Shout out for @wonkhe.bsky.social 's excellent monthly Policy Radar hour. Informed, good-humoured, humane and free. If you're involved in UK HE policy, don't give it a miss (bleak though the prospect is, including likelihood of an SPG 'haircut'). Great discussion of the OfS Sussex case and bias.

Amazing the personal risks people will take to preserve archival material www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

London has been named the world’s number one city for culture. From free world-class museums to theatre, music, dance and live performance, London’s cultural life reflects the creativity, diversity and global influence that defines our city.

Kings College London and Cranfield University are set to announce a merger from August 2027 www.aol.com/articles/uni...

Pretty much an instant downgrade to a some-of-society approach, then

Neat. Open access preprint here: arxiv.org/abs/2605.01138

"When I spoke to a cafe owner in North Delhi, she told me Italian food was popular with local clientele. ‘Authentic pizzas and pastas’, she said, ‘inspired by people like Massimo Dutti, famous Italian chef’." 🤣 On Indian-Italian food: www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/a-brown-pe...

Vice-chancellors ‘want honest dialogue’ on UKRI changes. Universities UK president calls for more strategic relationship between funder and universities. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

The Conservative plan to cut the budget of UK Research and Innovation by 20%, reallocating the money to defence, is a signal that a 20 year old cross-party consensus on science funding has come to an end…

'Costigan said structures have developed that mean research and higher education are funded separately, despite universities having to deliver both, and the overlap between them “isn’t properly accommodated within the system”.' SUCH an important point. 1/2

Perhaps it seems a bit naive to talk about the power of evidence for a better world given <everything> but I was heartened by this @moreincommonuk.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social research which suggests science remains a source of optimism in the UK www.moreincommon.org.uk/our-work/res...

Join us in Scotland for our FORUM Sir Colin Dollery Lecture ✨ 📅 Tues 2 June 📍 Edinburgh This year's keynote lecture delivered by Prof Susan Rosser FRSE FLSW will explore the power of engineering biology to improve health and tackle key challenges. ➡️ bit.ly/4cuF52d

There's definitely a reshaping of UK research going on Some of it is intentional - govt encouraging unis to specialise, UKRI directing funds for applied R&I to industrial strategy areas Some of it isn't - unis taking individual decisions to save costs that add up to impact on national capacity 🧵

New Policy Officer role at @universities-uk.bsky.social. You’ll work on research policy, UKRI changes, and the big questions like 'which bucket is this in?' with a straight face: www.uukjobs.co.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Deadline: 1 May

What if we prevented the least competitive 20% of grant applications from being submitted? What if funders and institutions made this a shared goal - with EDI front and centre, and agnostic by institution type? @cash4questions.bsky.social researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/reducing-w...

I've written a piece for the Financial Times on the critical strategic choices the UK needs to make, and be seen to make, on technology sovereignty:👇🏾 www.ft.com/content/857c...

100+ year old Pasteur Institute in Tehran was a premier infectious disease research institute and vaccine manufacturer It is a reason Iranian kids like me born in 60s had access to measles vaccines soon after they were developed in the west

A passenger flight from Costa Rica to Atlanta got the chance to witness Artemis launch. I imagine how painful it was to be sitting on the wrong side of that plane!

For strategic thinking purposes, would be useful to know from UK HEI-based researchers: does your HEI place restrictions on applications to charitable funders? If so, which funders, which schemes, since when & with what rationale? DM and email ([email protected]) replies also welcome if you prefer.

Of course no one from *checks notes* Sudan or Afghanistan could be in genuine danger.

Could some airsafety wonks weigh in on when the US's capacity degrades so much that it's below international standards?

My grandfather worked at a Jewish restaurant in Golders Green for twenty years. When he was taken ill at work one day, this ambulance service rushed him to hospital. This is such a cowardly, immoral, hateful act.

Another forgotten story of an amazing woman - now recovered in a biography by her great-niece. She qualified at Kolkata Medical College, became physician to the royal household in Nepal, & the first female Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My paperback is out in less than a month. Pre-order now to get it day of release. 0% AI-generated or written (this feels like writing organic on food). www.penguin.co.uk/books/458539...

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims fought in the world wars. The armies that fought+won the second world war against fascism had an ethnic + faith mix that matches the Britain of 2025 more than that of 1939-45, so arrival of Windrush is the story of black RAF servicemen returning to Britain in 1948

The second best Irish phrase I’ve heard, used to describe someone who’s always engaging in one-upmanship, is “if you’ve been to Tenerife, he’s been to Elevenerife.” My number one favourite Irish phrase, and one of the most crushing burns you’ll ever hear, is “he looks like his mammy knitted him.”

I like this piece from @timharford.ft.com but it largely makes the case for ‘blue skies’ type research as it may become useful later. There is a different argument I think we don’t make enough: it is part of the human endeavour to understand the nature of our world www.ft.com/content/0d60...

Can someone help me understand how moving some grants from STFC to EPSRC would solve the issue (given all the funding comes from DSIT)? www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Curiosity-driven research funding at the MRC is reopening with a new approach - including a College of Experts to support cross-disciplinary science www.ukri.org/news/mrc-cur...

That stage of Ramadan where the fast is going fine, but my patience with work emails is… less spiritually elevated

UKRI’s funding reforms: universities and researchers should be valued collaborators, not an afterthought www.bmj.com/content/392/...

New video just dropped from Ian Chapman @ukri.org youtu.be/Z1OcZl224qo

“Declining public trust in institutions suggests that universities cannot take public support for research granted.”

World Book Day tomorrow. The annual reminder that children love books and parents love discovering they need a costume the night before.

This is very very good on the underperformance of the UK graduate premium. It's a demand side problem.* *as people at SPRU have been saying for 40 years.

“What truly defines the international student experience is the courage it takes to leave home, the determination to succeed in a new academic culture, and the trust placed in universities to honour that journey with meaningful support.” www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/02/14/w...

Excellent article but stark reminder that for all the perceptions of universities as ivory towers for elites, they are actually vital hubs in towns n cities supporting local businesses and providing key services as well as education….

Last week, RPN broke a string of stories on significant changes to funding across a number of research councils (see thread below) This morning, UKRI chief executive is appearing at the Commons science committee, where he is being asked about them by MPs Here are some key moments so far 🧵

Important! AHRC is looking for a new Executive Chair. A critical role for arts and humanities. £160k - £170k. Please share widely to help get the best possible field! fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Amongst other things, this is deeply disingenuous wording. The letter states (as positive framing?) that "curiosity-driven research will be the largest component of UKRI's portfolio over the SR period" Yet the majority of that bucket (61%) is QR funding. This is really conflating two very 1/2

Interesting piece - keen to hear what other research policy folks think.

Happy new year from Manila!

Can't believe no-one got me one of these for Christmas

Very, very good post. I wish it left me more optimistic about the future of UK politics, but alas...

What does your local university do for you? If your local university is the University of Suffolk or the University of Essex, here's (just) one answer to that question. 1/3

If you’re in the UK and were born between 1970-1990 you can just go to your GP and get revaccinated for MMR because you may have had single vaccines, which are no longer considered valid. I went & did it this summer. Easy way to help protect yourself & your community.

📢Today we are launching the search for the new Chair of our Board. This high-profile individual will steer CaSE’s evolution as the UK’s leading independent voice for R&D, at a time of great change and opportunity for the charity.

This should be really good. 3rd Dec.

The levy on foreign students is an export tax. Has anyone in government wondered why countries don't usually impose export taxes?

FYI: The BBC has revealed the charities #TheCelebrityTraitors were all competing for, with links so that you can donate.