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@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

IanSudbery

@[email protected]

Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics at the University of Sheffield. Likes gene regulation, 3' UTRs, non-coding RNA and dancing. He/Him/His

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amnogues , to anthropology Spanish
@amnogues@sciences.social avatar

Question for law scholars:

The can issue for signatories countries an arrest warrant on because it has jurisdiction over international crimes committed in since 2012

BUT

If doesn't recognise the , its territory isn't included in the jurisdiction, and the crimes of Hamas where carried out there, then how can the issue a legally binding arrest warrant on Hamas leaders?

Thanks😀

@academicchatter
@politicalscience
@geopolitics
@sociology
@anthropology

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@amnogues @jpreisendoerfer @academicchatter @politicalscience @geopolitics @sociology @PoliticaConC

My understanding is that signatories to the ICC grant the jurisdiction over both:

  1. Crimes committed on the their territory (whether by their citizens or others).

  2. Crimes committed by their citizens, whether on their territory or elsewhere.

The report by the panel of experts in international law lay out the arguements in full https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2024-05/240520-panel-report-eng.pdf. See especially paragraph 9.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@amnogues @jpreisendoerfer @academicchatter @politicalscience @geopolitics @sociology @PoliticaConC

The relevant part of the Rome Statue is article 12, paragraph 2:

ml , to academicchatter
@ml@ecoevo.social avatar

Let's get this @academicchatter moving with a question every academic can chime in on:

What are the top websites/blogs you go to for news of what's going on in your field?

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@ml @academicchatter unfortunately for comp bio/bioinformatics/regulatory genomics, it's still mostly Twitter. Which is annoying, because I'm no longer on twitter.

Like, we are probably over represented here, but it's nothing compared to twitter.

Mencjusz , to academicchatter
@Mencjusz@sciences.social avatar

became a turd that you can't flush down the toilet and keeps farting toxic gasses all over the place. Worst still, "we" keep playing the game, pretending that everything is fine and cheerily announcing another publication in a meaningless rat race of factors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKiBlGDfRU8

@academicchatter

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @dogzilla @Mencjusz @academicchatter

I'm not sure there has ever been a time when it has been the case that a large number of people have had stable tenure AND freedom from pressure to justify their research to those that would resource them.

Even in the government funding age, when scientists were like artists and supposed by patrons, you still had to convince the patron.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @dogzilla @Mencjusz @academicchatter

Go back 50 years, and its true that most university professors were under less pressure to secure research grants, but this is only because most professors only spent a small amount of their time on research. Plus there were far fewer professors then.

erinnacland , to academicchatter
@erinnacland@fediscience.org avatar

"Fewer U.S. scientists are pursuing postdoc positions, new data show" 📉

"The trend underscores concerns that the academic community is facing a postdoc shortage and that early-career scientists are increasingly favoring higher paid positions outside academia."

“It’s not a situation that’s good for the country.”

@academicchatter via @klangin https://www.science.org/content/article/fewer-u-s-scientists-are-pursuing-postdoc-positions-new-data-show

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@moritz_negwer @erinnacland @academicchatter @klangin

Definitely happening in the uk

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@metaphase @moritz_negwer @erinnacland @academicchatter @klangin

Interestingly, in the US PD salaries have risen faster than inflation and kept pace with average salary since I was a postdoc there (NIH starting salary is $58k today, or 12% more than national median. In 2011 it was $38.5k, $46k in todays dollars, or 13% more than national median).

This is not true of the UK, where postdoc salaries are now £37k, but would be £45k if they had kept pace with inflation or median salary.

18+ manisha , to academicchatter
@manisha@neuromatch.social avatar

I thought of writing this "blog" post after reading @elduvelle's question: Are there any US universities that actually pay you to do research

Here's my understanding of the operations of most US universities that hire scientists as faculty (some of this may be applicable to universities in other parts of the world too):

  • Universities operate like companies where teaching profs are employees, educational degrees are the products being sold, and students are the customers (they pay for tuition and we all know how big of a problem is student debt thanks to these companies, err I mean universities).
  • Research Faculty are expected to teach and that's the main source of their income. Probably also why usually they aren't given the title of "Scientist" but of "Research Faculty".
  • Research Faculty pay for their research through grants. If they don't wish to take on teaching duties, they must be able to secure grants to pay for their salaries.
  • Research Faculty pay for the lab space, shared equipment, benefits, and other admin costs to the university via what are called "overheads" - this is the % cut that the university takes from each grant that a research faculty gets while being affiliated to the university.
  • This is why the bigger your grants, the happier the university will be to promote you to a "tenured" position. Also why scientists are often forced to follow grant "trends" to get the big bucks.
  • Some universities are so rich that they can afford to pay for-profit data cartels to strategically decide which sector their next hire should come from, e.g Clarivate's Research funding and analytics services
  • side note Clarivate's data is also used to decide university rankings and journal impact factors. Clarivate's scam is for out of scope for this blog but hope you see the circularity here and how the rich get richer in academia ...
  • Universities also rely on endowments, gifts, and donations from wealthy individuals and philanthropic organizations to pay for things like construction/renovation of buildings/libraries, or for paying certain research faculty who take on extra duties like the Chairs/Heads of departments. That's why you see titles like "The XYZ Chair of Neuroscience" where XYZ is usually the name of the entity that made the donation.
  • Sometimes (but not often enough), endowments/donations/gifts are made to waive tuition fees like this recent one made by a billionaire.
  • Postdocs and lab managers/techs are temporary contractors and are paid from the Research Faculty's grants. I won't be surprised if the benefits that they are offered are also derived from the grant's "overheads".
  • Universities have done a great job of marketing themselves as an ivory tower distinct from "industry" but when you look at how they operate, are they not just a part of it?
  • I'm not sure of how much of the public funding that public universities receive is allocated for research 🤔​
  • I'm sure there are more layers to this that I am missing (like how libraries operate and how Clarivate and journal subscription fees are involved there, sigh).

If you know of something that's crucial to understanding university operations or something that's mentioned here that isn't true, please share! It would be nice to collectively understand the systems we are/were/want to be a part of 🙂​

@academicchatter

18+ IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@manisha @elduvelle @academicchatter

I'm not sure this applies totally universally. When I was a postdoc at Harvard there were definately tenured and tenure-track staff there who did little or no teaching, but whose grant income did not cover their entire salary (actaully, my boss at the time had no grant and did no teaching).

18+ IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@cra1g @manisha @elduvelle @academicchatter

True. Probably more relevant to the original question (Are there any US universities that actually pay you to do research?)

I guess, though, that it is generalisable to other Harvard-like instutitions? Other Ivy-league places for example?

CCochard , to academicchatter
@CCochard@mastodon.social avatar

Academic Hive Mind ! Do you have ressource on the energetical cost of open data policies?

A colleague of mine pointed out yesterday the energetical cost of publishing data alongside articles. Storing this (huge amount of) data on servers will require building new ones, powering them, etc.
I am aware of the positive side of it, but we must think of the effect of how we do science on the climate.

@academicchatter

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@CCochard @academicchatter
Presumably the data will be stored whether it is made publicly available or not? The additional energetic cost then becomes the extra cost of serving it to a broader audience, rather than only having it available to the creators.

maartjeoostdijk , to academicchatter
@maartjeoostdijk@mstdn.social avatar

How to respond to a reviewer who thinks using 'we' consistently throughout a manuscript (in methods and a little in discussion 'we found' etc) sounds unscientific? @academicchatter

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@sfmatheson @jsdodge @maartjeoostdijk @academicchatter

I like this take on the use of the passive voice in academic writing:

https://clauswilke.com/blog/2015/12/19/dont-use-the-passive-voice/

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@jszym @sfmatheson @jsdodge @maartjeoostdijk @academicchatter

I don't think this account argues that it reduces readability. I think it specifically says that too much of it/misuse of it reduces readability.

I think its final advise - "Worry whether you sentence makes sense and is easy to read, not which voice it is in" is the only real way to go.

CCochard , to academicchatter
@CCochard@mastodon.social avatar

Apprently, academics have now started to behave like big corporations and still people's work/intelectual property.

(I personally know one of the author if you want to reach, I can vouch for them.

@academicchatter

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-023-01772-1.epdf?sharing_token=DdXkflBo0ArtHn_MuCiWL9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0M-mixhecL7TPIOlUExWln0cWcCa9wByDubgdQx2ejY6WszrZl4RprUeZTRYMUYSR2vj1L1aaTkAztIj3BFJVccRdB3qhMJqFZ9IrK8ty_11ZaiGG0Sy30MDXejVKuptRA%3D

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@odr_k4tana @CCochard @academicchatter

Trinity is what passes as a public univiersity in the UK.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@odr_k4tana @CCochard @academicchatter Sorry, my edit came too late (or you were too fast).

To be a public university in the UK means that you are funded by the government and are bound to follow the rules set out by the Office for Students in terms of how students are recruited, how they are treated once recruited, and how degrees can be awared. The level of fee for home students is set by the government.

But legally they are all private coorporations, mostly (inc Trinity) charities.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@odr_k4tana @CCochard @academicchatter You mean as in "holding company"? Thats probably accurate in terms of trinity.

My point is not about what would be accurate/how things should be , but what the terminology usually reffers to in the UK.

Interestingly there is a story that when tutition fees were first brought in, Trinity didn't want to charge them, but the other, less wealth collages convinced them it wouldn't be fair if trinity students didn't have to pay when everyone else did.

koen_hufkens , to academicchatter
@koen_hufkens@mastodon.social avatar

So much this. (TT) PIs often fail as mentors; or managers for that matter. They get exactly zero hours of training (and often have zero hours of experience) on these matters. (note that: teaching != mentoring)

Professors / PIs seem to be hired on the basis of the science only (and then only on the ideas, not their execution), not on demonstrated competence in running a lab. All other collateral be damned.

@academicchatter

https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-aren-t-trained-mentor-s-problem

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@koen_hufkens @academicchatter

I've had both mentoring training and management training. I can't say I've found any of the management training very helpful.

The mentoring training was more helpful, but only in the context in which it was intended - which was for time limited mentoring schemes, not for day t day mentoring of lab members.

ml , to academicchatter
@ml@ecoevo.social avatar

LOL at email for course "aimed at graduate students and postdocs" about how to teach...as if most of the professors didn't also need this... @academicchatter

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@ml @academicchatter

Its for this reason that most UK universities now require all new faculty to do teacher training courses (this was already in place when I got my position in 2014). In our place at least there is a big push to get the older generation to do them as well, but the take up is.... less than complete.

koen_hufkens , to academicchatter
@koen_hufkens@mastodon.social avatar

On the of . Where scientists burn the candle at both ends, paying to read and publish their work, in what is the ultimate grift.

@academicchatter @pluralistic

https://khufkens.com/posts/enshitification-of-academic-publishing/

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@koen_hufkens @mycotropic @academicchatter @pluralistic

Here's the problem... we often say we want to move away from glam publishing. But how many of those retraction were in the top journals, and how many in Hindawi, MDPI and Frontiers? For me, the papers I trust enough to bother to read are in the journals I trust. Not quite the Natures or the sciences, but the trusted disciplinary journals. Th we genome biologies and molecular cells. But this feeds journal based judgements.

NeurodivergentBC , to neurodivergent
@NeurodivergentBC@neurodifferent.me avatar

need to do way better at supporting . @actuallyautistic @allautistics @neurodivergent @academicchatter @edutooters

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@danimo @NeurodivergentBC @actuallyautistic @allautistics @neurodivergent @academicchatter @edutooters

What would work well for you? We don't really have much in the way of text books at a high level in my subject. Short videos? Lists of what think are the most important primary literature? What about more skills based topics? Or are you saying you don't think the concept of formal education is something that could ever appeal to you?

cyrilpedia , to random
@cyrilpedia@qoto.org avatar

"The main and interesting conclusion in the abstract is that of the 45% of alumni not continuing in academic research, one third does industry research and one third is in a science-related profession."

https://elifesciences.org/articles/78706#sa1

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@copdeb @cyclotopie @cyrilpedia @academicchatter

I'm pretty sure that the PhD alumni that go to be PIs do Postdocs. They just don't do them at EMBL.

I've never, ever, met a molecular biology PI who hasn't done at least one postdoc (including fellowships).

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@kristine_willis @copdeb @cyclotopie @cyrilpedia @academicchatter

That sounds like a great program. Although it will only ever support a tiny number of people. And those people can have done quite
a substantial amount of work, post graduation it looks like.

I also wonder how different it really is from an independent postdoctoral fellowship.

Yes, these indeviduals are independent, but these aren't stable, long-term, tenure/tenure-track-like positions.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@kristine_willis @copdeb @cyclotopie @cyrilpedia @academicchatter

Seem similar to the Wellcome Trust's Early Career Fellowship:

https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/schemes/early-career-awards

In many departments I think ECFs are treated a bit like "super-postdocs" or "Postdocs without a PI".

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@kristine_willis @copdeb @cyclotopie @cyrilpedia @academicchatter

Still think they are both fanatsic programmes.

IanSudbery ,
@IanSudbery@genomic.social avatar

@kristine_willis @copdeb @cyclotopie @cyrilpedia @academicchatter

It would be interesting to hear how many of these institutions do offer a TT position.

I think for the equivalent Wellcome ECF program, a proleptic appointment is fairly rare, although not unheard of - we have an ECF with a proleptic, although they had already done a (short) postdoc before getting the ECF.

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