Ryan Comes
@rbcomes.bsky.social
Delaware MSE faculty leading FINCH Lab growing oxide & chalcogenide films; formerly Auburn & PNNL; Carnegie Mellon & UVA alum/sports fan. Opinions here are mine, not my employer's. There will be a lot of politics. He/him.
http://sites.udel.edu/finch-lab
http://sites.udel.edu/finch-lab
I was a 21 year old Republican from Northern Virginia when John McCain's campaign used the term "real Virginia" to separate NoVa from the rest of the state. Honestly, I think that was the beginning of my conversion.
i think this attitude — that all opposition is illegitimate and nothing we do can be questioned— is probably pervasive in the white house and helps explain why they keep making terrible political choices
Putin pioneered this. No opposition is legitimate. Regular, decent, “ordinary” people cannot possibly be against us because only we represent “the real people.”
Tell-tale sign of authoritarianism.
Tell-tale sign of authoritarianism.
January 25, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I was a 21 year old Republican from Northern Virginia when John McCain's campaign used the term "real Virginia" to separate NoVa from the rest of the state. Honestly, I think that was the beginning of my conversion.
Reposted by Ryan Comes
When my students ask how we got here I say the laws are not self-executing. Our contract with our government only works when we elect people of good faith into office
Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."
January 22, 2026 at 3:35 PM
When my students ask how we got here I say the laws are not self-executing. Our contract with our government only works when we elect people of good faith into office
First world faculty problems... When Overleaf and Google Docs are available, why the heck would you write a collaborative proposal in SharePoint? Wasn't my call, but I'm on a team attempting this right now and it's been awful.
January 20, 2026 at 4:39 PM
First world faculty problems... When Overleaf and Google Docs are available, why the heck would you write a collaborative proposal in SharePoint? Wasn't my call, but I'm on a team attempting this right now and it's been awful.
Seemingly every week Trump brain farts something out that makes our jobs in academia harder. I'm still waiting on a $100k tariff waiver for importing an instrument from Germany and the uncertainty in the cost just exploded even further. 🧪⚛️
New tariff just dropped.
Americans set to pay an additional 10% tax on all goods from Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.
It starts in two weeks, rising to 25% by June.
(Aside: A trade war with one EU country is a trade war with the entire EU).
Americans set to pay an additional 10% tax on all goods from Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.
It starts in two weeks, rising to 25% by June.
(Aside: A trade war with one EU country is a trade war with the entire EU).
January 17, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Seemingly every week Trump brain farts something out that makes our jobs in academia harder. I'm still waiting on a $100k tariff waiver for importing an instrument from Germany and the uncertainty in the cost just exploded even further. 🧪⚛️
Reposted by Ryan Comes
🧪⚛️ NSF is seeking community feedback on their draft strategic plan for the next few years. Now is the time to make your views known. (Maybe disbanding nearly all advisory committees wasn’t the best idea.) www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...
NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan
www.nsf.gov
January 17, 2026 at 1:08 AM
🧪⚛️ NSF is seeking community feedback on their draft strategic plan for the next few years. Now is the time to make your views known. (Maybe disbanding nearly all advisory committees wasn’t the best idea.) www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...
Reposted by Ryan Comes
A thoughtful thread on the problematic nature of quality assurance post secondary style.
UBC has released their SEI - which is nominally titled the "student experience of instruction", but was formally titled "student evaluation of instruction".
I am on the record, via the Senate, stating that I don't like how we do this - and I find the process quite damaging.
1/
I am on the record, via the Senate, stating that I don't like how we do this - and I find the process quite damaging.
1/
January 14, 2026 at 12:21 AM
A thoughtful thread on the problematic nature of quality assurance post secondary style.
I started out years ago laughing at the "Professor who Forces Faculty Senate to Stay 20 Minutes Late to Listen to his Rants" and I can see myself turning into that guy over time.
I'd like to claim "that one department chair who's kinda normal (you know which one we mean)." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
An Accurate Organizational Chart of Your University
Our 20th most-read article of 2025.
- - -In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it ...
www.mcsweeneys.net
December 29, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I started out years ago laughing at the "Professor who Forces Faculty Senate to Stay 20 Minutes Late to Listen to his Rants" and I can see myself turning into that guy over time.
This is a fantastic thread. I had done some digging on the "research" of UVA's new (and possibly brief) President. I've been around academia long enough to see the logic that search firms & consultants bring & why they appeal to trustees. It's the opposite of what actually solves daily problems.
As a public service, I am reading Scott Beardsley’s book on higher education.
Just as Beardsley sacrificed a lucrative career at McKinsey to take a $700k a year job as Dean of Darden on his way to the very sketchy appointment as UVA president, I paid $12 for the kindle edition of “Higher Calling.”
Just as Beardsley sacrificed a lucrative career at McKinsey to take a $700k a year job as Dean of Darden on his way to the very sketchy appointment as UVA president, I paid $12 for the kindle edition of “Higher Calling.”
December 26, 2025 at 2:02 AM
This is a fantastic thread. I had done some digging on the "research" of UVA's new (and possibly brief) President. I've been around academia long enough to see the logic that search firms & consultants bring & why they appeal to trustees. It's the opposite of what actually solves daily problems.
An Alabama dog's first Delaware winter experience.
December 14, 2025 at 12:01 PM
An Alabama dog's first Delaware winter experience.
Reposted by Ryan Comes
🧪⚛️ NSF now expects to make only 2-5 awards in the MRSEC program this round. If this keeps up, I worry that we are looking at the effective end of the program before 2029.
December 10, 2025 at 2:53 AM
🧪⚛️ NSF now expects to make only 2-5 awards in the MRSEC program this round. If this keeps up, I worry that we are looking at the effective end of the program before 2029.
This will critically damage materials science and condensed matter physics research. Our UD MRSEC is one of the ones on the chopping block. NSF funding is collapsing and a million other things nationally have drawn attention away. 🧪⚛️
@coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov
@coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov
🧪⚛️ Are we witnessing the end of an era for the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center program at NSF? Trying to get some attention focused on this. nanoscale.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
The NSF MRSEC program - end of an era?
Are we witnessing the irreversible deconstruction of an historically successful NSF program, not because of any clear strategy or planning b...
nanoscale.blogspot.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This will critically damage materials science and condensed matter physics research. Our UD MRSEC is one of the ones on the chopping block. NSF funding is collapsing and a million other things nationally have drawn attention away. 🧪⚛️
@coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov
@coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov
Being a professor in this era means letting so many things pile up that your Thanksgiving vacation is an opportunity to do all the work that you aren't able to get done during the rest of the semester. That isn't helped at all by the fact that federal program managers are back to work now. #academia
November 21, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Being a professor in this era means letting so many things pile up that your Thanksgiving vacation is an opportunity to do all the work that you aren't able to get done during the rest of the semester. That isn't helped at all by the fact that federal program managers are back to work now. #academia
This entire article will make your skin crawl. The final line by the authors is perfect though.
November 17, 2025 at 11:48 AM
This entire article will make your skin crawl. The final line by the authors is perfect though.
+1. Same here @coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov
November 9, 2025 at 11:26 PM
+1. Same here @coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov
I don't think this one should count. Self-aware.
November 9, 2025 at 3:27 AM
I don't think this one should count. Self-aware.
I opened the Post website a few minutes ago and saw this. Indistinguishable from Breitbart slop. Bad writing and incoherent garbage. The editorial board was to my left growing up, but I enjoyed learning from the articles and op-eds. There's nothing to learn here. So sad to see what Bezos has done.
November 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I opened the Post website a few minutes ago and saw this. Indistinguishable from Breitbart slop. Bad writing and incoherent garbage. The editorial board was to my left growing up, but I enjoyed learning from the articles and op-eds. There's nothing to learn here. So sad to see what Bezos has done.
We have a new pre-print out focusing on SrIrO3-SrCoO3 superlattices! Jibril Ahammad led this work as part of his PhD research at Auburn. Jibril is on the market for a postdoc and has expertise in MBE film growth, transport, and X-ray spectroscopy. Feel free to message me if you have a position! 🧪⚛️
Band Alignment Tuning from Charge Transfer in Epitaxial SrIrO$_3$/SrCoO$_3$ Superlattices
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04513
Jibril Ahammad, Brian B. Opatosky, Tanzila Tasnim, John W. Freeland, Gabriel Calderon Ortiz, Jinwoo Hwang, Gaurab Rimal, Boris Kiefer, Ryan B. Comes.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.04513
Jibril Ahammad, Brian B. Opatosky, Tanzila Tasnim, John W. Freeland, Gabriel Calderon Ortiz, Jinwoo Hwang, Gaurab Rimal, Boris Kiefer, Ryan B. Comes.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04513
arXiv abstract link
arxiv.org
November 8, 2025 at 12:18 PM
We have a new pre-print out focusing on SrIrO3-SrCoO3 superlattices! Jibril Ahammad led this work as part of his PhD research at Auburn. Jibril is on the market for a postdoc and has expertise in MBE film growth, transport, and X-ray spectroscopy. Feel free to message me if you have a position! 🧪⚛️
Couldn't happen to a better pair. One of the last straws for me with Auburn was bringing Freeze in as a coach. Made me feel dirty to be associated with a school that would employ him.
SOURCES: Auburn has fired head coach Hugh Freeze, @theathletic.com has learned.
Comes one day after a 10-3 loss to Kentucky to fall to 1-5 in SEC play. DJ Durkin will be the interim head coach.
Comes one day after a 10-3 loss to Kentucky to fall to 1-5 in SEC play. DJ Durkin will be the interim head coach.
November 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Couldn't happen to a better pair. One of the last straws for me with Auburn was bringing Freeze in as a coach. Made me feel dirty to be associated with a school that would employ him.
There was a discussion on LinkedIn yesterday about the good days of Academic Twitter before everything went to crap and we left. I'm curious why we haven't been able to recreate that here. A lot of the same folks are here, but there's not as much engagement. What's Bluesky missing? ⚛️🧪
November 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
There was a discussion on LinkedIn yesterday about the good days of Academic Twitter before everything went to crap and we left. I'm curious why we haven't been able to recreate that here. A lot of the same folks are here, but there's not as much engagement. What's Bluesky missing? ⚛️🧪
This is for the head of the Office of Naval Research, which oversees university funding and the Naval Research Lab. I assume similar moves are planned at AFOSR/AFRL and ARO/ARL. Folks assumed DOD research would be safe, but that's definitely not a given. They're intent on breaking our government. 🧪⚛️
Another step in the de-professionalization and politicization of DOD.
"The head of an office that helps organize technical research and disburse billions of dollars for the Navy is being replaced by a 33-year-old former DOGEr with no apparent naval experience."
www.thebulwark.com/p/scoop-trum...
"The head of an office that helps organize technical research and disburse billions of dollars for the Navy is being replaced by a 33-year-old former DOGEr with no apparent naval experience."
www.thebulwark.com/p/scoop-trum...
SCOOP: Trump Swaps Decorated Admiral With 33-Year-Old DOGEr
The highly unorthodox personnel change affects a critical government research role.
www.thebulwark.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:10 PM
This is for the head of the Office of Naval Research, which oversees university funding and the Naval Research Lab. I assume similar moves are planned at AFOSR/AFRL and ARO/ARL. Folks assumed DOD research would be safe, but that's definitely not a given. They're intent on breaking our government. 🧪⚛️
Paging UVA... The school has a conservative legal scholar as Interim President right now. Everyone is still waiting for him to act.
This is a remarkable piece. Conservative AND liberal legal scholars come out TOGETHER to condemn Trump’s compact for higher education. www.chronicle.com/article/our-...
Opinion | Our Politics Differ, But We Agree: Trump’s ‘Compact’ Violates Academic Freedom
Using federal funding to dictate who colleges admit and what faculty can say crosses a dangerous line.
www.chronicle.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Paging UVA... The school has a conservative legal scholar as Interim President right now. Everyone is still waiting for him to act.
Sign me up for this version of tenure. Great 🧵
October 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Sign me up for this version of tenure. Great 🧵
Good work @ssurovell.bsky.social and company! This is how to send a message. @abigailspanberger.com should speak up as well and make clear that what the current Board of Visitors has allowed will not be continuing after she takes office.
#JustIn: Democrats in the state Senate say "future budget considerations" could impact UVA if it signs onto the Trump administration's education compact.
State Senate Democrats tell UVA to not consider education compact
Democrats in the state Senate write that if UVA signs the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, “there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles.”
www.cbs19news.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Good work @ssurovell.bsky.social and company! This is how to send a message. @abigailspanberger.com should speak up as well and make clear that what the current Board of Visitors has allowed will not be continuing after she takes office.
This has been a great service to the oxide thin film community since COVID. And it's free! 🧪⚛️
🚨 We’re excited to announce QUOROM-13 — ✨
📅 Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025
🌐 Free & online | Oxide electronics, spintronics, multiferroics & quantum materials.
📝 Submit abstracts by Nov 10
🔗 Register & submit: quoromvirtualconference.wordpress.com
#QUOROM13 #QuantumMaterials #Spintronics #Multiferroics
📅 Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025
🌐 Free & online | Oxide electronics, spintronics, multiferroics & quantum materials.
📝 Submit abstracts by Nov 10
🔗 Register & submit: quoromvirtualconference.wordpress.com
#QUOROM13 #QuantumMaterials #Spintronics #Multiferroics
October 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM
This has been a great service to the oxide thin film community since COVID. And it's free! 🧪⚛️
Reposted by Ryan Comes
Nice short thread here. My favorite example of the length of time between discovery and application is superconductivity and MRI's. Superconductors were discovered in 1911, and the first MRI-like techniques were implemented in the 1970's, but they truly became widely available in the 90's and 00's.
I think for me the most compelling answer for "why fund basic research?" (and the one most relevant to the people doing the work) is that humans are curious and finding stuff out makes us happy and fulfilled. Science is a thing humans like. Life would be more dull and sad if we didn't do it.
end/🧵
end/🧵
October 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Nice short thread here. My favorite example of the length of time between discovery and application is superconductivity and MRI's. Superconductors were discovered in 1911, and the first MRI-like techniques were implemented in the 1970's, but they truly became widely available in the 90's and 00's.