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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 2d

So, it's somehow impossible to recognize a woman with a science Nobel even if she is first author on the key research, but we should give the prize the ChatGPT?
www.dailypioneer.com/2024/columni...

Prof Anna Watts @profannawatts.bsky.social · 2d

Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.

Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 4d

Great to see someone senior like Prof Lindsay Greer talking about how big errors can accidentally arise in experimental science.
I sometimes feel Retraction Watch sees its purpose as catching out evildoers. It's good to see them reporting on retraction as part of a normal honest scientific process.

Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 4d

“I have given several scientific talks that included our retraction story,” Greer said of the paper, which was retracted in December 2024. “Audience reaction has been uniformly positive.”

‘Cosmic magnet’ study retracted after cleaning agent wipes away results

Electron diffraction patterns of an alloy before (left) and after (right) cleaning revealed the cleaning agent was was responsible for reflections (circle, right) reported in the original study. O.…

retractionwatch.com

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Reposted by Prof Rachel Oliver

Royal Academy of Engineering @raeng.org.uk · 4d

"Fundamentally, teams that better reflect our society, in all its diversity, make better business decisions and do better engineering." @profrachelgan.bsky.social reflects on the first four years of the Diversity Impact Programme, inspiring change in universities: www.raeng.org.uk/blogs/divers...

Diversity Impact Programme: four years on

Professor Rachel Oliver FREng, Chair of the Academy’s EDI Committee, reflects on the first four years of the Academy’s Diversity Impact Programme.

www.raeng.org.uk

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Reposted by Prof Rachel Oliver

David K Smith @professor-dave.bsky.social · 5d

A remarkable transformation in @rsc.org prizes.
30% of prizes recognise teams rather than individuals (up from 5%).
36% of prize-winners are early-career (up from 4%)
38% of prize winners are women (up from 25%)
Twice as many prizes for work outside universities.
www.rsc.org/policy-and-c...

Reshaping recognition: evolving how we celebrate excellence

A multi-year journey to transform our prizes

www.rsc.org

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$profrachelgan.bsky.social$

Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 5d

I'm delighted to be able to support @raeng.org.uk in developing their diversity impact programme, which aims to inspire change in university engineering departments so that students from diverse backgrounds can succeed and thrive: raeng.org.uk/blogs/divers...

Diversity Impact Programme

raeng.org.uk

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Reposted by Prof Rachel Oliver

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 9d

I didn't know until we buried my mother, so probably most people here don't know: Jewish cemeteries strongly recommend that you get insurance for the headstone.

Because the cemeteries are so often desecrated, the gravestones smashed.

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Reposted by Prof Rachel Oliver

Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 9d

This article manages to name her husband before it names… her.

Article reads:
Woman named as Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first

The 63-year-old archbishop-designate is married to Eamonn Mullally, with whom she has two children. Originally from Woking in Surrey, she was the UK's chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

[link for the quote: royalsociety.org/news/2025/10... ]

A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society

A statement from Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.

royalsociety.org

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

I am forced to wonder whether they've ever applied the current Code of Conduct previously, or considered the available sanctions. From my viewpoint, this whole thing highlights that having a Code of Conduct is meaningless unless you are prepared to use it and to be transparent about how it is used.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

It's difficult to see how he hasn't broken their code of conduct. A question worth asking is whether there are meaningful sanctions under their code of conduct other than expelling a Fellow? And if so have any of them been applied?

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

In the post quoted below, I am contributing to a discussion about the fact that Elon Musk has not lost his Fellowship of the Royal Society depsite the President of the RS saying that Musk's "language... threaten[s] the values that enable science to thrive and the Royal Society rejects [it]".

$profrachelgan.bsky.social$

Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

Perhaps they want to make it clear to the scientific community that they don't take their code of conduct seriously, so that we don't waste our time or their time reporting bad behaviour by Fellows to them?

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

And therein, I suspect, lies the problem.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

If you can find a Fellow to try it, I'll gladly put up the fiver. I'd be happy to lose it.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10d

Perhaps they want to make it clear to the scientific community that they don't take their code of conduct seriously, so that we don't waste our time or their time reporting bad behaviour by Fellows to them?

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 11d

Completely agree.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 11d

If processes are being run correctly, the people assessing you for the job should not be able to see most of this information. Information about Disability is the exception to this, because of reasonable adjustments and specific processes that may garantee an interview to qualified disabled people.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 11d

The trouble is, if noone collects and analyses these data, it allows a lot of pretending their are no issues with under-representation of particular groups, even when those issues are blatantly obvious.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 11d

Does anyone have a good way of keeping track of the many sharepoint links they recieve, ranging in important from vital to pointless? I have a spreadsheet with a list, but I keep forgetting to put things in it, and it's difficult to index in a way that allows me to find what I need...

Leon Black @drleonblack.bsky.social · 11d

Sharepoint is shit.

It is the Ts & Cs of institutional information, used merely as a means of demonstrating that information is available if I happen to remember which of the 30k+ emails I've received this year contains the link.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 11d

Since you're not on fire, do you fancy a chat at some point about mapping misoriented regions in GaN and how much difference this new approach would make in that context?

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12d

oooh - this looks clever, elegant and potentially useful...

Experimental Micromechanical Characterisation Research Group @expmicromech.com · 12d

🚨New Preprint: "Angular Resolution Enhancement of Electron Backscatter Diffraction Patterns" by @bmatb.expmicromech.com and @tbizh95.bsky.social

arxiv.org/abs/2509.23039

Figure from the paper which shows that you can get an angular improvement in the EBSD pattern by using a super resolution method, above what is expected from simply counting longer.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12d

Whilst I would really like to see maintenance grants for working class students restored, funding them by making international fees even higher is (a) unfair and (b) likely to reduce international student numbers, leading to reduced income for Universities, which are already parlously underfunded.

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 12d

"Labour to bring back maintenance grants for students on ‘priority’ courses"

Labour to bring back maintenance grants for students on ‘priority’ courses

Education secretary says means-tested grants for ‘those who need them most’ will be funded by new international student levy

www.theguardian.com

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12d

😂
I actually did laugh out loud at this. So apt.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12d

Cool stuff! 🧪

Applied Physics Express and JJAP @apexjjap.bsky.social · 12d

[2024 OPEN ACCESS]
Realization of low specific-contact-resistance on N-polar GaN surfaces using heavily-Ge-doped n-type GaN films deposited by low-temperature reactive sputtering technique
2024 17 036501

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

#APEX
#Physics
#GaN
#sputtering
#germanium

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 13d

Current pet peeve: please do not write to me implying that I am late responding and that you are reminding me about doing a task that you never actually asked me to do. I am late on enough things without passive-aggresive fictional additions.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 13d

Worth a read: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...