Prof Anna Watts
@profannawatts.bsky.social
Professor of Astrophysics @ Univ. of Amsterdam. Neutron stars, pulsars, dense matter, X-ray astronomy. Mom, Migrant. "Particles in stars blah blah". Does science with NICER on the International Space Station and schemes for EVEN BIGGER SPACE TELESCOPES.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
If you don’t do research you’re not an observatory, you’re a tourist attraction. Solidarity to the excellent astronomers at Lowell.
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 4:28 AM
If you don’t do research you’re not an observatory, you’re a tourist attraction. Solidarity to the excellent astronomers at Lowell.
"Dilan Yesilgoz thinks she's Margaret Thatcher, but she's actually Theresa May"
Truth from @steffiedevaan.bsky.social
Truth from @steffiedevaan.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:34 PM
"Dilan Yesilgoz thinks she's Margaret Thatcher, but she's actually Theresa May"
Truth from @steffiedevaan.bsky.social
Truth from @steffiedevaan.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
A very nuanced account of the discovery, but cannot escape the air of misogyny in Watson & Crick diminishing the MRC report as a “preliminary report” in spite of the data being a key confirmation.
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 8, 2025 at 12:11 PM
A very nuanced account of the discovery, but cannot escape the air of misogyny in Watson & Crick diminishing the MRC report as a “preliminary report” in spite of the data being a key confirmation.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:21 AM
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
sudden urge to share @mcnees.bsky.social 🧵 on Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin was born #OTD in 1920. Her X-ray diffraction work was critical for establishing the helical nature of DNA. 👩🔬 🧪
Work carried out by Franklin (with doctoral student Raymond Gosling) was given to Watson and Crick without her consent.
Image: Vittorio Luzzati / Jewish Women’s Archive
Work carried out by Franklin (with doctoral student Raymond Gosling) was given to Watson and Crick without her consent.
Image: Vittorio Luzzati / Jewish Women’s Archive
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
sudden urge to share @mcnees.bsky.social 🧵 on Rosalind Franklin
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
Ik hoop dat D66 haar rug recht houdt en zich niet laaat chanteren door Dilan Yesilgöz, de grootste aanstichter van ‘een lange periode van stilstand en instabiliteit’.
Nederlanders verwachten nu dat de positieve krachten de handen ineenslaan. Dat vraagt om een stabiel kabinet dat met breed draagvlak en lef aan de slag gaat. Een kabinet van doorbraken is nodig.
Lees hier mijn brief aan de verkenner:
Lees hier mijn brief aan de verkenner:
November 5, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Ik hoop dat D66 haar rug recht houdt en zich niet laaat chanteren door Dilan Yesilgöz, de grootste aanstichter van ‘een lange periode van stilstand en instabiliteit’.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
Yeşilgöz sluit Mamdani voor de zekerheid uit: ‘Je weet maar nooit’
Yeşilgöz sluit Mamdani voor de zekerheid uit: ‘Je weet maar nooit’
Dilan Yeşilgöz laat er geen gras over groeien
speld.nl
November 6, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Yeşilgöz sluit Mamdani voor de zekerheid uit: ‘Je weet maar nooit’
Glorious sunny day in Norway at @unistavanger.bsky.social ! Heading in to talk perturbative QCD with Aleksi Kurkela (as you do...)
November 7, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Glorious sunny day in Norway at @unistavanger.bsky.social ! Heading in to talk perturbative QCD with Aleksi Kurkela (as you do...)
New experience today as we all have to get off a boarded plane so that they can replace a tyre, which has a screw stuck in it. Impressively fast change though!
November 6, 2025 at 12:24 PM
New experience today as we all have to get off a boarded plane so that they can replace a tyre, which has a screw stuck in it. Impressively fast change though!
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
“Tens or hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded NASA property and laboratories are at risk of either being discarded, mishandled, or out-of-commission for significant time periods.” 🔭🧪
www.gesta-goddard.org/blog/gestas-...
www.gesta-goddard.org/blog/gestas-...
GESTA’s Summary of Goddard Building Closures Status
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is the largest group of scientists, technicians and engineers in the US who develop Earth and space science flight missions. Below is GESTA's understanding of the...
www.gesta-goddard.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:50 AM
“Tens or hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded NASA property and laboratories are at risk of either being discarded, mishandled, or out-of-commission for significant time periods.” 🔭🧪
www.gesta-goddard.org/blog/gestas-...
www.gesta-goddard.org/blog/gestas-...
What the heck is going on with Only Murders in the Building Season 5? I'm not sure I can stick it out to the end.
November 5, 2025 at 10:29 PM
What the heck is going on with Only Murders in the Building Season 5? I'm not sure I can stick it out to the end.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵
Bill Gates defends contentious climate shift
"I'm glad people are listening," he said, before adding that it was hard to convey "nuanced positions nowadays."
www.axios.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:10 PM
As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵
After this morning's sardinomatic train commute I am not feeling enthusiastic about the possibility of having Wouter Koolmees in charge of organizing the new Dutch government.
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
After this morning's sardinomatic train commute I am not feeling enthusiastic about the possibility of having Wouter Koolmees in charge of organizing the new Dutch government.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
We’ve had a lot of strong entries, but the 2025 prize for Foreign Media’s Most Complete Misunderstanding of the Dutch Electoral System goes to…
November 3, 2025 at 6:27 PM
We’ve had a lot of strong entries, but the 2025 prize for Foreign Media’s Most Complete Misunderstanding of the Dutch Electoral System goes to…
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
I'm now also looking for a postdoc with strong Bayesian background and interest in developing Bayesian cross-validation theory, methods and software. Apply by email with no specific deadline (see contact information at users.aalto.fi/~ave/).
Others, please share
Others, please share
I'm looking for a doctoral student with Bayesian background to work on Bayesian workflow and cross-validation (see my publication list users.aalto.fi/~ave/publica... for my recent work) at Aalto University.
Apply through the ELLIS PhD program (dl October 31) ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...
Apply through the ELLIS PhD program (dl October 31) ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...
ELLIS PhD Program: Call for Applications 2025
The ELLIS mission is to create a diverse European network that promotes research excellence and advances breakthroughs in AI, as well as a pan-European PhD program to educate the next generation of AI...
ellis.eu
October 29, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I'm now also looking for a postdoc with strong Bayesian background and interest in developing Bayesian cross-validation theory, methods and software. Apply by email with no specific deadline (see contact information at users.aalto.fi/~ave/).
Others, please share
Others, please share
Entertaining factoid about this paper - it is a '3 generation' PhD family paper! Since Daniela was once my PhD student and Ben is Daniela's student.....
#AcademicGrandmama
#AcademicGrandmama
New paper 🚨! "Equation of state informed pulse profile modelling", led jointly by @api.uva.nl PhD student Mariska Hoogkamer and UNH's Nathan Rutherford. A project with some unexpected twists .... 🔭 #highenergyastro 🧵1/
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
Equation-of-state-informed pulse profile modeling
NICER has enabled mass-radius inferences for pulsars using pulse profile modeling, providing constraints on the equation of state (EOS) of cold, dense matter. To date, PPM and EOS inference have been ...
arxiv.org
November 3, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Entertaining factoid about this paper - it is a '3 generation' PhD family paper! Since Daniela was once my PhD student and Ben is Daniela's student.....
#AcademicGrandmama
#AcademicGrandmama
New paper 🚨! "Equation of state informed pulse profile modelling", led jointly by @api.uva.nl PhD student Mariska Hoogkamer and UNH's Nathan Rutherford. A project with some unexpected twists .... 🔭 #highenergyastro 🧵1/
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
Equation-of-state-informed pulse profile modeling
NICER has enabled mass-radius inferences for pulsars using pulse profile modeling, providing constraints on the equation of state (EOS) of cold, dense matter. To date, PPM and EOS inference have been ...
arxiv.org
November 3, 2025 at 10:24 AM
New paper 🚨! "Equation of state informed pulse profile modelling", led jointly by @api.uva.nl PhD student Mariska Hoogkamer and UNH's Nathan Rutherford. A project with some unexpected twists .... 🔭 #highenergyastro 🧵1/
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
arxiv.org/abs/2510.27619
I sometimes complain about my over-enthusiastic spam filter, but have to congratulate it on consigning the invitation to take the Times Higher Education University Reputation Survey straight to trash.
November 3, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I sometimes complain about my over-enthusiastic spam filter, but have to congratulate it on consigning the invitation to take the Times Higher Education University Reputation Survey straight to trash.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
"GSFC hosts the largest single concentration of researchers in the NASA workforce, encompassing the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and Engineering and Technology Directorate (ETD). Nearly 10,000 scientists and engineers work at Goddard in total" 🔭
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
"GSFC hosts the largest single concentration of researchers in the NASA workforce, encompassing the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and Engineering and Technology Directorate (ETD). Nearly 10,000 scientists and engineers work at Goddard in total" 🔭
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
Research funds are scarce & competition is fierce. A recent paper by @andreasdeblock.bsky.social & colleagues explores how this competition shapes science—its practices, risks & ethics—and proposes ways to make funding fairer & more effective👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #AcademicSky #HPS #scipol 🧪
November 2, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Research funds are scarce & competition is fierce. A recent paper by @andreasdeblock.bsky.social & colleagues explores how this competition shapes science—its practices, risks & ethics—and proposes ways to make funding fairer & more effective👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #AcademicSky #HPS #scipol 🧪
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
In this commentary, I argue that student-based teaching evaluations are problematic bc
✳️ systematic biases (e.g., racism, sexism)
✳️ poor construct validity
✳️ undermine standards and learning
We should evaluate teaching as seriously as we do research. Or don't do teaching evaluations.
✳️ systematic biases (e.g., racism, sexism)
✳️ poor construct validity
✳️ undermine standards and learning
We should evaluate teaching as seriously as we do research. Or don't do teaching evaluations.
It is time to abandon student evaluations of teaching
Comment by Gordon Hodson (@gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social)
Web: go.nature.com/4jfAzXo
PDF: rdcu.be/ef9y5
Comment by Gordon Hodson (@gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social)
Web: go.nature.com/4jfAzXo
PDF: rdcu.be/ef9y5
April 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
In this commentary, I argue that student-based teaching evaluations are problematic bc
✳️ systematic biases (e.g., racism, sexism)
✳️ poor construct validity
✳️ undermine standards and learning
We should evaluate teaching as seriously as we do research. Or don't do teaching evaluations.
✳️ systematic biases (e.g., racism, sexism)
✳️ poor construct validity
✳️ undermine standards and learning
We should evaluate teaching as seriously as we do research. Or don't do teaching evaluations.
Reposted by Prof Anna Watts
Maar laten we vooral buitenlandse studenten de schuld geven van de kamernood www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Aanbod studentenkamers in vrije sector daalt met tientallen procenten
Woningmarkt: In Amsterdam daalde het aanbod met ruim een kwart, in Utrecht en Rotterdam met (bijna) een derde, in uitschieter Delft met 43,6 procent. Studentenorganisaties en lokale politici maken zic...
www.nrc.nl
November 2, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Maar laten we vooral buitenlandse studenten de schuld geven van de kamernood www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Really? You put the new season of the Witcher out on Netflix just *before* a major funding deadline? Not. Bloody. Fair.
a man is playing a guitar and screaming the word screams
Alt: Jaskier, the bard from the Witcher, is strumming his lute and screaming loudly, perfectly personifying my annoyance at not being able to watch the new season until after Wednesday.
media.tenor.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Really? You put the new season of the Witcher out on Netflix just *before* a major funding deadline? Not. Bloody. Fair.
