If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. ~ Neil Peart
Here s a tagline that certainly grabs attention The Hidden Patterns Behind Everything We Do is hardly the most understated of claims, but then the author is a physicist and we re not always known for our professional modesty. The online book description goes even further: A revolutionary new theory showing how we can predict human behaviour Continue reading "Can a diffusing molecule predict when…
Back in March, I wrote this piece for the UCU newsletter on the Strategic Holistic Accountability Model (SHAM) for senior leadership. A colleague has just pointed out to me that in yesterday s university-wide Staff News missive (from UoN Comms Central), we re breathlessly told that a new committee, focussed on providing accountability has been established It Continue reading "Beyond Parody"
A marking and assessment boycott is ongoing at the University of Nottingham. The post below, written by an anon colleague, was sent to all UoN UCU members this morning. Full disclosure: I wasn’t going to do the marking and assessment boycott. My reasons were many, and they included the following: I genuinely want to reward Continue reading "I wasn’t going to do the MAB. Then this happened"
The piece below was published by Times Higher Education last week. I m making it available here so as to release it into the wild from confinement behind the paywall. I should also note that the payment for the article will be donated to the UCU Hardship Fund for staff on strike at the University of Continue reading "Stop calling it slop"
The collapsed version, for those with limited bandwidth : Forget the sci-fi of parallel universes. Quantum computing works by controlling wave interference. Coming up on five years ago back in the strange suspended time of the pandemic years, in what now sometimes feels like a parallel universe of its own Computerphile uploaded a Continue reading "Quantum computing: one universe is more than…
I ve stolen the title for this post, and the cartoon below (© Private Eye), from Peter Coles most recent post on the bleak situation for Physics Astronomy at Nottingham. A massive thank you to Peter for his series of posts highlighting the cluelessness and callousness of senior management here at UoN. The cartoon is Continue reading "Inhuman Resources"
The powerful and inspiring piece below was posted by the UoN branch of the UCU yesterday. I m reposting it here so that it s available to those who are not UCU members. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a footballer. Then, around age twelve, I realised I was crap at football. So instead, Continue reading "Destroying the academic dream"
After listening carefully to staff concerns about accountability, transparency and the apparent absence of consequences at senior level, the University of Nottingham is pleased to announce the Strategic Holistic Accountability Model, a new framework designed to embed a culture of excellence in senior leadership governance. SHAM will support the delivery of excellence in leadership by Continue…
A colleague who attended a recent UoN Bullying Harassment workshop focussed on prevention, rather than practice, I should clarify forwarded the slide below, presented (as a handout) at the event. It lists the key aspects of one of UoN s core values: openness. (If you re unaware of just how the UoN values were Continue reading "UoN Irony Meter Implodes"
Back in January 2023, in the Dark Ages of LLM/AI evolution, we tasked ChatGPT with answering GCSE, A-level, and undergraduate questions on a variety of physics topics. At the time, I said that, in future, we could exploit ChatGPT (and associated technologies) in education as follows: We embed it in teaching sessions to highlight its Continue reading "In quantum physics, ChatGPT thinks outside the…