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I have given in, driven by plan S, I have decided to join twitter. My problem is I have too many opinions. I will hopefully restrict myself to science.
James (Jim) Naismith
@JHNaismith
Head MPLS Division Ox Uni, visitor Rosalind Franklin Inst, NOT basketball guy. Fellow Roy Soc, Roy Soc Edi, VP Acad Med Sci, mem EMBO, Acad Europaea. Dour Scot
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Usually optimistic on technological progress so disappointed broadband speed being > halved to 67Mbps next month by @bt_uk. @virginmedia can’t fix their “blocked duct” at front door, not good advert for uk infrastructure, I live in Jericho, central Oxford, not remote Highlands.
Many congratulations to our fantastic colleagues
Congratulations to @OxfordPhysics’ Professor Herz, awarded the Royal Society's Rumford Medal and @OxfordChemistry’s Professors Iain McCulloch & Charlotte Williams, awarded the Hughes Medal and Armourers & Brasiers’ Company Prize respectively.
➡️ See more: tinyurl.com/4ze44ysvView quoted post on X
This is a important piece and I think it is likely to shape government approach to universities and funding academic research. IMHO a strong economy supports strong academic science; for example China; the reverse often claimed has not been obviously true in the UK.
I think this is illustrative of a broader blindspot in policymaking. Education policy is key to economic growth as a country moves from low to high income, but after a certain point the opposite force becomes stronger: *the economy drives educational outcomes*.View quoted post on X
The UK outperforms most of its peers on education, whether measured in international school assessments, university attendance or measures of adult skills.
But for the past two decades it has done very badly on the economy: weak productivity growth, stagnant wages and continued loss of skilled manufacturing jobs.
So rather than strong education performance making everyone happy or better-off, it has made everyone angry that they put in the work, acquire the skills, but end up with crap outcomes, often worse than their parents.
Full piece: ft.com/content/1c4a64…
mpls.ox.ac.uk/latest/news/pr…. In very sad news, our colleague and friend Graham Taylor, an authority on animal flight and navigation, has died. Our sympathies belong to his family.
www.mpls.ox.ac.uk Professor Graham Taylor A message from Jim Naismith, Head of MPLS Division, paying tribute to Professor Graham Taylor.