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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 2d

I wonder what his party leader thinks about what he said.

Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 2d

I'm not sure what the best way to approach this is. Undergrad dissertations are rarely original anyway. The goal of producing a dissertation, in my view, is mainly pedagogical: learning the tricks of the trade.

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 2d

Many of my undergraduate students want to do primary research for their dissertations.

Talking to colleagues, some question the value of doing so if there's data available out there - other surveys, interview transcripts, etc. - implying that there's no point in redoing what's already been done.

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Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 6d

Today the School of Social & Political Sciences hosted the inaugural session of its MA International Relations Public Lecture Series organised by Marianna Charountaki & moderated by @drnickcowen.bsky.social. Thanks to Alam Saleh, Christos Kourtelis, Nasasra Mansour & Lesley Masters for participating

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Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 13d

It’s Welcome Week at the Uni of #Lincoln & today the School of Social & Political Sciences organised a quiz for staff & new students. Do you know in which county Chequers is located& which UK city was the first to install traffic lights? How about the prison population in England?

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Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 15d

#1
Following on from my earlier thread about claims of “bias” in universities (link below 👇), I was struck by James Marriott’s column in today’s Times. It’s full of anecdote & caricature. The real story of UK universities is structural, financial, and political. 🧵
👉 bsky.app/profile/prof...

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

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vexorian @vexorian.dev · 21d

So glad we are scorching the Earth so that a computer can, maybe after many tries, tell a guy how to make a Sandwich.

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 21d

Terrific day visiting my alma mater to present our new research project.

On top of that, it has been an absolute pleasure to listen to so many innovative and exciting talks.

#EMCA research in police and legal settings continues to flourish.

Charles Antaki @charlesantaki.bsky.social · 22d

Fabio Ferraz de Almeida listens While his co-author starts their talk (via video) on how Brazilian police use vlogs to present a version of their work

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 22d

On the train to Loughborough. Looking forward to the symposium (and catch up with DARGers) 😊

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 23d

If that is not outright racism, very easy to spot, I don't know what is.

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · 27d

Now comes the hardest part: making sure Parliament doesn’t approve any sort of amnesty for him or his peers.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 27d

Brazil’s supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup

Former president faces decades-long jail sentence for seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing 2022 election * Anatomy of a coup plot: why Jair Bolsonaro is on trial A majority of Brazil’s supreme court judges have voted to convict the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a military coup, leaving the far-right populist facing a decades-long sentence for leading the criminal conspiracy. Justice Cármen Lúcia Antunes Rocha ruled on Thursday that Bolsonaro – a former paratrooper who was elected president in 2018 – was guilty of seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing the 2022 election, meaning three of the five judges involved in the trial had found Brazil’s former leader guilty. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · Sep 6

Academic authors, here's a peek into the black box of journal publishing from an journal editor if you can bear it:

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Elliott Hoey @elliotthoey.bsky.social · Aug 21

🚨 new #emca paper klaxon 🚨

on-duty police regularly have to deal with recording bystanders. if they decide to open interaction, how do they do so? Uwe and I investigate 🕵🏻 in Language in Society

🔓 OA: www.cambridge.org/core/service...

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Robert Dingwall @rwjdingwall.bsky.social · Aug 19

A Modest Proposal.
The OfS must spearhead a dilution of the UK’s lavish student experience www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/ofs-...

The OfS must spearhead a dilution of the UK’s lavish student experience

If the UK has decided it can no longer afford the sub-Oxbridge university model, expectations need to be systematically lowered, says Robert Dingwall

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Jul 13

Decades of mechanistic talk about university degrees as if they were bundles of 'skills' and 'prep' are about to be proved completely wrong (obviously). Want to get a real boost? Do History or English.

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Dr Kathleen Neal @kbneal.bsky.social · Jun 20

Well, yes, wouldn't it be nice if you knew the answers in advance, and could predict precisely which ideas will turn out to be enormous breakthroughs and which lead to dead ends... BUT THAT'S NOT HOW RESEARCH WORKS. *face palm*

Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · Jun 19

Two senior @ukri.org figures this week have suggested unis could reduce how much research they do

“Concentrating on unique and high contributions & concentrating on less research, has the potential to bring the amount of activity into balance with research funding,” Steven Hill told #ARMA25

(1/2)

Research England official: universities could do ‘less’ R&D - Research Professional News

Arma 2025: Director of research asks whether system should provide “disincentives for lower-quality research”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Mike Slaven @mcslaven.bsky.social · May 29

There are reasons that most UK universities are in trouble which have nothing to do with them. The managers have a hard job. However, some are in over their heads, putting out corporate statements about a "clear vision and plan" which no one has seen

No-confidence vote in University of Lincoln bosses is passed - BBC News

Academics at the University of Lincoln call for compulsory redundancies to be ruled out.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Fabio Ferraz de Almeida

Jonathan Healey @jonathanhealey.bsky.social · May 20

Universities do research that may not be commercially viable now but will be transformative down the line. They correct for market failure. If all they do is think like enterprises then they become a part of that market failure.

Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · May 20

Of course, any academic worth their salt would then ask whose research will lay the foundation for any of this activity ... but expertise doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for commercialisation.

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · May 14

One of my favourite places in Finland. If you like fish, try Sampo for the traditional Finnish muikku. Otherwise, try Boka for some Balkan food. Enjoy!

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · May 12

Solidarity, Marina.

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Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · Apr 11

In a time when people are obsessed with big data and statistics, this is a must-read!

Charles Antaki @charlesantaki.bsky.social · Apr 11

Wondered about (or goggled at) how politicians use statistics?

Michael Billig and Cristina Marinho have a new book out on just that subject, and it's a cracker.

www.cambridge.org/core/books/p...

Politicians Manipulating Statistics

Cambridge Core - Politics: General Interest - Politicians Manipulating Statistics

www.cambridge.org

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Mark Dingemanse @dingemansemark.bsky.social · Apr 9

A year ago our faculty commissioned & adopted guidance on GenAI and research integrity. Preamble below, pdf at osf.io/preprints/os..., text also at ideophone.org/generative-a...

Key to these guidelines is a values-first rather than a technology-first approach, based on NL code of research conduct

Preamble

All research at our institution, from ideation and execution to analysis and reporting, is bound by the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. This code specifies five core values that organise and inform research conduct: Honesty, Scrupulousness, Transparency, Independence and Responsibility.

One way to summarise the guidelines in this document is to say they are about taking these core values seriously. When it comes to using Generative AI in or for research, the question is if and how this can be done honestly, scrupulously, transparently, independently, and responsibly.

A key ethical challenge is that most current Generative AI undermines these values by design [3–5; details below]. Input data is legally questionable; output reproduces biases and erases authorship; fine-tuning involves exploitation; access is gated; versioning is opaque; and use taxes the environment.

While most of these issues apply across societal spheres, there is something especially pernicious about text generators in academia, where writing is not merely an output format but a means of thinking, crediting, arguing, and structuring thoughts. Hollowing out these skills carries foundational risks.

A common argument for Generative AI is a promise of higher productivity [5]. Yet productivity does not equal insight, and when kept unchecked it may hinder innovation and creativity [6, 7]. We do not need more papers, faster; we rather need more thoughtful, deep work, also known as slow science [8–10].

For these reasons, the first principle when it comes to Generative AI is to not use it unless you can do so honestly, scrupulously, transparently, independently and responsibly. The ubiquity of tools like ChatGPT is no reason to skimp on standards of research integrity; if anything, it requires more vigilance.

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Sureyya Sonmez Efe @sefe-ofelia.bsky.social · Apr 4

It is great to hear about our PhD students' research projects at the UoL PGT event👏👏

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Fabio Ferraz de Almeida @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social · Mar 28

It's that time of the year when undergrads start panicking about their dissertation.

Today, one of them sent me a draft chapter and asked for my feedback. The email ended with 'good luck'. Not exactly what a supervisor would expect (or like to read) 😅

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