Prof Ben Britton
@bmatb.expmicromech.com
Dyslexic atomic sorcerer @ UBC, Vancouver 🍁 (he/him & 🏳️🌈). 🐕 dad.
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (🔬⚛️), Clean Tech, Academic Governance (UBC Senate & Faculty Assoc.), EDI.
Leads @expmicromech.com.
Has too many hills to die on. Views own.
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (🔬⚛️), Clean Tech, Academic Governance (UBC Senate & Faculty Assoc.), EDI.
Leads @expmicromech.com.
Has too many hills to die on. Views own.
Pinned
Prof Ben Britton
@bmatb.expmicromech.com
· Oct 24
Scheduling Matters — UBC Senate
The UBC Vancouver Senate is currently considering the timing of its main meetings, following a motion from the Agenda Committee and…
bmatb.medium.com
A brief blog piece that supports the proposal to move the #UBC Senate Meetings to a 4-6.30pm (currently 6-8.30pm).
bmatb.medium.com/scheduling-m...
bmatb.medium.com/scheduling-m...
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
"By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%"
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
"By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%"
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
It’s all good but this part is the crowning jewel.
“There is no wrong way to attend a conference.”
“There is no wrong way to attend a conference.”
November 26, 2025 at 4:53 AM
It’s all good but this part is the crowning jewel.
“There is no wrong way to attend a conference.”
“There is no wrong way to attend a conference.”
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Higher education is one of the UK's most important exports. This policy would cripple many of the UK's leading universities. It's equivalent to slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Higher education is one of the UK's most important exports. This policy would cripple many of the UK's leading universities. It's equivalent to slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Tell me you don't understand higher education funding without telling me you don't understand higher education funding.
(Hint - the reason why international fees are high is mostly to address chronic underfunding of the system by successive governments.)
(Hint - the reason why international fees are high is mostly to address chronic underfunding of the system by successive governments.)
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Tell me you don't understand higher education funding without telling me you don't understand higher education funding.
(Hint - the reason why international fees are high is mostly to address chronic underfunding of the system by successive governments.)
(Hint - the reason why international fees are high is mostly to address chronic underfunding of the system by successive governments.)
A high school student asked me, amongst other things, about the future of AI for my field.
I said I liked statistical models, and can see their value, but I haven't seen a killer application for mainstream AI beyond the "hype".
I said I liked statistical models, and can see their value, but I haven't seen a killer application for mainstream AI beyond the "hype".
November 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
A high school student asked me, amongst other things, about the future of AI for my field.
I said I liked statistical models, and can see their value, but I haven't seen a killer application for mainstream AI beyond the "hype".
I said I liked statistical models, and can see their value, but I haven't seen a killer application for mainstream AI beyond the "hype".
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
I think we need to pay reviewers.
25 no response out of 30 requests to review!
Drives me mad this selfish behaviour, which I also see as a journal editor. And it's almost always established folk with secure jobs, not least those endlessly brandishing their right-on-ness on social media
Drives me mad this selfish behaviour, which I also see as a journal editor. And it's almost always established folk with secure jobs, not least those endlessly brandishing their right-on-ness on social media
Recently did around 30 requests to ppl who'd published very similar papers to the one I needed reviews for. 3 declines, 25 no response. Please at least decline guys it slows stuff down so much otherwise.
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I think we need to pay reviewers.
These days I think that the H-index is a feature, rather than a bug.
It's propagated by those who have centralized power and control of the academic narrative, and they have a conflict of interest when asked to consider whether it should be phased out.
It's propagated by those who have centralized power and control of the academic narrative, and they have a conflict of interest when asked to consider whether it should be phased out.
Imagine being refused for a position based on miscalculation... I really hope that people will start looking for other things that purely H-index and citations count. It also promotes totally stupid behavior with people like Raoult publishing 200 papers per years, which is humanely not possible.
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
These days I think that the H-index is a feature, rather than a bug.
It's propagated by those who have centralized power and control of the academic narrative, and they have a conflict of interest when asked to consider whether it should be phased out.
It's propagated by those who have centralized power and control of the academic narrative, and they have a conflict of interest when asked to consider whether it should be phased out.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Imagine being refused for a position based on miscalculation... I really hope that people will start looking for other things that purely H-index and citations count. It also promotes totally stupid behavior with people like Raoult publishing 200 papers per years, which is humanely not possible.
November 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Imagine being refused for a position based on miscalculation... I really hope that people will start looking for other things that purely H-index and citations count. It also promotes totally stupid behavior with people like Raoult publishing 200 papers per years, which is humanely not possible.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
15-year-old bug 😐 in an industry that has the highest profit margins possible pretty much
www.theguardian.com/science/2017...
www.theguardian.com/science/2017...
November 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
15-year-old bug 😐 in an industry that has the highest profit margins possible pretty much
www.theguardian.com/science/2017...
www.theguardian.com/science/2017...
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
It's Trans Day of Remembrance. I don't know a single trans person who hasn't lost another trans person in their circle. Please hold them in your hearts today, even if their names are new to you.
And remember all of us who are out here, doing the best we can.
And remember all of us who are out here, doing the best we can.
November 21, 2025 at 4:22 AM
It's Trans Day of Remembrance. I don't know a single trans person who hasn't lost another trans person in their circle. Please hold them in your hearts today, even if their names are new to you.
And remember all of us who are out here, doing the best we can.
And remember all of us who are out here, doing the best we can.
Also happens to some of my female colleagues, to this day 😭
Stories of being harassed, propositioned, stalked, and of course punished, discouraged, ignored when such entreaties were refused. Complaining and being met with shrugs. One ran into the wife of the professor obsessed with her and the wife said, "Oh, you're THAT [name.]" as if she was the temptress.
November 21, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Also happens to some of my female colleagues, to this day 😭
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Stories of being harassed, propositioned, stalked, and of course punished, discouraged, ignored when such entreaties were refused. Complaining and being met with shrugs. One ran into the wife of the professor obsessed with her and the wife said, "Oh, you're THAT [name.]" as if she was the temptress.
November 21, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Stories of being harassed, propositioned, stalked, and of course punished, discouraged, ignored when such entreaties were refused. Complaining and being met with shrugs. One ran into the wife of the professor obsessed with her and the wife said, "Oh, you're THAT [name.]" as if she was the temptress.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Some gay male classmates reported similar harassment from gay professors. One or two women reported harassment from female teachers. But man -- I simply cannot believe -- and am ashamed I did not know at the time -- what my friends and classmates were enduring.
November 21, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Some gay male classmates reported similar harassment from gay professors. One or two women reported harassment from female teachers. But man -- I simply cannot believe -- and am ashamed I did not know at the time -- what my friends and classmates were enduring.
👇
In honor of Larry Summers, I asked the female members of my college class (1987) to say if they had any experiences with sexual harassment by teachers/professors, back when this was tolerated as, I dunno, the cost of attending college, and OH MY GOD.
November 21, 2025 at 6:18 AM
👇
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Wrote up a little intervention post/explanation for my class about why using LLMs for trying to learn programming (as first time learners!) is bad and detrimental datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-11...
November 2, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Wrote up a little intervention post/explanation for my class about why using LLMs for trying to learn programming (as first time learners!) is bad and detrimental datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-11...
TIL that a woodchuck is not a human who chucks wood.
My favorite random fact is always that woodchucks and groundhogs are the same animal
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 AM
TIL that a woodchuck is not a human who chucks wood.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I hope Albertans will remember that trans kids and teens are living breathing humans who just want to be themselves, without fear of hate and discrimination. Demonizing kids merely to score political points in some weird culture war is craven and cruel.
November 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I hope Albertans will remember that trans kids and teens are living breathing humans who just want to be themselves, without fear of hate and discrimination. Demonizing kids merely to score political points in some weird culture war is craven and cruel.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
TRU ran 3:30-5:30 which worked really well
November 21, 2025 at 3:31 AM
TRU ran 3:30-5:30 which worked really well
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
University of British Columbia, Botany
Job #AJO31140, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN NON-SEED PLANT DIVERSITY (BRYOPHYTES, FERNS, LYCOPHYTES), Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
academicjobsonline.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:10 PM
#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Our senate meetings are at either 5:30 or 7 PM(!). Definitely a deterrent to my participation when my children were younger, and even now it's very unappealing given my long commute. 4 PM is much more human.
November 20, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Our senate meetings are at either 5:30 or 7 PM(!). Definitely a deterrent to my participation when my children were younger, and even now it's very unappealing given my long commute. 4 PM is much more human.
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
From my kitchen, while simultaneously cooking chicken and entertaining a 4 year old. Sure 👍
November 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
From my kitchen, while simultaneously cooking chicken and entertaining a 4 year old. Sure 👍
Reposted by Prof Ben Britton
Absolutely no chance I can join a meeting at 6pm, even once a month. Childcare, folks. Childcare.
November 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Absolutely no chance I can join a meeting at 6pm, even once a month. Childcare, folks. Childcare.
Time to go into work and be there 12 hrs after I left work, because of a late night Senate meeting...
November 20, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Time to go into work and be there 12 hrs after I left work, because of a late night Senate meeting...
I am still frustrated that we had a tie vote for whether we can move the Senate meeting to a 4 pm start (currently 6 pm).
One of the arguments I made is that many of us are tired for these late meetings - and I say this because tired people may not make the best decisions.
One of the arguments I made is that many of us are tired for these late meetings - and I say this because tired people may not make the best decisions.
November 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I am still frustrated that we had a tie vote for whether we can move the Senate meeting to a 4 pm start (currently 6 pm).
One of the arguments I made is that many of us are tired for these late meetings - and I say this because tired people may not make the best decisions.
One of the arguments I made is that many of us are tired for these late meetings - and I say this because tired people may not make the best decisions.