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Thomas Gerdes
@thomasgerdes.de
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Head of Library at Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen. Passionate about open science and supporting research. | #photography | thomasgerdes.de
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thomasgerdes.de
Agatha Christie: Die Königin des Krimis

#history #literature

www.deutschlandfunk.de/agatha-chris...
Agatha Christie: die Königin des Krimis ging nie zur Schule und wurde trotzdem weltberühmt
Miss Marple und Hercule Poirot: Ihre legendären Detektiv-Figuren machten Agatha Christie weltberühmt. Dabei ging die britische Schriftstellerin nie zur Schule.
www.deutschlandfunk.de
January 12, 2026 at 3:35 PM
thomasgerdes.de
Confronting the Challenges of Sensitive Open Data

#OpenScience #OpenData

katinamagazine.org/content/arti...
Confronting the Challenges of Sensitive Open Data
When governments collect sensitive data about private individuals, personal privacy and governmental transparency come into conflict. How should we resolve this tension?
katinamagazine.org
January 11, 2026 at 12:42 PM
thomasgerdes.de
Examining the costs of library leadership turnover

#library

doi.org/10.1016/j.ac...
January 10, 2026 at 10:39 AM
thomasgerdes.de
The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing

#ScholarlyPublishing

theconversation.com/the-5-stages...
The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing
Academic publishing now shows the same decline that has hit social media and online marketplaces.
theconversation.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
maxplanck.de
Jawbones and other remains found in a Moroccan cave were dated to 773,000 years. They help close a gap in Africa’s fossil record of human origins. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/s... #Evolution #HumanHistory #Anthropology @nytimes.com @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
Moroccan Cave Fossils Yield a Possible Missing Link in Human Evolution
www.nytimes.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:03 AM
thomasgerdes.de
Hauptausschuss der DFG ermöglicht unter Rahmenbedingungen künftig die Nutzung von KI in der Begutachtung

#AI

www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...
Künstliche Intelligenz in der Begutachtung
www.dfg.de
January 8, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
susiebuch.bsky.social
Snow in front of our library – lunch break is used to mould a new colleague – like the rest of the team, slightly punkish.
⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️
Schnee vor unserer Bibliothek - da wird die Mittagspause genutzt, um einen neuen Kollegen zu formen - wie der Rest des Teams leicht punkig.
@mpifg.bsky.social #library
Schneemann vor Gebäude Mpifg
January 7, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
paintingsoflondon.bsky.social
'The London Underground'
(from 'This Is London', 1959) by Miroslav Šašek
January 5, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
lwestheuser.bsky.social
New job: I’ve just started as a Senior Researcher at the @mpimmg.bsky.social (new name and focus on politics & society coming). I will lead a research area on “Social and Political Conflicts”, looking at the social bases of political divides, class politics, climate and more. Get in touch if...
Linus Westheuser
www.mmg.mpg.de
January 5, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
steffenmau.bsky.social
I am happy to welcome our new colleague and director at @mpimmg.bsky.social Ursula Daxecker from the University of Amsterdam. She will chair the new department „Political Institutions and Conflict“.
mpimmg.bsky.social MaxPlanckInstitute for the Study of Religious & Ethnic Diversity @mpimmg.bsky.social · 6d
As part of our realignment, focusing on #inequality, #migration & the stability of #democracy, the @maxplanck.de has appointed the political scientist Prof. Dr. Ursula Daxecker (University of Amsterdam) as Director. She will establish a new department focusing on #PoliticalInstitutions & #Conflict.
January 6, 2026 at 9:56 AM
thomasgerdes.de
Christmas Lectures 2025 with Maggie Aderin-Pocock at @rigb.org

#science

youtu.be/PxG0Ey-x4As?...
Destination Moon - Christmas Lectures 2025 with Maggie Aderin-Pocock 1/3
YouTube video by The Royal Institution
youtu.be
January 6, 2026 at 11:19 AM
thomasgerdes.de
The Year in #Neanderthals: They drew with crayons, possibly fed on maggots and maybe even kissed us: Forty millenniums later, our ancient human cousins continued to make news.

#history

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/s...
The Year in Neanderthals
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:40 AM
thomasgerdes.de
Is ‘open science’ delivering benefits? Major study finds proof is sparse. It’s hard to measure social and economic impacts of making papers and data free, researchers say.

#OpenScience

doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Is ‘open science’ delivering benefits? Major study finds proof is sparse
It’s hard to measure social and economic impacts of making papers and data free, researchers say
doi.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:39 AM
thomasgerdes.de
A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of AI Policies in Academic Peer Review

#AI #PeerReview

doi.org/10.1002/leap...
A Cross‐Disciplinary Analysis of AI Policies in Academic Peer Review
Rapid advances of artificial intelligence (AI) have substantially impacted the field of academic publishing. This study examines AI integration in peer review by analysing policies from 439 high- and...
doi.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
paintingsoflondon.bsky.social
Happy New Year! Saturday marks 163 years since the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, opened between Paddington and Farringdon.

So this week's theme is the London Underground!
--
'Paddington Station at Night'
1992
Doreen Fletcher
doreenfletcherartist.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:50 AM
thomasgerdes.de
#BookLog: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

#AmReading #booksky

www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
Case Histories (Jackson Brodie, #1)
The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Myster…
www.goodreads.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:34 PM
thomasgerdes.de
Here’s a cheat sheet for decoding this year’s A.I.-driven tech lingo, from RAG to superintelligence.

#AI

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/t...
10 Pieces of Tech Jargon That Confused Us in 2025
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:17 PM
thomasgerdes.de
#FilmLog: Fever Dream

#filmtip #film #filmsky

letterboxd.com/film/fever-d...
Fever Dream (2021)
A woman named Amanda lies stricken, far from home. A young boy named David questions her, trying to make her remember. She's not his mother, he's not her son. As her time is running out, he helps her ...
letterboxd.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
jmwiarda.bsky.social
Pakt unter Druck

Patrick Cramer forderte 500 Millionen Euro zusätzlich für Max Planck und legte Bruchlinien in der Forschungsfinanzierung offen. Inmitten von Sparpolitik und Hightech-Agenda steht der Pakt für Forschung und Innovation am Scheideweg.

Im Wiarda-Blog: www.jmwiarda.de/blog/2025/12...
December 29, 2025 at 8:12 AM
thomasgerdes.de
Südlohner Moor. — Diepholz, 29 December 2025.

For more photos of the moorland in winter, visit thomasgerdes.de/moorland-in-...

#photography #landscape #nature #moor #winter
Solitary mature tree stands in the centre of an expansive rust-orange moorland. The scene features layers of autumn-coloured heathland vegetation, with misty treelines receding into a soft grey sky, creating a minimalist composition.
December 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM
thomasgerdes.de
Adam Smith is misinterpreted and his influence overstated: The “Wealth of Nations” at 250

#Economics #History

www.economist.com/christmas-sp...
Adam Smith is misinterpreted and his influence overstated
The most famous book in economics is less revolutionary than you think
www.economist.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:28 PM
thomasgerdes.de
We discovered an ancient ‘party boat’ in the waters of Alexandria – here’s what might have happened on board

#history

theconversation.com/we-discovere...
We discovered an ancient ‘party boat’ in the waters of Alexandria – here’s what might have happened on board
Pharaohs may have used this vessel to hunt hippopotami.
theconversation.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
newyorker.com
“Wake Up Dead Man,” Rian Johnson’s latest whodunnit, starring Josh O’Connor, directs its political ire at the unholy alliance of Christianity and the political right. Read @justincchang.bsky.social’s review. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/b1iShk
“Wake Up Dead Man”: A Murder Mystery with God in the Details
In Rian Johnson’s latest whodunnit, Josh O’Connor plays a Catholic priest trying to restore moral order at a church befouled by murder.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
December 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
samuelpepys.bsky.social
To my office alone to do business, and read over half of Mr. Bland’s discourse concerning Trade, which (he being no scholler and so knows not the rules of writing orderly) is very good.
December 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Thomas Gerdes
britishlibrary.bsky.social
Season’s greetings from all of us at the British Library.

#BritishLibrary #Libraries #Christmas
December 24, 2025 at 11:22 AM