Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026This comparison of the relative volume of media attention experienced by Jason Arday and James Orr is striking. One thing worth adding to @samanthaasumadu.substack.com's excellent analysis below is that Orr is also under investigation for bullying a student: www.theguardian.com/education/20... 123
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026One of the challenges of being a senior woman in academia is that our models for leadership are usually male & frequently achieve their goals by making rude demands. If women try that, it really doesn't go well for us. So a lot more emotional load is involved in formulating every request. 1254
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Motion to restore trans rights overwhelmingly passes.... a little bit of good news. 0142
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Great to have colleagues from the University of Sheffield visit us last week. Close interactions between different NEF centres really help us provide a better epitaxy service to the UK community! 000
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverCaSE @sciencecampaign.bsky.social · 16/09/2026CaSE Executive Director Alicia Greated FIET FRSE set out our call for better long-term oversight of UK R&D capability at the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee yesterday. 001
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026In the face of researcher concerns that the change in policy to prioritise longer larger grants may have undesirable impacts on EDI, UKRI suggest they will "keep an eye" on it. Gee, thanks! I'm not sure that covers their duties under the equality act. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...researchprofessionalnews.comFewer, longer research grants ‘could exacerbate inequalities’ - Research Professional NewsScience minister’s call for larger, longer-term investments prompts fears around benefits for “big hitters” 2165
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I was pleased to have the opportunity to unpack some of my concerns about UKRI prioritising larger longer term investments and the implications of that for EDI for @sophieatrpn.bsky.social at @resprofnews.bsky.social. Has there been an equality impact assessment of this policy change @ukri.org? 131
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026The changes to the funding system being suggested by the new Science Minister here sound very much like a plan to funnel more funding to male, stale and pale researchers with less oversight and scrutiny. Very worrying. 185
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverMic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026NEW | On a shocking interview… ANALYSING JUSTIN WEBB’S INTERVIEW WITH ED MILIBAND ABOUT SANCTIONS ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS On the absence of balance in an encounter where the Foreign Secretary’s Jewishness was called into question. brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/analysing-...brokenbottleboy.substack.comAnalysing Justin Webb’s interview with Ed Miliband about sanctions on Israeli settlementsOn the absence of balance in an encounter where the Foreign Secretary’s Jewishness was called into question. 15238121
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverCllr Dr Alex Powell @apowelllaw.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Why is this being written up like 'opps, what an unfortunate mistake' rather than what it is? A group of racists deciding to gather outside a venue because that venue was currently accomodating people who are not white.' It's racism. Ergo, those gathering are racists. Call it what it is. 13110
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Andrew Gilligan is claiming that an actual Baron who sits in the House of Lords is unqualified to lead a Cambridge college. These efforts to tear down Black excellence and revert Oxbridge to an old white men's club need to stop. Far, far too much tragedy has already come from this. 1105
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026This is a really important article. 👇 Please read. 123
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverNational Epitaxy Facility @epitaxyfacility.bsky.social · 25/08/2026🚀 Exciting Opportunity: Funded PhD Studentship in AI-Assisted Semiconductor Discovery! 🔬💡 This is a unique opportunity to be trained in the epitaxy process and combining AI/machine learning. ➡️ Full details and application link: www.nationalepitaxyfacility.co.uk/about-us/car...nationalepitaxyfacility.co.ukCareers - National Epitaxy FacilityPhD Studentships Funded PhD studentship in AI-assisted materials discovery There is a position available for a funded PhD studentship for research and development in AI-assisted discovery and developm... 001
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverCarly @nautiluscarly.bsky.social · 23/08/2026We are tired of the single reductionist narrative about the kindest person we knew. So we're gathering everything good about Jason Arday, in the words of the people who were there. In memory of Jason Arday, 1985 - 2026. leilacancode.github.io/everythinggo...leilacancode.github.ioEverything Good About Jason ArdayFirst-hand accounts from people who knew him. Collected by his students. 2108
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverAthena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I don't know if Jason Arday is liar. I do know the person who has dedicated himself to Arday's ruin thinks Black Africans are inferior to white people and makes a career out of trying to prove it. Cofnas should have no place in this arena 3479
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Many of the toilets in my Department are individual little rooms with their own loo, sink and hand dryer, but they used to be labelled as either male or female. Now they've largely been relabelled for universal use. (We do have toilets with multiple stalls which are still labelled make or female). 172
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026From within the Cambridge ecosystem, I can state definitively that I have never seen any Cambridge professor receive anything like the amount of scrutiny that has fallen on Jason Arday. That is true even of a very small number of people whose behaviour I believe truly merits serious scrutiny. 315835
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverTimes Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 04/08/2026While higher education has talked a lot about EDI, are Black academics noticing the difference in their day-to-day lives? A conference gave them a space to reflect: www.timeshighereducation.com/campus… #Highered #Academicskytimeshighereducation.comMaking space for Black voices in higher educationWhile higher education has talked a lot about EDI, are Black academics noticing the difference in their day-to-day lives? A conference gave them a space to reflect 072
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Detectives in TV shows looking at evidence down an optical microscope and claiming to hence learn information involving features that would not be resolvable in optical microscopy, or data types that optical microscopy does not collect. Also applies of other types of microscopy , such as SEM, tbh. 171
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 30/07/2026I talked to Varsity (Cambridge student newspaper) about some of the issues facing women in STEM: www.varsity.co.uk/science/31882varsity.co.uk‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Professor Rachel Oliver on why women in STEM sufferDhruv Shenai speaks to Professor Rachel Oliver about gender inequality in research grants and the biggest issues women in STEM face 1104
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverKate Devlin @drkatedevlin.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Shadow use of genAI as a reviewer is shitty because you're putting someone else's work into the machine w/o consent, and as an author I'd rather hear Reviewer 2's bad attitudes than LLM platitudes. But if you sanction reviewers you'll just have no reviewers. It's a lose-lose situation. 53612
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 28/07/2026On top of everythng Kirsty says, the funding call for the "AI Lab" was launched with such a short deadline as to make the writing of thorough, well-considered proposals virtully impossible.... 2125
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 22/07/2026The government seems pretty stumped about how to reduce the prison population... but there is a simple solution: free the majority of women prisoners, replacing their custodial sentences with non-custodial measures. Sounds like a sweeping statement but ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...theguardian.comBurnham stirs up political row with review of release plans for violent criminalsPM says he wants to make sure ‘everything has been looked at’ after backlash from family of PC Harper 121
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026The idea of keeping track of who's doing the labour of parenting is getting a lot of hate here. But in many families, not keeping track tends to mean women do more & that that labour is invisible. Keeping a spreadsheet wouldn't be my choice, but I'm not seeing many suggestions for better solutions. 2112
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Interesting article - including an account some someone who switched out of academia and then came back. I think the increasing porosity between academia and industry is a really positive thing, and Universities should encourage these less usual career pathways! 010
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 09/07/2026The sad thing is, we have a travel agent that we are meant to use to book University travel, and they somehow managed to combine all the disadvantages of both the old school human-being approach and the modern web-based version. 190
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Perfect opportunity for the bin-faced one. 110
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026It appears that certain right wing folk really can't cope with people who don't agree with them being allowed to have conversations that don't involve them. 050
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverProf Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026It's not lack of reporting routes that is the problem. It's what happens when harassment is reported. The answer to that question is too often nothing. Or worse, sometimes the person making the report is effectively the one who is punished. 242
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Article here from chemistry world on the Women in Research charter with some comments from me on why I think it doesn't go far enough. I have a lot to say about this (unsurprisingly) and I'm going to expand below on my comments on bullying and harassment. 🧵 www.chemistryworld.com/news/uk-gove...chemistryworld.comUK government’s new charter aims to better support women in research'Now is the time for research institutions to step up and level the playing field for women,' notes one government official 282
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Whilst, I am really glad that PhD students are now more likely to have access to paid maternity leave, this "charter" barely even touches the edges of the issues experienced by women in the sector. 051
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 27/06/2026There's a very real and obvious unfairness here that the Guardian article overlooks. Students who start off as undergrads on 4 year degree courses don't have to take a post-grad loan, but do get a masters. Students who do a bachelors degree and a separate masters are saddled with punitive debts. 12412
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 25/06/2026This morning on BBC Today, one of the presenter's somewhat suggested that Kemi badenoch calling Bridget Phillipson a "spiteful class warrier" was justified because Phillipson once suggested a Tory MP was racist. I was aghast at this false equivalence. 🧵 ca.news.yahoo.com/bridget-phil...ca.news.yahoo.comBridget Phillipson Reignites Row Over Tory MP's 'Racist' Attack On Muslims PrayingThe education secretary hit out a day after getting into a war of words with Kemi Badenoch. 210
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverKirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Remember that FOUR week turn around for a £40M call @ukri.org. Turns out it was actually a £60M call. How does this meet the Nolan Principles of Openess? UK invests £60m in two university-led AI research labs www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...researchprofessionalnews.comUK invests £60m in two university-led AI research labs - Research Professional NewsMinister makes case for “forward-facing” academic research infrastructure 274
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 16/06/2026This is one of the things that bothers me about the ban... disabled teenagers, LGBTQ+ teenagers, even just teenagers with unusual hobbies will lose opportunities to make helpful connections that their schools and commuities may not be able to replace... 0106
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverLee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 12/06/2026Hundreds of strangers in Belfast working together. Doing shopping, providing accommodation, driving kids to school, people to hospital appointments. Have just been told of a woman close to us who hasn't left her house since Monday so we'll be sorting her out today and getting her anything she needs 11790641630
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverToby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social · 10/06/2026would be nice if my concerns about racists, fascists, and a white supremacist, who’s called for the government to be overthrown, using his far-right skewed social media platform to spread hatred were seen as legitimate as racists’ concerns 2416114
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverProf Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 10/06/2026We want all our representatives in Parliament to show such unequivocal rejection of the politics of division. 093
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverJohn Reed @johnreedwrites.ft.com · 10/06/2026“What you're seeing is a race-based pogrom. We are seeing men going door to door asking to get the foreigners out based exclusively on the colour of their skin.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr...bbc.co.ukHouses, cars, and bus set on fire in Belfast night of disorder after knife attack - follow liveNorthern Ireland's first minister says masked men were "burning families out of their homes". One pastor says black people were targeted, while an MP calls it a "race-based pogrom". 0484274
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverStephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Violence on the streets of the U.K. incited and enabled by Elon Musk, a fellow of the @royalsociety.org. When will our national academy stand up for the values it claims to espouse? 34017
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Great initiative! Shining a light on the excellent work done by facility managers in microscopy helps facilitate exchange of good practice and will support career development of a sometimes overlooked group. I'd love to see other types of microscopy (and other techniques) get the same treatment! 010
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverRoland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 05/06/2026Rightly angry piece from @iandunt.bsky.social about the Populist Right BS that followed the awful Henry Nowak murder case and how the media/national conversation has been drawn into it. iandunt.substack.com/p/an-abysmal... 12459169
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Honestly, if we're going to have bots then acting as the personification of Tower Bridge and letting us know when it is open and why is what those bots should be doing. 010
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 06/06/2026I often see this with EDI stuff 👇. Serious problems are identified in an organisation, which mean that minoritised people are being treated unfairly. When folk in leadership learn this, they wring their hands and say they wish they could do something about it. But they can. And they choose not to. 112025
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverDavid K Smith @professor-dave.bsky.social · 04/06/20262023 Report: Black Men Seven Times More Likely To Die Following Police Restraint But clearly, according to Reform, we have 'two-tier, anti-white policing'. inquest.org.uk/news-and-com...inquest.org.ukNew Report: Black Men Seven Times More Likely To Die Following Police Restraint But Racism Not Being AddressedFamilies of Black people who die following police contact cannot get accountability for racism from a system that is not “fit for purpose”… 0264
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 04/06/2026This is great news! Totally fantastic! Now.. can someone explain to me why, if the Ladies Bathing Pond can remain trans inclusive, the Women's Institute can't? Is there a useful legal argument being applied to the bathing ponds that could be applied elsewhere? @jolyon.goodlawproject.org do you know? 020
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 03/06/2026When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Or in Farage's case, the eleventy billionth time. But believe it. 1102
Reposted by Prof Rachel OliverDan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 03/06/2026I mean, the UK government barred me from speaking to a conference that they literally invited me to speak at and tried to ruin my career because I retweeted SuperTanskii, called Nadine Dorries a car crash, and called Rees Mogg a haunted pencil. Bit nobody can ban Farage from inciting violence? 1437986
Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Really helpful to have the Labour Government's work on Net Zero laid out clearly and in context. Green energy and sustainable industry are the best (possibly only) route to economic growth in this era of recurring energy crises. 000