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Wojciech Kopec

@wojciechkopec.bsky.social

1.5K followers 1.1K following 130 posts

Lecturer in Computational Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London | Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences | Computational Electrophysiology & Ion Channels Poland->Denmark->USA->Germany->UK..?

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Nov 21

MD simulations of K+ ions permeation through the MthK potassium channel, done at +150 mV. We developed and applied optimized ion parameters within the Electronic Continuum Correction (ECC) framework. The simulated current quantitatively matches the experimental one.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Wojciech Kopec

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2h

UK Universities cut 12,000 jobs, more on the way.

40% of Unis in financial crisis.

Major exporter destroyed by successive govts

Obstacles for foreign students.
Low fees in England, lack of govt funding.
£267bn student debt.
Home student numbers down.

How will the UK compete with other nations?

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · 6d

Dear Dr. Kopec,

I hereby confirm the receipt of your application for the vacancy Junior Professorship with Tenure Track in Theoretical Chemistry.
Due to our experience it will take usually about one year to reach a final decision on the offered position.

Found in old emails. Apply early folks 😀

Reposted by Wojciech Kopec

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 13d

Curbing ‘unfunded’ research ‘could chase away academics’.

Researchers wary of signals from senior figures that universities “can’t afford” research without external funding.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Curbing ‘unfunded’ research ‘could chase away academics’ - Research Professional News

Researchers wary of signals from senior figures that universities “can’t afford” research without external funding

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · 13d

Supervising project students in the UK - here are your data, research plan, meetings scheduled week by week, marking sheets and examples from last 5 years

Supervising project students in Eastern Europe - i just read about this new theory, it is now your topic, see you in 6 months

Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · 13d

Science Funders > we want you to do research that challenges the current understanding of life

Also science funders > we will give you one postdoc for 2 years

Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · 13d

Maybe all the people that know they usefulness of physics based modelling are industry actually finding new compounds instead of writing papers like this 😬😬😬

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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 17d

A brilliant piece in the FT about the human and institutional cost of overreliance on international student fees. Managers are making our most vulnerable students pay the price of a failing funding model and are skewing the purposes of university in their pursuit of fees.
www.ft.com/content/3f49...

Page argues franchising — where students are disproportionately from poorer backgrounds — has been oversold as a means for widening participation. In reality, he says, it often leaves students behind, with outcomes “taking down our overall metrics”.

Staff were never comfortable with the franchise-heavy model, he says. “Voices were raised about their concerns, the things they saw and practices that didn’t align with our values, but they weren’t listened to,” he adds. “Now we live or die by our own work. We’re not going to be reliant on other organisations. I would advise any other university with large franchise numbers to do the same.” Buckinghamshire cut ties earlier this year with five of its former private franchise partners.

Even so, other universities are continuing to explore franchise models. For Queen Mary’s new “International Year One” in business and management, for example, it will outsource the teaching and recruitment for the programme to Kaplan International College, a for-profit group offering pathway courses into higher education.

Taught at Kaplan’s centre in London Bridge, the one-year course will enable foreign students to move straight on to the second year of Queen Mary’s business management undergraduate degree. Kaplan’s tuition fee is about £9,000 cheaper and requires lower entry grades and English language qualifications.

Queen Mary academics fear the Kaplan pathway, billed as the only one of its kind leading to a London Russell Group university, will not improve the academic preparedness of students.

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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 15d

Managers should admit the funding model doesn't work and join in advocating for change, not push the pain and risk onto our most vulnerable students and change universities beyond recognition. Or making institutions beholden to agents, taking the future hostage. www.ft.com/content/3f49...

Despite worries over the role of agents, a global survey of university leaders by Navitas and Nous Group shows 24 per cent will increase investment in agent commissions and incentives, but down from 30 per cent in 2022.

Margins will keep depleting, says Connolly. As student flows and fees become increasingly volatile, universities “will need to be able to say we tried everything”, he adds. “It means more vice-chancellors and senior people shaking hands with agents.”

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UCU University of Kent branch @ucukent.bsky.social · 16d

UK Universities desperately need support from our government.
Education should be free for everyone.
Education is not a business.
Education is key for a strong economy.
Education is important for everyone's life and well-being.
#Solidarity with @uonucu.bsky.social

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 16d

Another fantastic days of pickets across the university! We will continue tomorrow with a final day of pickets from 8-11:30 and then make our way to the Trent building for a rally in support of our fight against compulsory redundancies. We'll see you there!

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE

A photograph of a person kneeling to pet a dog in front of two strike posters.

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · 17d

“£230bn saving” 🙄 If you issue your own currency, you don’t “fund” the NHS by shrinking the population - you need the real capacity. Migrants add tax, fill critical roles, and face limited benefits access. The constraint isn’t a debt figure; it’s having enough nurses, carers, teachers and builders.

Reposted by Wojciech Kopec

Aidan Fitzmaurice @fancyvegaspro.bsky.social · 19d

Excellent piece on basic income for the arts by Mick Gallen. One of the most talented and hardest working artists I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Amazing to read what the scheme did for him.

www.thejournal.ie/readme/opini...

The Basic Income scheme brought me success, wellbeing and family life; the Government must retain it

The pilot scheme has given artists a balance between working well and living well, writes Michael Gallen.

www.thejournal.ie

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leedsucu.bsky.social @leedsucu.bsky.social · Sep 9

Really helpful post here about the upcoming ballot which you'll have seen an email about on Monday. #WeAreTheUniversity - vote yes to:
▶️protect jobs and prevent cuts
▶️defend the agreements that support our work
▶️demand a pay uplift.

UCU Westminster @ucuwestminster.bsky.social · Sep 9

There should be a joint statement from the five unions in the next day or so (which also mentions pay, jobs, and nationally agreed employment conditions).

For now, here is some further detail on what our dispute is about and what we UCU members will be balloted on nationally:

#WeAreTheUniversity

Our dispute relates to the 2025/26 joint HE trade union national claim, specifically:

1. A pay uplift that is at least RPI + 3.5% or £2,500, whichever is the higher, on all pay points;

2. National agreement to avoid redundancies, course closures, and cuts to academic disciplines across the sector;

3. The protection of national agreements relating to terms and conditions of employment, including the 2004 framework agreement, the Post-92 contract for Post-92 institutions, and HE2000.

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Sep 8

✊✊

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hannah @hannahkateboast.bsky.social · Sep 8

It's welcome week and I'm on strike (again) over the University of Edinburgh's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. UoE has no deficit, but cuts of £90 million are already underway, damaging teaching, research, and the future of education at our university.

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Sep 6

Return it in 48h or we’re gonna kill this dog

Reposted by Wojciech Kopec

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Sep 4

Science Secretary Peter Kyle very clear today: 'too many universities are competing for the same pool of students'. He wants much more 'co-operation' (AKA merger) and unis narrowing down to their individual strengths. You have been warned.
www.gov.uk/government/s...

Peter Kyle’s speech at UK Universities conference 2025

A speech delivered by Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Peter Kyle, at UK Universities conference, Exeter on Thursday 4 September 2025.

www.gov.uk

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Reinier de Vries @reinierdevries.bsky.social · Aug 19

New preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We used molecular dynamics simulations and solid-state NMR (@fmp-berlin.de) to look at calcium binding to the pore domain of the calcium-gated K+ channel MthK. @wojciechkopec.bsky.social @compbiophys.bsky.social

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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · Aug 18

9 in 10 students are struggling to afford rent and food…

Yet former universities minister Jo Johnson says it’s “perverse” to complain about tuition fee rises 😱

Read our report: tr.ee/wAdLcJ

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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · Aug 12

Jay Bhattacharya, the NIH Director, thinks that if science isn’t popular it should be abandoned.

“No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission”.

He is unfit for his job in every imaginable way.

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profserious @profserious.bsky.social · Aug 10

Very few people seem to understand university finances and, distressingly, this includes many academics and most policymakers. This is an attempt to condense the key points you need to know. open.substack.com/pub/profseri...

Understanding University Finances

... a very short guide

open.substack.com

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Aug 8

Good read: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tuition fees are rising again and nobody is happy – it’s time to actually fix our broken university sector | Zoe Williams

The figures simply don’t add up for higher education in England and Wales. Yet delusional politicians from all parties seem intent on avoiding the issue, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Wojciech Kopec

William Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · Aug 6

The British university mess is so clearly what happens when the incentives of the people administering and consulting on the system bear no relation to those of anyone actually working in it

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Aug 2

Not all PhDs are UKRI funded

Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Aug 2

PhD studentship in London with 880 GBP monthly stipend. Dear Lord Almighty

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Wojciech Kopec @wojciechkopec.bsky.social · Jul 31

the game was dope though