iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 30/08/2026

I am educating myself, but to be very honest some of that educating has been about the ankylosaurolus (which some chemists rank as their favourite dinosaur).

Reconstruction of the ankylosaurus, which looks kind of like a flatter armadillo.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 07/08/2026

Chemistry on the front page ❤️

Headline of newspaper front page reads: “every river and lake in England polluted with toxic chemicals”

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 02/08/2026

Spent the morning making a map of where you can grow #coffee. Simple comparison here uses temperature, elevation, and rainfall to map suitable areas (for arabica and robusta) in the year 2000 and the projections for 2050. It's about a 35% reduction in coffee-suitable land.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 23/07/2026

He can direct you to the library

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 23/06/2026

Just seen the graphs for the square root of (s-electron) ionisation energies, which are shockingly linear. pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

Graphs of root ionisation energy for the 1s, 2s, and 3s electrons vs atomic number. The lines are all very straight.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 19/03/2026

Extremely grateful for all the fantastic support I was given, but gosh I hated the SFHEA application paperwork.

Certificate awarding SFHEA to Michael O'Neill

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 12/03/2026

Went to an EDI talk yesterday and was shown this cartoon, which I think is worth seeing.

There is a circular hole in a brick wall, through which can be seen a triangle with an angry face and a square who is sad. On the near side of the wall is a smiling circle with a speech bubble reading "if you want to make it through, just be yourself!"

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 06/02/2026

Teaching ligand field theory to a class where some study symmetry and some don’t, which is a fun challenge. This year I am aggressively leaning into sigma/pi labels, which is going pretty ok I think.

Cartoon comparison of good and bad sigma donor MO schemes

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 22/12/2025

Cambridge have done a 2-page spread on their curriculum review progress, which is good. Exciting to see both immediate concrete changes and thoughtful ambitions for the longer term. But also good to see UG teaching featured so prominently in their external communications.

Magazine article Titled “Cambridge's new chemist curriculum: a catalyst for change”

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 19/12/2025

Have started my break and am now chomping through Wolf Hall. The hype is all true - it’s *really* well written.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 12/12/2025

I had a very lovely trip to Keele this week. I'd never been before, and it's beautiful. My talk was on the closure of Departments, and hopeful ways through the economics and geography of a difficult moment for Chemistry.

A building with "Lennard-Jones" written over the entrance

PowerPoint title slide reading "Chemistry Degree Closures: a widening participation issue?"

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 20/11/2025

Been doing very quick storyboard sketches to help students connect with the wider story of a lecture course in magnetism. I think it works ok.

In pink down the left of a page, a description of bulk magnetism going from a susceptibility curve to an expression for effective magnetic moment. In green down the right of the page, a description of atomic theory from the free ion model for 4f elements to the Lande expression for effective magnetic moment. In blue between the columns is written “compare experiment and theory”.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 14/11/2025

Interesting piece on the university structures relating to (?causing?) student loneliness. 10min read.

Some will get this far and ask why universities should be responsible for students making friends. Surely that’s not what academics signed up for – shouldn’t institutions focus on teaching and research rather than playing social coordinator?

The problem is that Maslow’s hierarchy doesn’t work the way we’d like it to. Students who are lonely, anxious, and socially isolated aren’t engaging with the academic self-actualisation at the top of Maslow’s pyramid – they’re stuck further down, and no amount of excellent lecture content will shift them up.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 10/11/2025

Hello. I realise this isn't your article, but might you know where the estimated cost data comes from? I can't find it anywhere, so is it an estimate the newspaper has created itself?

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 10/11/2025

I was teaching in Engineering this morning, and saw this sign about the invention of the goal net by the @evertonfc.com fan the building is named after.

Sign reading "the goal net was invented by Everton fan and civil engineer John Alexander Brodie. He was prompted into action by a wrongly disallowed goal that robbed his team of a victory against Accrington in 1889."

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 04/11/2025

Prepping for teaching magnetism next week, and discovering in an idle google that the word “quench” comes from an old English word for “extinguish”.

Etymology of quench, showing its old English antecedent acwencam (extinguish)

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 31/10/2025

Something I have found interesting over the last few years is how first year students are so keen to draw Hess cycles in ways which reflect the energies of each system. Sheer horror in the workshop when I draw cycles like this.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 17/09/2025

Liverpool’s lab induction activity is making soap, so here is my 2025 soap.

A bar of soap which is red on one side and yellow on the other.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 15/09/2025

FT piece on the decline of Chemistry (from January). www.ft.com/content/563f...

Graph showing decline in the number of courses for various STEM subjects, relative to 2020 levels. Chemistry drops the most rapidly, but overall decline is also seen in Biosciences, Physics, and General Sciences.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 07/07/2025

yeah no worries I got one right here

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 18/06/2025

Reading about how people choose Universities.

What do you mean the atmosphere, you mean-

. . . as in, when I visited it [Leeds] did seem quite kind of, as if they were constantly living in a Sunday afternoon where it was very kind of slow pace and [sighs] it just seemed quite miserable if I’m being honest

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 15/06/2025

You think those are problems you’re solving?

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 09/06/2025

How it feels to join the meeting remotely when people in the room are chatting amicably

Dog behind a face watching three dogs playing together. “Here’s the life I’ve always longed for”.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 30/05/2025

Exam question I tried this year. Worked well, I think.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 20/05/2025

While googling for images I found a helpful guide for meeting horses, in case you want to be a horse meeter. www.wikihow.com/Meet-a-Horse...

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 09/05/2025

I finished my first academic year at Liverpool today. I really like it! This has been a good move for me.

A view over some rooftops on a sunny day. Liverpool’s Liverpool Building is in the background.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 30/04/2025

Commons library report on Student Mental Health is out. Formal disclosure rate graph is pretty striking, and discussion lays out the way that formal reporting under-measures true incidence of MH issues. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Histogram showing a smooth increase in student mental health conditions being reported by students in England. The 2010 rate of about 1% rises to a 2022 rate of about 6%.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 22/04/2025

I have been using skeleton PowerPoint presentations this year. It lets me ask students to do things before showing them how I do it (e.g. electron counting). I think it’s working well, and it has saved me *so* much time. The blog’s point about responding to student questions really resonates, too.

An annotated PowerPoint slide on oxidative addition to Vaska’s Complex

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 20/04/2025

Went to Easter mass at Liverpool’s Catholic cathedral, which is an amazing building.

The front of Liverpool’s Catholic cathedral, a circular building made largely of concrete.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 09/04/2025

Was looking up library times and encountered this glowing Google review for the Cohen Library. @livunilibrary.bsky.social

Google reviews for the Harold Cohen library in Liverpool reading “the staff are very nice and I love the silent study rooms whenever first years aren’t snogging”

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 30/03/2025

Checking back in on Brat. Still holds up.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 14/03/2025

I’m lecturing by visualiser this semester. I think it’s good to draw things out in lectures; it usefully slows things down. I have been mapping out what I want to draw using post-it notes. On the day I remove the note and draw it live.

Lecture slide on metal-ethene binding, with green post-it notes sketching out sigma bonding and pi back-bonding.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 10/03/2025

I still love Mingos for this. Colour can’t code the number of the oxidation state as clearly as his table, for my money.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 27/02/2025

Looking back at it all, there was this moment in like 2014 where pop music had a choice between melody and production. Not sure we made the right decision.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 30/01/2025

Informally giving students a short A6 form today to get a sense of how my lecturing is landing. Questions about minimum levels (“good enough” Y/N) and student experiences, with a focused chance to say something constructive. Do other people do this? What questions do you use? #iTeachChem

A paper form titled “quick feedback”. The first question is “are the lectures good enough? Yes/no” and the last question is “is there anything you wish your lecturers understood about what it’s like to study chemistry at Liverpool?”

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 27/01/2025

Starting my first Liverpool lecture course today. Metals are in second year here, which can work well.

Lecture slide reading “Chem214 Lecture 1: Atomic Trends”

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 24/01/2025

Every time I print a confidential document I print a tweet I like first to make sure the printer works ok.

Printout of a tweet by Sarah Lazarus. Did I “kill a plant” or did the plant not have what it takes to thrive in this fast-paced environment

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 04/12/2024

The House of Commons Library published a briefing on tuition fees today, which included this OECD graph. I think most people don't realise how high UK fees are internationally. #iTeachChem commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

OECD data on national tuition fee levels presented as a bar chart in dollars. England's annual fee of 13100 is the highest, with the US level of 9600 coming in second and Japan third at 5600.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 28/11/2024

Please enjoy today's coding failure. #R

A figure captioned "Map of Universities Teaching Chemistry in the UK". The map UK is in the top left corner and a cluster of dots is perhaps where India might be on a typical world map.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 22/11/2024

I don’t think I have ever worked this through before.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 22/11/2024

Sincere question: what’s the rationale for including the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation in an A Level Chemistry syllabus?

The Henderson hasselbalch equation linking pH to pKa and the concentration of acid and conjugate base in solution

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 24/10/2024

Went to an inaugural lecture last night. The university hired out a local theatre, invited the whole faculty, and about 150 people (including current students) celebrated Matt Murphy’s journey and also the wider educational successes he’s been a part of. 10/10 experience.

A theatre filling up for Matt Murphy’s inaugural lecture

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 23/10/2024

Saw this ad. Always interesting to see making academic notes presented as an aesthetic activity rather than a cognitive one.

Ad for the new iPad mini. An example of the capabilities shows someone making notes on how to name binary compounds.

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Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 21/10/2024

Please enjoy the sleeves featured in this 1896 cyanotype, which I found while prepping a lecture on iron. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Po... #ChemSky #iTeachChem

A cyanotype, in its characteristic blue tint, showing a woman with wing-like sleeves. Each sleeve is as wide as her torso.

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