Viraj Alimchandani

Workshop venue seating with speakers with introduction by Helen Zenner from Company of Biologists

Picture of entrance to Buxted Park

English countryside with sheep

A big thanks to Alex, Joe, Marketa, Mark and @biologists.bsky.social for bringing together plant imaging enthusiasts across scales and career stages - all in a classic English countryside setting!🔬🌱 @ajcellbio.bsky.social @joemckenna.bsky.social @focalplane.bsky.social

In any other sector this would be front page news along with government funding announcements.

The UK just seems to not value higher education.

Delighted to share our new preprint: "Evolution of moss leaf-like organs through variations in deeply conserved developmental principles."
Led by Ph.D. student Wenye Lin from my lab @irbv.bsky.social ,
in collab. with Yoan Coudert (ENS Lyon) and Richard Smith (JIC).
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

The UK *is* losing a generation of scientists.

I know lots of brilliant people who have left their jobs / the country because of the limited jobs & funding.

Once lost, they cannot ever be replaced.

The UK government is overseeing the death of UK academic science, and it doesn't seem to care.

Grim news for particle physics, astronomy & nuclear physics research in UK. 30% cut overall with projects asked to consider options ranging to a 60% cut. These areas are a huge success for the UK internationally and a great inspiration to the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster

Labour keeps talking about saving the high street without naming the real problem. Car dependency. You cannot fix town centres while planning everything around driving. The internet is permanent. Retail only survives where footfall is dense, local, frequent, and cheap to access.

Oh, I feel this in my soul. I have a dozen places I think of as home and those roots are deeper for having to search for water.

Have you ever wondered why the car lobby is always happy to respond to environmental claims, but you never hear them talk about obesity or public health? That asymmetry isn’t accidental. It’s a strategic choice about which fights they can survive.

"oh you'll never guess what Robert Jenrick has done" no, I won't. In fact, I refuse. the fact you think he is worth my time disgusts me. why do you hate me, and yourself

The Reform pitch is increasingly “the last government was terrible, so we’ve hired everyone who was in it”.

Some Tories, after 14 years in power…

…are saying nothing now works in the UK.

So they’re joining Reform, so they can complain about the Tory record - and you can vote them right back in, in a few years’ time, under new anti-Tory branding.

🤷🏻‍♂️

Dear Sir Paul, Re: Royal Society Code of Conduct I am sure that many scientists have written to you about the specific question of Elon Musk’s Fellowship and whether, under the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct, his retaining that Fellowship is appropriate. I will not rehash these issues. Instead, as a female scientist with extensive experience of activities aiming to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the engineering and physical sciences sector, I am writing to you (in a personal capacity) to ask you to reconsider the statements you have recently made in this context to the UK press about the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct and how it is applied. A 2018 report from the joint National Academies of the United States of America, concluded that “sexual harassment is common in academic science, engineering, and medicine” and that “greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia”. This report described codes of conduct that make clear that sexual harassment is unethical and will not be tolerated as a “powerful incentive for change”. The authors also noted that sexual harassment can have significant and damaging effects on the integrity of research. In my own praxis, I have found that clear and consistently-implemented codes of conduct that address these issues make female scientists and engineers safer, and allow them to focus more effectively on their research. For codes of conduct to have such a positive effect, it is vital that sanctions for actions which transgress the code are meaningful and substantial.

I was hence aghast to realise that in an interview with the Financial Times published on 9/1/26, you appear to have suggested that the Royal Society “should only expel fellows if their science proved “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective””. Moreover, in a further interview with the Guardian on 11/1/26 you suggested that the code “may need to be looked at again”, with the implication that your aim would be to remove the option of sanctions on Fellows for reasons not strictly related to faults or defects in their research. I suggest that changing the Royal Society’s code of conduct so that the likelihood of serious sanctions for sexual harassment is reduced, would directly endanger women who interact with the Royal Society at events or otherwise, and would provide a licence to harass to the already powerful people on whom the Society bestows fellowship. The implications of your words - that under your leadership the only infringements of the code which are likely to receive the sanction of the Fellowship being removed are those related to research misconduct - already risk empowering harassers. You stated, in the Financial Times interview, that “there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances”. Given this awareness of the possibility of bad actors in our scientific community, it is wholly irresponsible to suggest that the Royal Society would not act to sanction these people if they harass more vulnerable scientists. I am hence writing to request that you retract any suggestion that the Society’s Code of Conduct should be changed so that the only reason a Fellow might be sanctioned by the removal of their Fellowship is “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective” research. This action is necessary to safeguard female scientists, a requirement placed on the Society by safeguarding legislation and UK statutory guidance. Yours sincerely, Professor Rachel A. Oliver.

Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.

Dropped catches, bad reviews, what a wasteful morning really summing up this #Ashes tour

Auxin and cytokinin regulate growth dynamics underlying carpel initiation Abstract. Plant organ initiation requires precise spatial and temporal coordination of cellular behaviors. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the gynoecium, the fema

I’m happy to finally share our story on carpel initiation in Arabidopsis and how auxin and cytokinin shape carpel growth patterns. Auxin and cytokinin regulate growth dynamics underlying carpel initiation url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...

New paper from our lab @jxbotany.bsky.social about auxin and cytokinin interactions during carpel initiation in Arabidopsis

Led by @andreagomezfe.bsky.social in collaboration with @defolter-lab.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

ITV News: BBC to air Would I Lie To You Boxing Day episode featuring David Walliams

So, just to confirm, the BBC can’t keep Robin Ince on the air because his trans allyship brings the organisation into disrepute, but they can keep David Walliams, who performed Nazi salutes at the recording of this very show, on the air despite him being predatory towards women. Cool. Very normal.

Inevitable after that flurry of boundaries, that being said hopefully this bodes well for Smith in future series. Let's see if a whitewash can be avoided, eh #Ashes

If England just decide to bat it out in an old fashioned way, they might actually make it to tomorrow. That being said, I expect Australia to have won when I wake up. #Ashes

Well I was half right, wasteful from Duckett. Maybe Archer should have been sent in to save face before lunch...

Right here we go, 2 down before lunch I reckon #Ashes

If England can clean up Australia before lunch, I fully expect Australia to take their 10 wickets before the end of play #Ashes

Australia are just a better team. But also England have royally screwed this up and it’s wildly disappointing but not that surprising. A combination of emotions I’ve been getting very used to in recent years. #Ashes

This England side have really proved that they are incapable of a) batting for at least 80 overs; b) getting even 350 runs in an innings; c) taking 20 wickets in a match. Perhaps if they were able to do any one of those things it might have made this series at all competitive #TheAshes

More TV umpire drama... Bedtime for me, if England are still batting at the close of play I'll be shocked #TheAshes

Pitch looking so easy for Lyon and Boland, so I guarantee it'll be zipping around and England will be 2 down after 5 overs #TheAshes

Genuine question: Why's the reaction of many politicians to AI 'it's transformational, we must go faster, we can dismiss concerns over energy, copyright, job losses', yet the reaction to a clean tech transition that's more advanced and has less overt downsides is 'steady now, we need to slow down'.

The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party.

Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar

Deeply disappointed to hear that the BBC has pushed out one of the most brilliant presenters in all of science communication for speaking with integrity and honor in support of human rights and dignity.

Interior of Sainsbury Laboratory building showing experimental laboratories on left with floor-to-ceiling glass facing into the main central avenue with people walking on stairs and sitting at study boxes. Lots of natural light and views to the Cambrdge University Botanic Garden. Overlay text "Join SLCU" and logos and closing date of 15 January 2026.

🌱 2x David Sainsbury Career Development Fellowships at @slcuplants.bsky.social

Unique opportunity for early-career researchers to launch their own independent research programme in quantitative plant development, with generous support & world-class facilities.

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/david-s...