Valeria Ramirez, PhD
@valeriaramirez.bsky.social
Chasing the stories behind numbers. Researcher at the University of Cambridge 🇲🇽🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷
#IfM #Innovation #DigitalMeasurement #ImpactEvaluation #ScienceTechnology&Society #STS
Sociologist of Science & Tech in Engineering @cam.ac.uk https://valeriaramirez.org/
#IfM #Innovation #DigitalMeasurement #ImpactEvaluation #ScienceTechnology&Society #STS
Sociologist of Science & Tech in Engineering @cam.ac.uk https://valeriaramirez.org/
Pinned
Why the metre, not the cubit?
150 years ago, the Metre Convention set the stage for global scientific standardisation. But agreeing on a metric is never just technical.
To celebrate the 📏 #BIPM a brief thread on measurement, politics of economy, and trust 🧵
#Metre150 #ScienceTechnologyAndSociety
150 years ago, the Metre Convention set the stage for global scientific standardisation. But agreeing on a metric is never just technical.
To celebrate the 📏 #BIPM a brief thread on measurement, politics of economy, and trust 🧵
#Metre150 #ScienceTechnologyAndSociety
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
The next conference of the Society for the Study of Measurement will take place at Edinburgh on 22-25 June.
Call for papers and symposia opens Nov 15 and closes Jan 15.
Submissions via app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirec...
Call for papers and symposia opens Nov 15 and closes Jan 15.
Submissions via app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirec...
Events – The Society for the Study of Measurement
measurementsociety.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:29 AM
The next conference of the Society for the Study of Measurement will take place at Edinburgh on 22-25 June.
Call for papers and symposia opens Nov 15 and closes Jan 15.
Submissions via app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirec...
Call for papers and symposia opens Nov 15 and closes Jan 15.
Submissions via app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirec...
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
El 20 de noviembre en la Casa de las Humanidades (en Coyoacán) presentaremos este directorio ¡¡acompáñennos!!!
November 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
El 20 de noviembre en la Casa de las Humanidades (en Coyoacán) presentaremos este directorio ¡¡acompáñennos!!!
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
New OnlineFirst article: "Agencements and Qualculations: Fukushima, Knowledge-Making, and Radiation Contamination" by Louise Elstow #radiation #knowledgeproduction #qualculation #agencement #Fukushima journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
November 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
New OnlineFirst article: "Agencements and Qualculations: Fukushima, Knowledge-Making, and Radiation Contamination" by Louise Elstow #radiation #knowledgeproduction #qualculation #agencement #Fukushima journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
Did you know it's National Chemistry Week? 🧪
Chemistry isn't just about test tubes and microscopes. It's about the building blocks that make up the food we eat, the air we breathe and the things we make.
Chemistry isn't just about test tubes and microscopes. It's about the building blocks that make up the food we eat, the air we breathe and the things we make.
October 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Did you know it's National Chemistry Week? 🧪
Chemistry isn't just about test tubes and microscopes. It's about the building blocks that make up the food we eat, the air we breathe and the things we make.
Chemistry isn't just about test tubes and microscopes. It's about the building blocks that make up the food we eat, the air we breathe and the things we make.
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
This week we welcome Prof. Steven Shapin to the pod!🎙️
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
S5 E11 - Steven Shapin on the Social Life of Scientific Knowledge
Podcast Episode · The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science · 19/10/2025 · 50m
podcasts.apple.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
This week we welcome Prof. Steven Shapin to the pod!🎙️
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
“These rankings, built on selected quantitative indicators amalgamated into a single score, are not designed to evaluate research nor reflect the breadth and depth of the missions of research and higher education institutions.”
Why Sorbonne pulled out of university ranking
France’s Sorbonne University plans to leave the Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings, adding its name to a growing number of universities rejecting lists that play one institution off against another...
sciencebusiness.net
October 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
“These rankings, built on selected quantitative indicators amalgamated into a single score, are not designed to evaluate research nor reflect the breadth and depth of the missions of research and higher education institutions.”
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
#Postdoc at Technische Universität Berlin in digital humanities & history/philosophy/sociology of science #philsci #STS. ERC project investigates digital communication within the ATLAS collaboration at CERN
Deadline: October 13, 2025
www.jobs.tu-berlin.de/en/job-posti...
#PhilJobs
Deadline: October 13, 2025
www.jobs.tu-berlin.de/en/job-posti...
#PhilJobs
Job Posting I-390/25: Research Associate - salary grade E13 TV-L Berliner Hochschulen – Job Postings at Technische Universität Berlin
Faculty I - Humanities and Educational Sciences, Institute of History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Literature / History and Philosophy of Modern Science
www.jobs.tu-berlin.de
September 26, 2025 at 1:24 PM
#Postdoc at Technische Universität Berlin in digital humanities & history/philosophy/sociology of science #philsci #STS. ERC project investigates digital communication within the ATLAS collaboration at CERN
Deadline: October 13, 2025
www.jobs.tu-berlin.de/en/job-posti...
#PhilJobs
Deadline: October 13, 2025
www.jobs.tu-berlin.de/en/job-posti...
#PhilJobs
Found this cute snail in a Zen Monastery in France after finishing a silent retreat there. There were amazing buildings and gardens but this little mate got me mesmerised. Glad I got a picture to remind me of it now that the busy days are back.
September 21, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Found this cute snail in a Zen Monastery in France after finishing a silent retreat there. There were amazing buildings and gardens but this little mate got me mesmerised. Glad I got a picture to remind me of it now that the busy days are back.
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
Day 13 #SciArtSeptember prompt bottleneck, I’m interpreting literally with Japanese #geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi (1920-2007) 🧪🐡👩🏻🔬 #histsci who created tools that allowed her to make 1st measurements of CO2 in seawater, raised the alarm about nuclear fallout, tracing it in oceans & researched 🧵
September 13, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Day 13 #SciArtSeptember prompt bottleneck, I’m interpreting literally with Japanese #geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi (1920-2007) 🧪🐡👩🏻🔬 #histsci who created tools that allowed her to make 1st measurements of CO2 in seawater, raised the alarm about nuclear fallout, tracing it in oceans & researched 🧵
Someone just asked: “How often do we need to change standards?” In my view, the trickiest aspect of temporality is balancing metrics stability with dynamic changes. It’s a matter of awareness: we cannot fix standards any more than we can capture time in an hourglass.
September 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Someone just asked: “How often do we need to change standards?” In my view, the trickiest aspect of temporality is balancing metrics stability with dynamic changes. It’s a matter of awareness: we cannot fix standards any more than we can capture time in an hourglass.
Laughed out loud at this thread and now the others in the room want to know why. I could never explain.
August 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Laughed out loud at this thread and now the others in the room want to know why. I could never explain.
@caiuscollege.bsky.social looking like a fairy tale castle this afternoon.
August 21, 2025 at 8:18 PM
@caiuscollege.bsky.social looking like a fairy tale castle this afternoon.
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
Two post-doc positions in CNRS on international projects in Paris, for 17 & 24 months on #STS. The first one on #openscience monitoring, the second one on #opendata in research evaluation. emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - 17 months Postdoc for international ANR project M/F
emploi.cnrs.fr
August 18, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Two post-doc positions in CNRS on international projects in Paris, for 17 & 24 months on #STS. The first one on #openscience monitoring, the second one on #opendata in research evaluation. emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
Just finished listening to this episode and it’s so great! I’m teaching a course on the social structure of science and values in science to undergraduates in Iceland this fall and this will be super useful to give to the students.
What happens when the old contract between science and society no longer fits?
This week, Prof. Heather Douglas unpacks the legacy of the value-free ideal, examines research ethics & funding — and proposes a new social contract for science. This was an illuminating conversation.
Listen now! 🎧
This week, Prof. Heather Douglas unpacks the legacy of the value-free ideal, examines research ethics & funding — and proposes a new social contract for science. This was an illuminating conversation.
Listen now! 🎧
S5 E4 - Heather Douglas on Rethinking Science’s Social Contract
The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science · Episode
open.spotify.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Just finished listening to this episode and it’s so great! I’m teaching a course on the social structure of science and values in science to undergraduates in Iceland this fall and this will be super useful to give to the students.
Really saddened by the passing of Michel Callon. From the scallops of Saint-Brieuc to market interactions, his work revealed multiple hues where I once saw only black and white. I like to think that he’ll be somewhere, assembling the world along with Bruno Latour and Trevor Pinch.
The Center for the sociology of innovation learned with great sadness that Michel Callon has passed away.
A graduate of the École des Mines, Michel joined the center in the late 1960s and was its director from 1982 to 1994.
A graduate of the École des Mines, Michel joined the center in the late 1960s and was its director from 1982 to 1994.
August 7, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Really saddened by the passing of Michel Callon. From the scallops of Saint-Brieuc to market interactions, his work revealed multiple hues where I once saw only black and white. I like to think that he’ll be somewhere, assembling the world along with Bruno Latour and Trevor Pinch.
When market valuation takes priority over job creation:
‘For the tech industry, revenue per employee has become a prized performance metric.´
(Not every day you see the top comment in the FT calling for a new tax - an AI tax, with over 450 upvotes!)
on.ft.com/41seluz
#metrics #KPIs #Performance
‘For the tech industry, revenue per employee has become a prized performance metric.´
(Not every day you see the top comment in the FT calling for a new tax - an AI tax, with over 450 upvotes!)
on.ft.com/41seluz
#metrics #KPIs #Performance
The AI job cuts are accelerating
Companies are preparing for a time where there might be less work for their employees
on.ft.com
August 5, 2025 at 7:39 AM
When market valuation takes priority over job creation:
‘For the tech industry, revenue per employee has become a prized performance metric.´
(Not every day you see the top comment in the FT calling for a new tax - an AI tax, with over 450 upvotes!)
on.ft.com/41seluz
#metrics #KPIs #Performance
‘For the tech industry, revenue per employee has become a prized performance metric.´
(Not every day you see the top comment in the FT calling for a new tax - an AI tax, with over 450 upvotes!)
on.ft.com/41seluz
#metrics #KPIs #Performance
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
We're hiring an Associate Professor/Professor at Cambridge Digital Humanities. Specialisms include Digital History/Mapping, Critical Data Studies, Archive and Memory Studies, Digital Media Arts, Environmental Humanities, AI/Digital Visual Culture.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD837/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD837/a...
Associate Professor/Professor in Cambridge Digital Humanities at University of Cambridge
An academic position as a Associate Professor/Professor in Cambridge Digital Humanities is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunit...
www.jobs.ac.uk
August 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM
We're hiring an Associate Professor/Professor at Cambridge Digital Humanities. Specialisms include Digital History/Mapping, Critical Data Studies, Archive and Memory Studies, Digital Media Arts, Environmental Humanities, AI/Digital Visual Culture.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD837/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD837/a...
This conversation between Socrates and Phaedrus feels oddly modern.
Ever get that feeling of giving up on AI because it keeps offering the most obvious answers?
- And the same may be said for #LLM’s -
Ever get that feeling of giving up on AI because it keeps offering the most obvious answers?
- And the same may be said for #LLM’s -
August 2, 2025 at 9:30 AM
This conversation between Socrates and Phaedrus feels oddly modern.
Ever get that feeling of giving up on AI because it keeps offering the most obvious answers?
- And the same may be said for #LLM’s -
Ever get that feeling of giving up on AI because it keeps offering the most obvious answers?
- And the same may be said for #LLM’s -
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
@asanewsonline.bsky.social The National Humanities Center welcomes applications from scholars engaged in advanced humanities research for the 2026–27 academic year. The deadline to apply is October 2, 2025. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity.
Scholarly Programs | National Humanities Center
The National Humanities Center provides scholars with an environment and resources conducive to generating new knowledge and furthering understanding of the human experience.
bit.ly
July 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
@asanewsonline.bsky.social The National Humanities Center welcomes applications from scholars engaged in advanced humanities research for the 2026–27 academic year. The deadline to apply is October 2, 2025. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity.
I screenshotted this post to discourage clickbait journalism. As @waiterich.bsky.social puts it, these metrics are flawed but interesting when seen as language: not for accuracy, but for how they convey arguments. Numbers strengthen the claim, regardless. Trusting them is sometimes an act of faith.
July 28, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I screenshotted this post to discourage clickbait journalism. As @waiterich.bsky.social puts it, these metrics are flawed but interesting when seen as language: not for accuracy, but for how they convey arguments. Numbers strengthen the claim, regardless. Trusting them is sometimes an act of faith.
Have you ever thought of data evidence as music? Sounds (numbers) are as important as silence. Silence gives rhythm, shape, and space to listen. Some parts of the story can’t be captured in data — and that’s okay. We need the pauses to reflect, to notice change, and to grasp what truly matters.
July 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Have you ever thought of data evidence as music? Sounds (numbers) are as important as silence. Silence gives rhythm, shape, and space to listen. Some parts of the story can’t be captured in data — and that’s okay. We need the pauses to reflect, to notice change, and to grasp what truly matters.
And now some philanthropic organisations are rushing to use AI to assess funding applications. And this is concerning. It reflects a bias toward scale and hype. We really need to come back to the basis: how this knowledge helps stakeholders? Why is that important. +Privilege quality over quantity.
"Even if still marginal, a troubling landscape is emerging. Software is now writing scientific papers that are reviewed and evaluated by other machines, which in turn attempt to outwit those designed to detect them."
Story in Le Monde on AI in scientific publishing.
Archive link: archive.ph/ldxM0
Story in Le Monde on AI in scientific publishing.
Archive link: archive.ph/ldxM0
How AI is shaking up scientific publishing
On top of the usual cases of fraud and malpractice, artificial intelligence is sowing discord and transforming the world of academic publishing.
www.lemonde.fr
July 13, 2025 at 1:29 PM
And now some philanthropic organisations are rushing to use AI to assess funding applications. And this is concerning. It reflects a bias toward scale and hype. We really need to come back to the basis: how this knowledge helps stakeholders? Why is that important. +Privilege quality over quantity.
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
Join us for this free online event to discuss the meaning, limits, and prospects of assigning numbers to the social and natural world. All online with free registration. #philsci #philsky #histsci #sts #histtech #sociology
Onilne workshop on quantification! The Society for the Study of Measurement is delighted to host an event on the philosophy, sociology, and history of quantification across the sciences on August 9. Free with registration. #philsci #philsky #histsci #histtech #sts #sociology 🧪 tinyurl.com/5rn7p7sk
Quantification in History, Philosophy, Sociology, and Practice – The Society for the Study of Measurement
tinyurl.com
July 6, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Valeria Ramirez, PhD
CIP’s 12 month Fellowship Program for emerging researchers with disabilities from LMICs to develop their own research projects based on their local contexts: inclusive-policy.org/fellowship/
Fellowship | Center for Inclusive Policy
A policy, research, and training “think and do” tank building inclusive futures. Mentorship to develop the fellow’s work plan and achieve their deliverables.
inclusive-policy.org
July 7, 2025 at 5:52 PM
CIP’s 12 month Fellowship Program for emerging researchers with disabilities from LMICs to develop their own research projects based on their local contexts: inclusive-policy.org/fellowship/