Euan Angus Young
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euantheyoung.bsky.social
Euan Angus Young
@euantheyoung.bsky.social
140 followers 210 following 32 posts
Excitable PhD student interested in how an evolutionary perspective can inform our understanding of human health and disease | University of Groningen | he/him
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euantheyoung.bsky.social
Euan Angus Young @euantheyoung.bsky.social · 4d
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
cbank.bsky.social
We have an open PhD position (application deadline 9 January 2026) in "Theory of fitness landscapes" at @unibe.ch 🤓⛰️📊👩‍💻🎓: banklab.github.io/positions/

Please share widely!

#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
October 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
ecoevorxiv.bsky.social
"Asynchrony of ageing among traits in a wild bird population"
doi.org/10.32942/X27...
The age-specific trajectories of 13 phenotypic traits in individuals the Seychelles warbler population of Cousin Island (dates differ per dataset, minimum date 1981, maximum date 2022) identified through Generalized Additive Models. The x-axis is age in years, and the y-axis is the trait value; all traits, except for annual reproductive success, survival and malaria, are z-transformed. The solid black line depicts the model-predicted curve and the grey shaded areas depict the standard error. Blue points are raw data points. RTL = relative telomere length. ARS = Annual Reproductive Success. For buffy coat (Fig 1h & i), F indicates female, M indicates male.
November 6, 2025 at 9:45 AM
euantheyoung.bsky.social
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
eivimeycook.bsky.social
Back in Ingelheim for another Evolution of Ageing workshop (massive thanks to The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences for hosting). It’s set to be a great three days of talks and presentations!
September 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
hannahdugdale.bsky.social
Come & work with us - fully funded 4 year PhD on Social Ageing: Social environment effects on senescence, using an epigenetic clock www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor... @rug.nl @david-s-richardson.bsky.social @keesvanoers.bsky.social @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social photo: @charlisdavies.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
royalsocietypublishing.org
New in #ProcB - From policy to practice: Progress towards #data- and #code-sharing in ecology and evolution @asanchez-tojar.bsky.social @eivimeycook.bsky.social tell us more in our blog royalsociety.org/blog/2025/09...
September 17, 2025 at 11:01 AM
euantheyoung.bsky.social
Well that’s the “highlight” of my week for sure!
Thrilled to see our recent paper covered in Nature’s Research Highlight: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Also see @markspa.bsky.social’s neat explainer below.
September 5, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
markspa.bsky.social
1. My first ever paper is out! With
@euantheyoung.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
How do older siblings, and their sex and age, affect the survival of younger siblings? Find out by checking below.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Age- and sex-dependent associations between the number of older siblings and early-life survival in pre-industrial humans | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Siblings are an important part of an individual’s early-life environment and may therefore play an important role in shaping an individual’s survival. The quantification of sibling effects on survival is challenging, however, especially in long-lived ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
erikpostma.bsky.social
With #eseb2025 coming to a close, it is time to start making plans for 2026. Interested in the interface of evolution 🧬 and ecology 🌳? Come to our #ExE conference hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful #Cornwall. Leave your email address at tinyurl.com/EvolxEcol to join our mailing list!
August 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
btschirren.bsky.social
**Postdoc opportunities**👇👇 Find me at poster 302 today between 17:30-18:00 for a chat. 🦡🦠🔬🧬 #eseb2025
August 21, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
erikpostma.bsky.social
What do you think, can we forecast evolution❓

@sevans.bsky.social and I would love to hear your thoughts, so if you are going to #ESEB2025, submit a talk to our symposium (S24: Forecasting evolution in natural populations) and join @colingarroway.bsky.social and Patrik Nosil!

Deadline April 25.
April 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
pdevillemereuil.bsky.social
👋

Interested in working on the evolution of genetic architecture 🧬 of complex traits using linked-read sequencing of thousands of common lizards 🦎 from a wild population and common garden experiment?

#evolution #genetics

Well, I have a PhD offer for you 👇
devillemereuil.legtux.org/erc-funded-p...
ERC-funded PhD position available – Pierre de Villemereuil
devillemereuil.legtux.org
April 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
eivimeycook.bsky.social
Reminder - the deadline for abstracts is in less than a month's time!

#openscience
eivimeycook.bsky.social Ed Ivimey-Cook @eivimeycook.bsky.social · Feb 28
🚨 ESEB 2025, here we come! 🚨

Abstract submissions are now open for our symposium -
"Enhancing Diversity & Transparency in Ecology & Evolution: Reliable Practices for Research & Organizations" 🌍✨

Featuring invited speakers:
🔹 Dr. Malgorzata (Losia) Lagisz
🔹 Dr. Joel Pick

#ESEB2025 #SORTEE
March 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
spaam-community.bsky.social
The SPAAM has organized a virtual speed-networking event between PIs and young researchers (MSc/PhD/Postdocs)!
When? Wednesday April 9th 11.00AM-01.00PM CET. Registration deadline: April 2nd. Grab your slot! For more information and registration, check:
Speed networking between PIs and young researchers - April 2025 edition
Interest and registration form for PI speed networking for April 9th, 11:00 AM - 01.00 PM CET The following PIs are open to meeting with interested junior researchers (prospective masters, PhDs,…
docs.google.com
March 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
hannahdugdale.bsky.social
Congratulations Dr. Chik on defending your PhD thesis yesterday on "The evolutionary and ecological drivers of senescence in two wild passerine systems" 👏🎉 doi.org/10.33612/dis...
March 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
sortee.bsky.social
Do you have a project in ecology and evolution that exemplifies open science? If so nominate the project for a SORTEE Commendation Award:

More details about the SORTEE Commendation Award:
SORTEE awards
Awards of Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology (SORTEE)
buff.ly
February 21, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
englishse.bsky.social
To be, or not to be, part-time in academia?
This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team!
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Point of View: To be, or not to be, part-time in academia
Part-time working can be beneficial for individual academics, and also for academia as a whole.
elifesciences.org
February 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
euantheyoung.bsky.social
1/11
New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
February 13, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
mtangili.bsky.social
🚨 New preprint alert!
More siblings, fiercer competition, extra food—but stunted growth! 🐦🍕📏
In zebra finches raised in large broods, increased energy spent on begging—not less food—causes reduced growth.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Begging costs rather than food received cause brood size effect on growth in zebra finches
Altricial species rely on parental provisioning for early-life sustenance, and a larger brood size leads to higher levels of competition between siblings for food provided by the parents. Early-life s...
www.biorxiv.org
January 30, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
erikpostma.bsky.social
Want to use a unique dataset to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of genomic diversity and its drivers in a wild bird population? Apply for this #NERC #PhD position @uniexecec.bsky.social @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social.

www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

🐦🌍🧪🧬 #ExeterCEC #Vlieland #NIOO-KNAW
December 6, 2024 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
andyyoung.bsky.social
* NEW #PhD * #Evolution #Ecology of Immune #Senesence in Wild Badgers - exciting project with me, @btschirren.bsky.social & our awesome collaborators @ APHA. Based at @exetercec.bsky.social in Cornwall, UK.
!PLEASE SHARE!

See www.animalsocieties.org and apply: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
🌏 🧪 🦑
November 29, 2024 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
jj255.bsky.social
Age x G effects in telomere length in a wild bird! How cool is this? Another excellent paper by one of our PhD students, Janet Chik! doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Heritability and age-dependent changes in genetic variation of telomere length in a wild house sparrow population
Abstract. Telomere length (TL) and/or its rate of change are popular biomarkers of senescence, as telomere dynamics are linked with survival and lifespan.
doi.org
November 25, 2024 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Euan Angus Young
paolocrosetto.bsky.social
The Economist covered our "Strain on scientific publishing" paper.

What is this all about?

We collectively churn out more & more papers *per scientist*, an increasing pace, in a rapidly changing publication landscape.

Why? How? Want to make sense of this? 🧵

www.economist.com/science-and-...
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
www.economist.com
November 23, 2024 at 2:17 PM
euantheyoung.bsky.social
I had a fab week in Montreal at #Evol2024. For those that missed it, my talk examining the genetic basis for how life-history traits shape breast cancer risk among Dutch women is available now on YouTube: youtu.be/CBHrGi9t4Ps?...
Happy to answer questions or hear feedback!
July 31, 2024 at 3:56 PM