#uon — Public Fediverse posts

Oh the irony, on the day in which I describe my "Best Day Ever" in Nature, university leaders announce 600+ redundancies*, and today we all receive notices that our jobs are at risk. Through their fault. And with no consideration as to what a 22:1 teaching ratio will do to almost everything, but especially league tables. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01479-8 (*via VR, then CR if numbers not achieved) #UCU #UoN

Oh the irony, on the day in which I describe my "Best Day Ever" in Nature, university leaders announce 600+ redundancies*, and today we all receive notices that our jobs are at risk. Through their fault. And with no consideration as to what a 22:1 teaching ratio will do to almost everything, but especially league tables. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01479-8 (*via VR, then CR if numbers not achieved) #UCU #UoN

Oh the irony, on the day in which I describe my "Best Day Ever" in Nature, university leaders announce 600+ redundancies*, and today we all receive notices that our jobs are at risk. Through their fault. And with no consideration as to what a 22:1 teaching ratio will do to almost everything, but especially league tables. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01479-8 (*via VR, then CR if numbers not achieved) #UCU #UoN

Oh the irony, on the day in which I describe my "Best Day Ever" in Nature, university leaders announce 600+ redundancies*, and today we all receive notices that our jobs are at risk. Through their fault. And with no consideration as to what a 22:1 teaching ratio will do to almost everything, but especially league tables. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01479-8 (*via VR, then CR if numbers not achieved) #UCU #UoN

Oh the irony, on the day in which I describe my "Best Day Ever" in Nature, university leaders announce 600+ redundancies*, and today we all receive notices that our jobs are at risk. Through their fault. And with no consideration as to what a 22:1 teaching ratio will do to almost everything, but especially league tables. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01479-8 (*via VR, then CR if numbers not achieved) #UCU #UoN

University of Nottingham has ambitions to become a specialist teaching college. Full UCU counter proposal here: https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FN2-UCU-report-for-council.pdf #UoN #WeAreUoN #UCU

University of Nottingham has ambitions to become a specialist teaching college. Full UCU counter proposal here: https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FN2-UCU-report-for-council.pdf #UoN #WeAreUoN #UCU

University of Nottingham has ambitions to become a specialist teaching college. Full UCU counter proposal here: https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FN2-UCU-report-for-council.pdf #UoN #WeAreUoN #UCU

University of Nottingham has ambitions to become a specialist teaching college. Full UCU counter proposal here: https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FN2-UCU-report-for-council.pdf #UoN #WeAreUoN #UCU

University of Nottingham has ambitions to become a specialist teaching college. Full UCU counter proposal here: https://uonucu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FN2-UCU-report-for-council.pdf #UoN #WeAreUoN #UCU

@ucu Apparently "Nottingham has *evolved* into one of the largest university estates in the country ..." and that we need to "rightsize". So leaders blame "evolution" not themselves, eh? No apologies, of course, but at least they have seen sense and are selling Castle Meadow campus, which to date has cost nearly £100m and is not fit for purpose. At a huge loss, of course. #UoN #universities #ucu

Well this isn't going to help UK universities There is already a hostile atmosphere to foreign students, the government is now going reward those that are good at getting foreign students by taking £925 from the university for each student. Unless universities raise fees, then this is another income drop.

We are truly led by idiots, idiots that are beholden to the far right view point.

#labour #universities #UoN https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-politics-2025-11-international-levy-to-be-flat-fee-of-925-per-student/

Two days of demos and inspirational speeches outside Trent building - while university council decide our future but without our consultation, or consideration of the local and East Midlands community. #UoN promotes #WeAreUoN hashtag but does not listen to staff and students. (@ucu are you there?) #University #eastmidlands

*BREAKING* The University of Nottingham has decided to lead the way in being the first 🥇 Russell group university to NOT do modern languages. Music is also gone! 🗡️ Apparently, neither are necessary for a world "top 100" university, and anyway continuing to teach these without a 40% margin is not compatible with charitable status.

Instead, after "regularizing" the staff force, the university will take a laser focus to a narrow range of STEM subjects *ENDS*
#UoN #Russell @ucu #ucu

University of Nottingham appears to have given up on the Arts. All off the degree courses listed in the images have been suspended, effective 10th November.

The university says we "will suspend a *small* number of degree courses as part of the Future Nottingham two (FN2)"

If you are in the Faculty of Arts at Nottingham I doubt that this feels like "small", "devastating" more like, and most likely you are facing redundancy at some point in the future. #UCU #UoN

This does not reflect well on University of Nottingham, especially given the financial situation we are in, current voluntary redundancies and possible compulsory redundancies: https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/university-nottingham-spent-over-80m-10506355 #UoN #Nottingham. #HigherEducation #universities #UCU

Comment needed from friendly "malacologist" (me!) on the speed of snails in relation to the Ukraine-Russia war. I would have been wary of doing this interview if I was not already familiar with Tim Harford and BBC Radio 4 "More or Less" programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002j5tq (~24 minutes in). #UoN #snails #BBC #moreorless

"Nobody admits how much things actually cost, nobody admits who’s paying for what, research is kept alive on the toil and goodwill of underpaid academics, foreign students who represent a huge export market and an incredible success story for the sector are treated as if they are somehow on the fiddle, and that’s before you even start to consider the matter we generally look at first: what this means for graduate debt."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/07/tuition-fees-rising-broken-university-england-wales #theguardian #UCU #UoN #Universities #StudentFees

Today feeling like Santa 🎅 when he receives mail at the North Pole 🛷.
Letter addressed to "Polymita Tree Snail Department, Nottingham University" found its way to me, one of two people in the "Dept of Tree Snails" at Nottingham. It is signed by a "Robert J. Smith" 🕷️🕸️ 🐈, no really 😸. Could it could it could could it be The Robert J. Smith?!
#TheCure #Polymita #Snails #Lovecats #Lovesnails #UoN

Is this a joke? "Welcome to the new Academic Year" on the 20th August! And also a lovely reminder of how many committees I sit on 😉 #lifeofpi #UoN

Day 5 (of 5) as acting Head of School. It's all over, nothing to do all week 😃, gimme a pay rise and I'll happily do it all over again*.
To celebrate HoS took a few hours off and went to the allotment 🪏🍅🥒🫜. (*only if no actions needed)
#lifeofpi #UoN

Somehow turned my Cuban adventures back in March into "breaking news", snail-bombing the whole of the BBC and beyond 🤔😄. Highlight was probably the ITN News at 10 feature that ended with prolonged footage of two snails mating, which is not something I ever imagined could happen in real life on a primetime news programme. Did they know what they were broadcasting? At least it was after 9 pm watershed. #snails #bbc #polymita #UoN #conservation
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrv8ndzzjo

University life is full of meetings .... yet my university does not offer a single course or training how to to manage or chair meetings??? I have asked multiple times but found nothing. 🤯 #UoN #University

Very excited and delighted for new paper by my #UoN colleague Tom Reader, exploring the mechanisms behind Batesian mimicry using 3D printed insects: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09216-3. There's a N&V, a podcast and a blog to accompany it!
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01766-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02103-x
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/how-3d-printed-insects-curious-birds-and-clever-spiders-helped-us-map-the-limits-of-mimicry. And then this also just published:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02775-8 #mimicry #batesian #hoverfly #wasp

There is much that is remarkable about this work. I’d highlight the fact that it emerged from an exceptionally broad collaboration - spanning multiple staff members and students, including several current undergraduates - and involving close work with staff in engineering. The authors also deserve strong recognition for not taking the safe route - as this work represents over ten years of planning and research, the results could easily have been published separately and much earlier. #UoN

We celebrated the publication while visiting the Centre for Cuban studies archive. There are six shelves entirely filled with books about Che Guevara. 😲. In comparison, Castro only has four shelves. #cheguevara #castro #UoN

🥂 🐌 First paper out from our Cuba-UK collaboration 🐌🥂. We used mtDNA and rRNA sequences to place beautiful Polymita snails in a phylogeny. Basically, they are basal to a whole bunch of other important and diverse snail groups. https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/91/2/eyaf006/8173425

There's an obvious #paperthemetune, the "Polymita song", by collaborator Norvis Hernandez and others. https://youtu.be/1srl4_JI_Fs?si=G3Z5bVLCDWR554nl #snails #mtDNA #phylogenetics #UoN

Garden snails 🐌 try to stab each other with 'love darts' prior to mating. We finally got it on video!

With sound on you can hear the 'ding' as the dart pierces through the body and hits the glass on the other side. Ouch!

#snails #lovedarts #bbcspringwatch #UoN

Our snails 🐌 featured on #BBCSpringwatch last night, links below. It was a lot of work for five minutes of film - but quite pleased overall. Of course, we did not quite get the highly desired #lovedart shooting (despite what the video says) but have subsequently managed (to follow 😉).

Mostly shot in studio in Life Sciences, rest on UoN campus. No lefties either, at least not obviously.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002dfm5/springwatch-2025-episode-12 (14 minutes into program, UK only or VPN)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0DmMntmMZ/?igsh=MTllaTkzODBrd3M5OA== #BBC #snails #UoN

It's happening, snails on BBC Springwatch! In the end, four days work x 2 BBC staff plus myself as animal wrangler. For 5 minutes of film. #bbcspringwatch #snails #Cornu #UoN https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/springwatch-2025

Exciting news about Ann Elizabeth Baker (1786-1861)
Ann who researched and wrote extensively about #Northamptonshire's dialect. Now two students, Sadie Hylott and Benjamin Bayes, from the University of Northampton #UoN have produced a short video to promote Ann's work.
You can read more about the project here https://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/its-all-a-bag-of-moonshinenorthamptonian-dialect-celebrated-for-world-voice-day-by-uon-acting-students/
and watch the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS5ceoXYkTE #dialect

Location shooting for four days (!) of BBC filming on campus. Its been interesting to take a look at ordinary life from different perspective. Fingers crossed 🤞 my snail wrangling skills are up to it. #BBC #Springwatch #UoN #Nottingham #WeAreUoN

Apparently the balance remaining on a student project is £314.33999999999997 😆. Anyone know what I can do with 0.33999999999997 pence? Oh #unicore at #UoN

I am very sad to confirm that I am not **ever** able to host a foreign student as an intern at #UoN, even for just 30 days, even though it will benefit, me, him, the university and scientific exchange in general. The killer is that according to this universities interpretation of immigration rules, there is no capacity to allow for student interns from a foreign country.
This is where we are at in UK science. 😥
@kofanchen @AnaVinuela #brexit #university #highereducation #student

@steveroyle good for them. No posts by #UoN since 2023, so they might as well quit fully

Japanese snail stretching to the limits at #UoN open day today. Species is sinistral Euhadra quaesita.
#snail #japan #science #chirality