I am a university professor and research scientist - AMA

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I work as a professor and research scientist at a UK university, in a field linked to biomedical sciences.

AMA, except admissions to first year (I don't deal with them ).

Has brexit had an impact on your/your universities future research plans?

Do you think university rankings are important when choosing where to go?

@2022sucksalready Brexit definitely has had an impact and will continue to do so...

The students joining us are changing: with EU students now classed as international with prohibitively high fees, they have stopped coming and this changes the dynamic and experience of the class as a whole. Same at PhD level - the student landscape is changing.

From a research funding perspective, our uni was removed from a collaborative bid we were meant to lead, and there has been fewer invitations to join collaborations from EU teams.

Stuff we order from outside the UK for research takes forever to arrive too, and we cannot (as) easily (as before) employ people out of the UK / in the EU to work remotely (a lot of our work has gone remote with COVID, like everywhere else).

I ve not yet seen a Brexit-specific major shift in the university-wide research strategy, as COVID impact and mitigations have complicated the picture.

What kind of salary do you earn?

@TobyMory

Do you think university rankings are important when choosing where to go?

Like many of my teaching and research active colleagues, I do not particularly like league tables or the competitiveness they foster.

I don't think they are particularly useful at predicting anyone's university experience or future employability.

Do you think Omicron is the end of Covid? How sure are the scientists that a stronger variant will not come along after this? As if what they is true we can all get back to some sorts of normality

How is your university about GC debate? If you think a woman is an adult human female, would you be wary of stating that to staff and students (where appropriate)?

What do you think about Professor Stock having to leave her job?

@fjernelse

What kind of salary do you earn?

around £68k

@HollowTalk

How is your university about GC debate? If you think a woman is an adult human female, would you be wary of stating that to staff and students (where appropriate)?

What do you think about Professor Stock having to leave her job?

my uni is not particularly prominent in the GC debate, and my faculty not at all - I don t know anyone in my broader discipline that would disagree with sex as a biological construct, but how it translates or not into the definition of gender is something we do not really discuss much at all.

I am however aware that our students have different ideas and opinions, and I would not choose to venture in that debate with my limited knowledge (plus, it is really not my area of expertise). I am glad I do not have to.

I find it sad that anyone should have to leave their position because of the local culture.

Sorry another question I have Graves diease I was told it's supposed to run in family's none of my family have ever had thyroid problems, I did however go through 5 bereavements and 5 years of complete hell as well due to other reasons if stress was a major contributing factor to me developing it is there s good chance it will disappear through Carbimazole alone? I would absolutely dread having Rai as there has been lots of cancer in our family and I would dread surgery as I have bad white coat syndrome, also last last question, our family are prone to having sticky blood, I have had to have lots of blood tests due to having a thyroid storm if I were at risk of having a blood clot would it get picked up when having my thyroid levels checked? Or having a full blood count done?

Do you think that peer review is genuinely effective in preventing the publication of poor research?

How many hours do you work a week?

Also, have you noticed any improvement in undergraduate lab skills since the introduction of the required practical skills into A Level courses in 2016?

@pawpatrolneedaunion

How many hours do you work a week?

In theory, 35

in practice 50-70, I start at 8.30 or 9am and finishes between 6 and 7pm - I don t take a lunch break.

I stop to cook / eat / play til DCs go to bed, and will usually do another 1 to 3h of work in the evening. That's usually when I mark or do feedback, or write papers / grant proposals.

At the WE, I try to not do anything while kids are awake, but I will work through if I have a big grant deadline.

Thanks Thats like my week. I'm also an academic. I was hoping you'd say less! I think I may need to consider changing career once I reach prof!

How old were you when you had your kids?

Did you have to undertake multiple post-doc posts / change job frequently and work abroad to get where you are.

I am aware academic career paths are not very family friendly!

@celestebellman

How old were you when you had your kids?

Did you have to undertake multiple post-doc posts / change job frequently and work abroad to get where you are.

I am aware academic career paths are not very family friendly!

I was 28 when DC1 was born, and 33 for DC2.

I am a dual citizen and grew up outside of the UK. I came to the UK for my first postdoc, then did a second one elsewhere (different city but commutable) and finally got a permanent role.

I was lucky / privileged to have a working DH during the postdoc years. DC1 was born during my last postdoc, just before I got a permanent role, and we ve not had to move since (except locally).

i have the same thoughts at times, @pawpatrolneedaunion

@Bettyboopawoop - virology and endocrinology are not my areas of expertise so I cannot really comment.

From a personal point of view, I don't think omicron is the end of it - there will be other variants, and our immunity will continue to evolve with each of them. I am hoping that the lessons of covid-19 will translate into better prevention and public health measures ahead of future pandemics.

@MasterGland - i don t think the current publication model is interested in quality. It has morphed into a big money making machine and peer review is only 3 randomly selected anonymous "peers" sharing their views and opinions. Most often than not, they are mistaken, or biased. I am hoping that we will see a big shift toward preprinting as a default route to publication...

in term of lab skills... I cannot say I have seen a great improvement, however I only deal with final years and the last 2 cohorts' time in the lab has been shortened by covid, so this could play a part - but they are SUPER keen for any hands on experience, and grateful for it, which i love

Are you in UCU? Will you be going on strike?

I am and will.

Also in UCU and will be striking

Do you have to do much teaching prep when you've already taught a module one year - surely after that it just becomes a matter of tweaking slides and a little bit of rehearsal just before the lecture? Do you then get lots of time for research?

How much time do you spend doing research per day/week?

@2022changenotecho - when it comes to the actual lecturing in front of a big class, i usually do 1.5h of prep per hour taught - this includes refreshing the material which is based on the latest literature (not just the same old stuff, biomed science moves fast) and also creating in class activities to help with learning of core concepts in context (this changes year on year).

I teach 3 modules per year - which is about 4h per week contact in terms 1 and 2, plus approx 1 hour of pastoral 1 to 1s (+ prep as above).

With 3 modules, I also mark 3 exams (approx 20min per copie) and 3 essays (approx 30 minutes per copy with detailed feedback) for 80ish students.

I also supervise between 2 and 4 under grad dissertations in term 2 and 5 to 6 postgrad dissertations in term 3. This is about 2h per week each, plus ad hoc meetings and feedback on results and drafts (and then marking). This is kind of research, but not really.

then there is the admin - the exam boards, the progress boards, the ethics board meetings, the open days, EDI committee, health and safety committee, the reference letters, dealing with human resources, finance, registration services and international / visa office for tutees and staff, phd application reviews and interviews, convening vivas, etc - plus the research adjacent admin like grant panel work, ordering and financial management - on average easily 5 to 6 h per week

the rest goes to research (writing grant, papers, doing analysis, planning experiments, project management, reading / keeping up to date, as well as reviewing the work of others) and supervision of research students (same as research plus training and feedback on write ups and regular meetings with each of them - i have between 5 and 8 working with me a different stages of training).

i ve probably forgotten a lot of little things which can take a long time...

During terms 1 and 2, my bandwidth for anything but teaching and students / postgrads is limited. I manage maybe 1 to 1.5 day equivalent of research which is not linked to supervision - usually keeping the lab in order, projects on track.

Semester 3 is a bit better, i usually manage to be more creative, to read, apply for funds etc

Is it mentally exhausting when people think they know as much as you about something because they read about it on twitter/facebook/google? Do you try to argue back?

I don't mean to be rude, but where in the UK does a Professor only earn £68k? That's a senior lecturer salary....(in my world)