prof-alistair.bsky.social
@prof-alistair.bsky.social
If you're doing a PhD or looking for an academic career you'll have to get used to multiple variations on this from a whole host of anonymous referees. #AcademicSky #PhDSky #PhDChatter
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Watching the first Ashes test match in Perth from my chair in Adelaide and the Australians, and particularly Travis Head, are scoring like its a T20 Match. Magnificent stuff! #cricket #Ashes
November 22, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Note to all PhD students. Don't get downhearted. Always remember:

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes." (Oscar Wilde)

#AcademicSky
#PhDSky
#PhDChatter
November 16, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Why do I twitch involuntarily whenever I read (or even worse, hear) the words seamless or seamlessly?
November 13, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Interested in PhD supervision? New article out: a brief history of supervisor development & training in Australia & the UK. Available here, but if anyone can’t access it, just drop me a line at alistair.mcculloch@unisa.edu.au
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#PhDSky #PhDChatter #AcademicSky
Policy, regulation and pedagogy: a brief history of supervisor development and training in Australia and the United Kingdom
High quality supervision is a key determinant of the quality of a research student’s experience, their likelihood of success, and their time to completion. Several decades of research and commentar...
www.tandfonline.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Saw a copy of the book titled "The Unpublished Dostoevsky" in a bookshop recently. Then it struck me that a published book titled "The Unpublished Dostoevsky" is a bit of an oxymoron, don't you think? 😎 #AcademicSky #publishing
November 10, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Interested in doctoral education? interested in AI? Then this free to attend conference looks like it for you! Check it out here. #USpolitics #AcademicSky #PhDSky surveys.unisq.edu.au/index.php/85...
2025 International Conference on AI for Higher Education (AI4HE)
surveys.unisq.edu.au
November 6, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Like moths to the flame. The next step in the governmental capture playbook. #USpolitics #Mamdani www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/b...
Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Says He Has Reached Out to Zohran Mamdani
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Just got this email from a Chinese outfit. Doesn't sound at all dodgy, does it? #AcademicSky #PhDSky #scam
November 4, 2025 at 6:45 AM
@firefox.com Congratulations Firefox. Your latest update has removed one of the most useful elements of your browser ... the link to retrieve the previous session when you accidentally close the browser. Its the second time. Please put it back and don't remove it again!
November 4, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Looks like a timely warning for any Linkedin users. Thanks @rachelwight.bsky.social Much appreciated!
Next week LinkedIn will use your personal data for AI training by automatically enabling permissions.

To manually turn off go to:

Settings ➡️ Data Privacy ➡️ under
“How LinkedIn uses your data” click “Data for Generative AI improvement” ➡️ toggle off
November 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
"The nuclear testing ordered by President Trump will not involve nuclear explosions.. (but rather) the other parts of a nuclear weapon” to ensure they are working properly." #PhDSky #AcademicSky Note to any watching PhD students, the word 'test' is working hard here. Conceptual clarity is important!
November 3, 2025 at 1:53 AM
#Academia #Academicsky Ever wondered whether the viva makes a difference to the outcome of the PhD examination? Well, now we know! (Spoiler alert ... it does.) Open access at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Does the viva matter? PhD student experiences of the oral examination and its contribution to examination outcome and researcher development
The typical doctoral examination comprises the assessment of a written thesis or other artefact followed by a viva involving the candidate and two or more examiners. Australian universities general...
www.tandfonline.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Another university leaves the ranking system behind ...
October 21, 2025 at 7:09 PM
It strikes me that one of the great advantages of a book over a digital reader is that the book's publishers never force an unwanted update on me to improve my experience & are completely unable to rearrange the pages in the volume into a random order just because they can. #reading #books #digital
October 21, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Saw this & thought, 'All that picture needs is a table full of food in front of the assembled throng & its a dead ringer for Leonardo's 'The Last Supper'.

And then, there's just as many women in the photo as there were in the painting.

Who's playing Judas? #Gaza

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/w...
‘A Big Day’: How the U.S. and the Arab World Teamed Up to Seal the Gaza Deal
www.nytimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Spent Saturday finishing my reading of Maria Dahvana Headley's wonderful 2020 translation of Beowulf. Glorious use of alliteration and a great romping read through this magnificent tale! Highly recommended to anyone like me who finds poetry hard to read but who grew up on Scandinavian & Saxon sagas
October 11, 2025 at 8:41 AM
SCHOLARS BEWARE! Last Friday just before COB here in Adelaide I was notified that an article of mine had been published online. Almost exactly 6 hours later I received this phishing email inviting me to follow a (doubtless dangerous) link to find out about my 'research award'.

#ScamAlert
October 10, 2025 at 5:19 AM
A very powerful exposition bu people who study such things of why what's happening in the USA is so dangerous. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o... #politics #USA #Trump #Miller
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM
If you're reading this and you're connected to UTS as staff, student or alumni, please engage with this survey. #academicsky
October 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Work in an Australian university? You really should be taking this short survey.
Take part in a groundbreaking workplace psychosocial safety census of all university staff in Australia, run by Pyschosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory. This an independent survey from University management and only open to staff.

Start here: nteu.info/census (takes 5-6min)
October 7, 2025 at 2:33 AM
A true story straight out of John Le Carre. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/o...
Opinion | Someone Tipped Me Off About a Crypto Story. What I Found Was Crazy.
www.nytimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:04 AM