eventbrite.com/e/internatio... @m

This really is the 'high point' of the neoliberal experiment, where everything is reduced to income streams and the public good aspects of a university, such its anchoring role in local regions, are no longer considered important if they don't make money. And the government does/says nothing.

Superb days in Hungary with colleagues, friends, and most importantly, family. Probably the longest time I have spent away from S., and can't wait for a hug now... Otthon / Itthon