Izzy Jayasinghe
@ijayas.bsky.social
Scientist (biophysics, single molecule imaging,🔬) | HoD of Molecular Medicine UNSW Sydney | she/her | 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ | proud Tangata Tiriti | mostly posting science, academia, & inequality | posts reflect personal views only.
Pinned
Izzy Jayasinghe
@ijayas.bsky.social
· Nov 7
For folks just arriving in #AcademicBsky or #ScienceBsky, here are a couple of Biophysics starter packs. Biophysicists, pls tag yourself and others and I will add you to the new starter packs. go.bsky.app/4AUjqVz
Want to know the cost/benefit balance of outing 🏳️🌈 oneself* to your students? Here’s the analysis from 9 instructors, 2045 student surveys, implying mostly positive &/or beneficial to the students.
*I don’t think anyone should feel obliged to, not least bc the study features no trans/nb instructors.
*I don’t think anyone should feel obliged to, not least bc the study features no trans/nb instructors.
Nine Undergraduate Biology Instructors Revealing their LGBTQ+ Identities in Class Resulted in Benefits for their LGBTQ+ Students and Students with Other Marginalized Identities | CBE—Life Sciences Edu...
Few LGBTQ+ biology instructors reveal their identities to undergraduates, often without considering the potential student benefits. Although instructors who have revealed their LGBTQ+ identity perceiv...
www.lifescied.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Want to know the cost/benefit balance of outing 🏳️🌈 oneself* to your students? Here’s the analysis from 9 instructors, 2045 student surveys, implying mostly positive &/or beneficial to the students.
*I don’t think anyone should feel obliged to, not least bc the study features no trans/nb instructors.
*I don’t think anyone should feel obliged to, not least bc the study features no trans/nb instructors.
3 yrs ago, I was nearly recruited to CSIRO, which at the time felt like a dream job. Seeing this total cleansing of scientific talent across 🇦🇺 (not just in CSIRO) is so shocking.
Politicians so rarely pay attention the value of scientific careers, but when they do, be sure to get that message home👇🏾
Politicians so rarely pay attention the value of scientific careers, but when they do, be sure to get that message home👇🏾
Save the CSIRO
Our national science & research agency is now facing more job cuts than under Tony Abbott
Call on the Albanese Govt to fund the scientists & research we need to tackle big issues we face from climate to food security and everything in between
www.davidpocock.com.au/save_our_csiro
Our national science & research agency is now facing more job cuts than under Tony Abbott
Call on the Albanese Govt to fund the scientists & research we need to tackle big issues we face from climate to food security and everything in between
www.davidpocock.com.au/save_our_csiro
November 19, 2025 at 11:48 AM
3 yrs ago, I was nearly recruited to CSIRO, which at the time felt like a dream job. Seeing this total cleansing of scientific talent across 🇦🇺 (not just in CSIRO) is so shocking.
Politicians so rarely pay attention the value of scientific careers, but when they do, be sure to get that message home👇🏾
Politicians so rarely pay attention the value of scientific careers, but when they do, be sure to get that message home👇🏾
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
This is a very good point.
And to be honest, the heat here is significantly lower for me than it ever was on Twitter…🤞🏾
And to be honest, the heat here is significantly lower for me than it ever was on Twitter…🤞🏾
And it's like wow how are Black people existing on bluesky if there's so much antiblackness here. So lesson one of being Black is that everywhere is antiblack. So you just pick your flavor of antiblack & the heat level of the antiblackness.
November 18, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This is a very good point.
And to be honest, the heat here is significantly lower for me than it ever was on Twitter…🤞🏾
And to be honest, the heat here is significantly lower for me than it ever was on Twitter…🤞🏾
This is our national science agency. 440 jobs last year. Another 350 soon. 🤦🏾♀️
“CSIRO has announced it will slash up to 350 jobs as the national science agency grapples with long-term financial challenges … with current funding failing to keep pace with the rising costs of running a modern science agency.”
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
CSIRO to cut up to 350 research jobs in major overhaul
After 440 positions were slashed last year, the CSIRO has announced more staff cuts across the country in a bid to remain financially viable.
www.abc.net.au
November 18, 2025 at 10:24 AM
This is our national science agency. 440 jobs last year. Another 350 soon. 🤦🏾♀️
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
#SciComm community, I can use your help!
Please share:
1. Any resources or publications about developing a hands-on tabletop science outreach activity.
2. Any personal tips & tricks based on your experiences running this type of activities!
Thanks!
Please share:
1. Any resources or publications about developing a hands-on tabletop science outreach activity.
2. Any personal tips & tricks based on your experiences running this type of activities!
Thanks!
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 AM
#SciComm community, I can use your help!
Please share:
1. Any resources or publications about developing a hands-on tabletop science outreach activity.
2. Any personal tips & tricks based on your experiences running this type of activities!
Thanks!
Please share:
1. Any resources or publications about developing a hands-on tabletop science outreach activity.
2. Any personal tips & tricks based on your experiences running this type of activities!
Thanks!
One of the real highlights of working in @singmolsci.bsky.social is that the view into the campus comes truly alive in the spring. The downside is that campus outside the window comes truly alive in the spring just as ALL OF THE ARC grant deadlines come around and I cannot go outside 😭
November 10, 2025 at 5:55 AM
One of the real highlights of working in @singmolsci.bsky.social is that the view into the campus comes truly alive in the spring. The downside is that campus outside the window comes truly alive in the spring just as ALL OF THE ARC grant deadlines come around and I cannot go outside 😭
Wow! BBC newsroom having an existential crisis suddenly because the way they cut the Trump documentary was too woke? After all these years of airing climate denialist, anti immigrant, anti trans narratives in the name of balance, THIS is what makes resign?? 🙃
BREAKING: BBC has confirmed Tim Davie is to step down as BBC Director General
November 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Wow! BBC newsroom having an existential crisis suddenly because the way they cut the Trump documentary was too woke? After all these years of airing climate denialist, anti immigrant, anti trans narratives in the name of balance, THIS is what makes resign?? 🙃
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
Noted racist and Nobel Laureate James Watson, who stole Rosalind Franklin's data to try to deduce the structure of DNA first, has died at 97 as an unrepentant eugenicist and misogynist.
November 8, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Noted racist and Nobel Laureate James Watson, who stole Rosalind Franklin's data to try to deduce the structure of DNA first, has died at 97 as an unrepentant eugenicist and misogynist.
A very nuanced account of the discovery, but cannot escape the air of misogyny in Watson & Crick diminishing the MRC report as a “preliminary report” in spite of the data being a key confirmation.
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 8, 2025 at 12:11 PM
A very nuanced account of the discovery, but cannot escape the air of misogyny in Watson & Crick diminishing the MRC report as a “preliminary report” in spite of the data being a key confirmation.
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
There are days in academic careers when hard earned wins are taken away by the lack of consideration by others who are meant to support you. Today has been one of those days for me.
Here's to the hope that I can keep that from happening to others around me whether it is from my action or others'.
Here's to the hope that I can keep that from happening to others around me whether it is from my action or others'.
November 5, 2025 at 12:29 PM
There are days in academic careers when hard earned wins are taken away by the lack of consideration by others who are meant to support you. Today has been one of those days for me.
Here's to the hope that I can keep that from happening to others around me whether it is from my action or others'.
Here's to the hope that I can keep that from happening to others around me whether it is from my action or others'.
Resist the slop ✊🏾
“the techno-fascist assault on universities increasingly comes from within. (…) Far from offering genuine solutions, these technologies exacerbate social injustices and corrode the ecosystem of human knowledge.”
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
Open access link: archive.ph/ZHGCm
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
Open access link: archive.ph/ZHGCm
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Resist the slop ✊🏾
FFS. Looks like someone has added me to another spam starter pack. SO many sock puppet accounts suddenly following me today. 🫨
a couple of sock puppets with the words what the whaaaat written above them
Alt: a couple of sock puppets with the words what the whaaaat written above them
media.tenor.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:14 AM
FFS. Looks like someone has added me to another spam starter pack. SO many sock puppet accounts suddenly following me today. 🫨
In national news in New Zealand. 💍
📢 Actor Elijah Wood, aka Frodo, crashes a wedding at Hobbiton. Video / Hobbiton Tours
👉 Latest bot: Bluesky AI Bot Mention me in your post to involve me as your AI bot.
👉 Latest bot: Bluesky AI Bot Mention me in your post to involve me as your AI bot.
Hobbiton wedding turns magical as Elijah Wood crashes ceremony
www.nzherald.co.nz
October 29, 2025 at 6:57 AM
In national news in New Zealand. 💍
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
In a strong field, this ranks as a particularly shitty metric.
And my Norway-based peeps can correct me, but I *think* the Norwegian academic system/some institutions value people being higher-up the author list…[1/2]
And my Norway-based peeps can correct me, but I *think* the Norwegian academic system/some institutions value people being higher-up the author list…[1/2]
Google Scholar has introduced a 'Sh-index' metric that scores papers higher if you are first or last author. Apart from the fact metrics are generally bad, this one explicitly punishes PIs who often collaborate, publishing with 2 or 3 equal PIs at the end of the list.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
In a strong field, this ranks as a particularly shitty metric.
And my Norway-based peeps can correct me, but I *think* the Norwegian academic system/some institutions value people being higher-up the author list…[1/2]
And my Norway-based peeps can correct me, but I *think* the Norwegian academic system/some institutions value people being higher-up the author list…[1/2]
Another new metric to measure something that yet again reduces the contribution of researchers to the arbitrary standards set by the armchair critics of academia.
And wait for it: this one is called a Sh-index 💩
And wait for it: this one is called a Sh-index 💩
Google Scholar has introduced a 'Sh-index' metric that scores papers higher if you are first or last author. Apart from the fact metrics are generally bad, this one explicitly punishes PIs who often collaborate, publishing with 2 or 3 equal PIs at the end of the list.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Another new metric to measure something that yet again reduces the contribution of researchers to the arbitrary standards set by the armchair critics of academia.
And wait for it: this one is called a Sh-index 💩
And wait for it: this one is called a Sh-index 💩
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
📣 We are hiring! An education-focused Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical or Biophysical sciences. It’s a chance to be a part of a team of single molecule /cellular biophysicists building a brand new undergraduate curriculum, here at UNSW in sunny Sydney. Happy to answer queries.
Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences (Education focused)
The incumbent will contribute to undergraduate teaching in biophysics or quantitative biomedical sciences within the School of Biomedical Sciences.
external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au
October 22, 2025 at 8:28 AM
📣 We are hiring! An education-focused Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical or Biophysical sciences. It’s a chance to be a part of a team of single molecule /cellular biophysicists building a brand new undergraduate curriculum, here at UNSW in sunny Sydney. Happy to answer queries.
📣 We are hiring! An education-focused Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical or Biophysical sciences. It’s a chance to be a part of a team of single molecule /cellular biophysicists building a brand new undergraduate curriculum, here at UNSW in sunny Sydney. Happy to answer queries.
Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences (Education focused)
The incumbent will contribute to undergraduate teaching in biophysics or quantitative biomedical sciences within the School of Biomedical Sciences.
external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au
October 22, 2025 at 8:28 AM
📣 We are hiring! An education-focused Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Biomedical or Biophysical sciences. It’s a chance to be a part of a team of single molecule /cellular biophysicists building a brand new undergraduate curriculum, here at UNSW in sunny Sydney. Happy to answer queries.
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
Ah, the need sometimes to speak up and be difficult! Some stories from my youth, when I was just practicing....Sunday morning reading: Mrs Handley and the Whippets occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
October 19, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Ah, the need sometimes to speak up and be difficult! Some stories from my youth, when I was just practicing....Sunday morning reading: Mrs Handley and the Whippets occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
Sigh. Another day, and another peer-review written by Chatty-G.
In my response letter, should I be thanking the reviewer AND/OR the LLMs for the helpful feedback?
🧪 #AcademicSky
In my response letter, should I be thanking the reviewer AND/OR the LLMs for the helpful feedback?
🧪 #AcademicSky
October 15, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Sigh. Another day, and another peer-review written by Chatty-G.
In my response letter, should I be thanking the reviewer AND/OR the LLMs for the helpful feedback?
🧪 #AcademicSky
In my response letter, should I be thanking the reviewer AND/OR the LLMs for the helpful feedback?
🧪 #AcademicSky
🤖 If you use LinkedIn, please be aware that they automatically use your profile to train their GenAI. To turn off, go to Settings > Data Privacy > Data for Gen AI improvements.
October 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
🤖 If you use LinkedIn, please be aware that they automatically use your profile to train their GenAI. To turn off, go to Settings > Data Privacy > Data for Gen AI improvements.
Reposted by Izzy Jayasinghe
There is still plenty of time to apply! Feel free to reach out to me with questions, and please mention our ad to your colleagues or trainees!
Nature Biomedical Engineering is hiring again! This time we're hoping to add an editor with machine learning expertise to the team (although we are open to those with other relevant expertise!) Deadline is Oct 20. Please RT! springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...
October 9, 2025 at 9:01 PM
There is still plenty of time to apply! Feel free to reach out to me with questions, and please mention our ad to your colleagues or trainees!
Ah, a classic moment of @nature.com recognizing the scientific contributions of both genders: man and machine.
Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.
October 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Ah, a classic moment of @nature.com recognizing the scientific contributions of both genders: man and machine.
🍿
The ARC is up at #SenateEstimates this Friday. As per tradition, they come in last on the schedule ▶️ www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentar...
I'm sure there won't be many questions about ANU & TEQSA, so there'll definitely be time for lengthly discussion about the ARC 🫠
I'm sure there won't be many questions about ANU & TEQSA, so there'll definitely be time for lengthly discussion about the ARC 🫠
October 8, 2025 at 11:25 AM
🍿
Did anyone ever watch an Australian TV series in the early 90s called Beyond 2000? It was about the future and how cool future tech and science was going to be.
I feel so let down.
I feel so let down.
October 1, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Did anyone ever watch an Australian TV series in the early 90s called Beyond 2000? It was about the future and how cool future tech and science was going to be.
I feel so let down.
I feel so let down.