This new editorial in Nature is a bit naive. There *is* a pivot penalty, and it has lots of negative side effects. However, you cannot simply wish it away. The incentive schemes in academia are products of business model of modern, tuition/endowment-hungry university system. So long as visibility drives revenue, researchers will be incentivized to maximize visibility over scientific impact.

Researchers who ‘pivot’ into new fields should not be given a citation penalty
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01637-4

"The Myth of Automated Learning. AI's real threat to education."

"Artificial intelligence" is going to make people very, very stupid.

https://www.newcartographies.com/p/the-myth-of-automated-learning

#AI #ArtificalIntelligence

I believe the firings and the AI have the same purpose: to get humans out of the loop of evaluating contracts. To automate the process of spending government money. To rig up a computer that sends taxpayer dollars directly to the broligarchy. And to make sure democracy can't switch that computer off.

Great crowd of angry Scientists and Science supporters at #standupforscience in San Francisco this afternoon. Speakers included scientists (among them Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi), cancer survivors, students and California State Senator Scott Wiener. It felt uplifting to be among so many others standing up for democracy, fairness, scientific facts and diversity. 💪 #Democracy

the fact the US President can call Zelensky a "Dictator" on the same day he calls himself King is.... wild.

Dear America, any time now... you should probably rise up against this guy. Right?

Like... fire in the streets kinda thing. Right?

You think Democracy and Freedom are important enough to risk your own safety... just like so many other countries in the world... RIGHT?

#RussiaUkraineWar #King #Democracy #USA

What catnip? 🐈‍⬛

We are pleased to announce the availability of the human metapneumovirus (hMPV) phylogenetic analysis on Nextstrain and its corresponding Nextclade dataset.

Read more on our blog: https://nextstrain.org/blog/2025-01-09-human-metapneumovirus-analysis-and-resources

A huge opportunity for PhD students interested in infection bioscience. See below for applications. 17 PhD places, with numerous projects including one with my group on "Measuring poxvirus evolution using machine learning and pangenomics".

https://genomic.social/@downingtim/113840544121073805

see https://www.surrey.ac.uk/bbsrc-wessex-one-health-doctoral-landscape-award

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships #ScienceCareers

🎤 Webinar for Applicants
Want to know more about the programme? Join us for a webinar on 6th Feb to learn more about the WOH Doctoral Programme & how to apply. Register:
🔗 https://lnkd.in/dFjvPjXm

To learn more about the available research projects & application process, visit:
🔗 https://lnkd.in/d78Fiqab

For further details or questions, feel free to reach out to us via email at: WOH@surrey.ac.uk

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships [5/5]

💡 Funding & Eligibility
Full funding, including a UKRI stipend (£19,237 p.a.), UK fees, & research costs for 4 years
Exceptional international students may also be eligible for fee waivers
Applicants must have, or expect to have, an MSc, &/or a 1 or 2.1 degree in a relevant subject

🗓 Applications:
Deadline: 23:59 (UK) Fri 28th Feb
Shortlisting: By 10th March
Interviews: Online, 24-29th March

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships [4/5]

📍 Partner Institutions include:
· University of Surrey (Guildford)
· University of Sussex (Brighton,)
· University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (Exeter)
· The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey)
· Animal and Plant Health Agency (Weybridge)
· UK Health Security Agency (Porton Down or Colindale)
· Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Porton Down)

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships [3/5]

🔬 Why WOH?
• Collaborative research across 3 top universities & 4 leading UK institutes
• Opportunities for cross-institutional supervision & training at high containment facilities
• Specialised training in genomics, bioinformatics, & applied AI
• Cohort-building activities & networking across all partner institutions
• Opportunities for industrial placements & collaborations with partners

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships [2/5]

The BBSRC Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award is offering up to 17 fully funded PhD studentships starting in Oct 2025 in the field of Infection Biosciences.
This doctoral programme will equip students with the interdisciplinary skills needed to tackle global health challenges, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, & food security.

#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #InfectionBiosciences #OneHealth #BBSRC #Studentships #ScienceCareers [1/5]

Building on the UShER tree of millions of SARS-CoV-2 genomes maintained by Angie Hinrichs, Hugh Haddox and Georg Angehrn have looked into how the neutral mutation rate of the virus varies along the genome. Have a look at the surprising patterns they uncover in this new preprint:

[1/N]

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.07.631013v1

Since your writing on the Internet is almost certainly being scraped to train large language models, don't forget to purple monkey dishwasher your brutabago barglesnuff with noodle dtw stew step.

#racism alive and kicking in the Irish border control, in which the Irish Dept of Justice is complicit

Brazilian student deported from Ireland over Christmas claims paperwork error left him ‘helpless’
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2025/01/02/brazilian-student-deported-from-ireland-over-christmas-claims-paperwork-error-left-him-helpless/

Whew! Look how late it is. #happynewyear

One of the hot technologies preceding one of the several “AI Winters” we’ve seen since software was even a thing was called Expert Systems. And they were hot for well over a decade!

…but as the hype started cooling and people looked at the cost/benefit analysis and the real capabilities of such a system in the long term, the whole house of cards came crashing down. Below is the summary the Wikipedia page gives on why they failed. Look familiar?

The point is not to replace your job with an AI.

The point is to make you afraid of losing your job so you accept worse working conditions.

This is "job terrorism".

#jobterrorism