In Basel. Nice view from the hotel. Giving a talk tomorrow: Molecular Choreography of Bacterial Membranes’

Thrilled to see my group’s work feature in this report on the returns on the UK’s investment in High Performance Computing

Investment in HPC makes scientific, societal and economic sense.

It’s been a week of alpacas and goats (donkeys and horses too, data not shown).

Idling about on the first day after the end of term. Just watched the set from Cat Stevens in Glastonbury from 2023 - damn it was good.

Happy pi (RNA) day everyone! And what better way to enjoy than to revisit the unusual features of nematode piRNAs: www.cell.com/developmenta...

Well done to Jude Tunyi from Simon Newstead’s group on a very successful DPhil viva. A pleasure to examine alongside @lizmillercu.bsky.social All the very best for the future Jude

Our latest paper in which we use multiple force fields to recover various conformations of the ribose transporter from E. coli. The work of DPhil student Nikolai Juraschko and postdoc Florencia Klein Rocha pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Go talk to your Iranian friends, students, postdocs, colleagues. Offer to take on their tasks at work. There is little contact with Iran right now from outside - most of us have no idea what it is like not to have contact with family members while they are being attacked.

Come work with Ben Berks FRS in Oxford 2 x PDRA posts: Molecular Analysis of Bacterial Outer Membrane Protein Biogenesis 2 complementary projects investigating bacterial outer membrane protein biogenesis. Building on our recent work (Nature (2015) 647: 479-487) my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Last night brought our termly Lockdown Translations Unlocked evening of creative translations. Here are just some of those who featured. Many thanks to Dr Francesca Beretta for organising a great event and all those who contributed.

Check out our latest paper on the glycine receptor with @chakrapanilab.bsky.social where we show the interplay between the orthosteric and allosteric binding sites. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Check out our latest review of advanced sampling of membrane transporter dynamics - link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... Great work from Jon Colburn and @simonlichtinger.bsky.social !

View of the @britishlibrary.bsky.social from my hotel. A long day again, but a good day

Ancient wine-making tradition in Pakistan. An interesting read imho www.wineenthusiast.com/kalash-wine-...

Yesterday we came together to honour Professor Raymond Dwek through the naming of the Raymond Dwek Seminar Room. Raymond's family (pictured) joined the celebration and Raymond was visibly touched, saying: "Thank you for this amazing gesture. I'm humbled by it, but I will treasure it."

Andrew & Fergie hiding in the jungle to escape the Epstein allegations. Credit: Sahdia Khalid

In today's @scienceofthetimes.bsky.social @sykhalid.bsky.social ^& I talk with Adrian Wooflson about his new book "On the Future of Species". Where AI and genome editing meet, new species lie, and ethical questions emerge. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...

#OnThisDay in 1826, the first paper to be written by a woman was read at a Royal Society meeting. The paper, by noted polymath Mary Somerville, was read at the meeting by her husband, as she wasn't permitted to attend. https://bit.ly/2A3Cj2N

A gift of an article from the inimitable Colin Kleanthous as he says a moving farewell to his laboratory. A brave, unrepentant and scientifically brilliant journey is described - please have a read, friends. www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Scientists are concerned that curiosity-driven research is set to be further cut back after three research councils confirmed they have paused funding opportunities. @jgro-the.bsky.social reports #academicsky #researchfunding https://ow.ly/lpvO50Y67ku

Long day, finished with a really fun dinner at Merton college Oxford

Football has entered a dark era

We’re not winning the league this season, but at least we’ve not lost to utterly unlikeable Arteta.

Professor Raymond Dwek and colleagues @ox.ac.uk urge renewed investment in host-targeting broad-spectrum antivirals as a ‘global shield’ if vaccines falter. Read more ⬇️

December in Oxford

Poppit the Classics School dog is getting into the festive spirit and wishes all her fans the very best.

Wise words from @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social! You can hear more from Paul here on our podcast: How To Build A Sustainable World - Paul Behrens. youtu.be/VQrGldPO7P8 @timcoulson.bsky.social

England batting collapse…. And I land back at Heathrow in time for the Liverpool game- it’s just all too uplifting 🤦🏽‍♀️

Watching Crawley bat is pure pain

Our paper on polymyxin interacting with the E. coli outer membrane is out! Simulations by the very talented @dheerajprakaash.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42... To scale outer membrane protein island simulated at coarse-grained resolution with portions refined at all atom resolution.

"Why do we put hurdles in the way of the people that are actually going to drive our economy? It makes zero sense." Prof Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning scientist, says the UK's scientific future is being put at risk www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My department at California State University Northridge is hiring! We're looking for a new colleague studying microbiology or molecular/cellular biology. I'm not on the search committee, but happy to answer questions about the department and campus, and life in LA buff.ly/Pc1KOaC

I appear to be in Heidelberg

Better ditch my horse & cart for the last bit of the trip to EMBL.

New podcast episode just dropped! @timcoulson.bsky.social I are joined by Simon Newstead and David Bennett who have identified a new genetic link to chronic pain - solved the structure of the protein that the gene encodes and linked its function to pain. youtu.be/ETGzmy_BfCg

OMG no-one has every explained what "MD simulations" actually means before and I think @sykhalid.bsky.social has given me a sufficient understanding in about two minutes - amazing!

May have yelled a few expletives at the television tonight. Was justified I think. Cannot fathom what is happening with LFC. Really bizarre.

Football and cricket can get in the bin. Henceforth, I shall focus my attention on tiddlywinks

Get Archer back on to nip out Starc

We are back, soon! The secrets of bacterial cell envelopes' our free online seminar series is due to resume in January 2026 after a long break. Hosted by Georgina Benn and Syma Khalid- supported by the Microbiology Society. More details soon. @microbiologysociety.org Please spread the word

This was incredible. Think you know about how we interact with bacteria? Think again. Some really eye-opening stuff here- including how our gut bacteria can influence our personalities. youtu.be/Q8Yew7XanNo

Congratulations Scotland! What a win. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Great @scienceofthetimes.bsky.social podcast on the science of the microbiome with the brilliant @auraulo.bsky.social and @eveliinahanski.bsky.social. Can't recommend it enough. @sykhalid.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

The music in Thessaloniki airport, hotels, restaurants and bars really is a charming trip down memory lane. One exception is the version of ‘My Way’ we are currently being subjected to at the airport - it’s torturous.

Great talk by @philbiggin.bsky.social on proton coupling in membrane proteins - at the @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social thematic meeting in Thessaloniki.

The ancient and the contemporary - Thessaloniki. Enjoying the @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social thematic meeting on peripheral membrane proteins in this wonderful city

I appear to be in Thessaloniki

@mjafreeman.bsky.social can we invite him to Oxford to give a seminar?

On a flight, listening to an old episode of Desert Island Discs - Arsene Wenger. He’s quite a man, a good man - really impressive. Highly recommend.