I don't want to tell billionaires how they should or shouldn't use their money.
I want society to be structured in such a way that single individuals never become so wealthy as to have the power to singlehandedly alter the course of society on a whim.
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Verena Görtz
@DrV_So
Senior Lecturer in Soft Materials Chemistry. Science & HE. UK. Germany. Weltschmerz. Wanderlust. She/her. 
UKJoined October 2012
Verena Görtz’s Tweets
There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately. It’s beyond hyperbole - & parody.
Reality tho is that ordinary people are paying the price.
The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now.
A General Election is now a democratic imperative.
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I had a revelation this week: You're not being challenged if most of the difficulty of your job comes from managing workplace dysfunction. But a lot of workplaces like to frame dysfunction as "challenge" and pretend like nothing needs to change.
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No one has ever called out, with such clarity and sheer authority the "glaring omissions" of UK broadcasters who refuse to discuss Brexit ("the obvious economic cause of major change in this country)" as just has here in one minute 👏👏
Absolutely this 💯👇👇👇
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How gendered is the clothing offer for children? For our data analysis, we examined 20,000 shirts and shorts from , and that they offer online for children under 10. The results show: Current children's fashion cements gender images. 🧵
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Everyone rightfully talking about his Kay Burley interview, but they way he doesn't even miss a beat in his response here. What. A. Man.
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“Being a professor in STEM means being underpaid relative to colleagues in other sectors while being expected to work more, and while we have the freedom to choose our research focus, there are enough… constraints that academic freedom isn’t as free as it might appear to be.” 🎯
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On the exodus of faculty smallpondscience.com/2022/06/10/on-
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Cost of flight booked through airline: £468. Cost of flight booked through Key Travel: £710.10. Same flight, same conditions, no checked bags etc. Remind me again what the point of these travel agents is? 🙃
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I spent months talking to folks who are #leavingacademia for . Painful stories. Many thx to @nazzy_bug & anonymous others
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Wow! I certainly did not create #LesbianVisibilityWeek so that people like could use it as a vehicle to stir up more hate within our community. This is a perfect example of #HowNotToBeAnAlly #IStandWithStonewall -#LWithTheT
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Lesbian Visibility Week starts today in the UK. A good moment to salute the resilience and courage of my inspirational friend. #IStandWithAllisonBailey
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Really important thread.
We do too much
We do it too fast
We never have time to think properly
There is too much activity, not enough thought
The faster you go the better you do
The system therefore rewards surface-level work
Go slow - do less - do it better. twitter.com/andrealgilmore
This Tweet is unavailable.
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Dear . Dear . Three years ago, after receiving the 12th harassing email in as many days from you I sent a tweet parodying the email style. My tweet was not directed at a specific person and I had no idea ResearchFish had a twitter account.
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Will people offering spare rooms have police checks if they are hosting families with children? Will housing be checked for safety? What support will be in place for the vulnerable?
Asylum needs professional support - it's immoral for government to just outsource its obligations.
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First the government says Ukrainians need a visa, then suggest they need to work on arrival - now they need a sponsor and a spare room to stay in. These are families in distress - they need flats, professional support & access to services, not a spare room & a bit of goodwill.
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There are no scandals left to uncover. The state of universities is an open secret. There are only students to fleece in their futile quest for secure employment and the good life, property to be developed, millionaires to be made …
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Pensions, pay agreements and job security are seen as belonging the past. The modern “agile” university only values managers (increasing exponentially). Academic staff, library staff, are ten a penny. Teaching content and expertise no longer matter. Only the “student experience”.
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For those of us who were in London in July 2005, the events of that month are unforgettable. But that was 17 years ago, and younger people may be completely unaware of them. In light of this week's political events, that awful time is worth revisiting.
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A thread on the power of insight to drive change 🧵👇
Last week, as a result of 's campaign on rising food prices faced by those on a low income, the restarted the publication of inflation rates by income bands
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The 7 Nolan principles are the basis of the ethical standards expected of public office holders....
1. Selflessness
2. Integrity
3. Objectivity
4. Accountability
5. Openness
6. Honesty
7. Leadership
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1. The worst aspect of working as a scientist is the never ending & all consuming need to secure funds. But there is a simple solution. It will work, it will increase diversity, empower scientists, & improve research outcomes. But the science power structure is arrayed against it
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This. Thank you. Clarifies to me why I always felt a bit icky hearing this type of rationale. Similar to pro-immigration arguments based on societal contribution.
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DEI work that emphasizes how diversity improves the robustness of science or leads to increased productivity (or ideas/innovation) is problematic because it views people as commodities instead of valuing people as human beings who deserve to be heard simply because they exist.
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Oh, you're experiencing a structural problem? Have you ever considered trying different personal choices instead?
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Endlich weiß ich, wieso die Pandemie erfunden hat.
Das vollständige Video gibt es hier: youtube.com/watch?v=tPLDhV
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It's very noticeable to me - as a male epidemiologist - how many of my female colleagues have led the scientific response to the pandemic. In particular, they have been the ones who most stepped up and spoken truth to power, despite an extraordinarily challenging public space.
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If he wants us to stay ahead of omicron by NHS staff providing this booster (20m+ doses in three weeks), does he not think it might help to take some measures to slow transmission down? Use whatever overly complicated metaphor you want, we’ve got to slow transmission somehow.
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How. Is. This. A. Misfortune?????
I.e. an unfortunate event no one is responsible for?????? twitter.com/paul__johnson/
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A decade of marketisation has left lecturers with no choice but to strike | Jacob Mukherjee
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Hear speak of impact of workload on mental health & how this affects what support we give students.
Our working conditions are our students learning conditions.
Join us today for last day of strike!
In-person rally at 11:30am with great speakers
#UCUstrikesback
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So we’re all just being squeezed through a cookie cutter machine of scrutiny, with workloads ever growing (task tariffs can be endlessly fussed with), and little opportunity to really do the work of teaching and research that brought us into the field.
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In place of that, there is endless and growing scrutiny procedures, which require more time to set in place, review and revise, conduct, review and evaluate, than is allotted to doing the thing being scrutinized in the first place.
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How much more time is being spent conducting REF than conducting research? How many more person-hours are spent moving grades through several layers of baroque administration than teaching students?
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Replying to
Never mind remodelling it; many unis never modelled it in the first place. I believe that is deliberate, because once you start actually counting the time tasks take, the impossibility of what is being asked becomes clear.
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Students are being told that a lot of thought has gone into the innovation in delivery they're experiencing this year. How does that match up with workload models left untouched? Surely if you're doing something new or different you budget for it properly in people time and cash?
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Yesterday, I signed my 53rd contract in 3 years 2 months at the same institution. Today I’m on strike
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