Category Archives: maybe politics

dangerous stuff?

Election

Posted on 10/06/2017 by Peter Cameron

Simon and Garfunkel sang, May, she will stay [but will she?] June, she’ll change her tune August, die she must In the same vein, John Wyndham, in The Chrysalids, wrote the obituary for her defunct parrot Strong’n’Stable: Soon, they’ll obtain … Continue reading →

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A crossword clue

Posted on 22/10/2016 by Peter Cameron

In London this week for an LTCC committee meeting, I picked up my copy of the Oxford University alumni magazine, Oxford Today. On the cover was a photograph of the 27th Oxford graduate to be Prime Minister of the United … Continue reading →

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Bad news from Leicester

Posted on 21/09/2016 by Peter Cameron

Last week the news came round that the University of Leicester is forcing most of the mathematics departments to resign their posts and re-apply for them, with a quarter of them to be made redundant and many of the rest … Continue reading →

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The Stern review

Posted on 01/08/2016 by Peter Cameron

Last week saw the publication of the Stern review into research assessments in the UK. The only report I saw in the media was on the BBC, here. This suggested that the report said that universities should put more effort … Continue reading →

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In or out?

Posted on 11/05/2016 by Peter Cameron

I don’t usually do politics. But the standard of debate in the recent elections and the current referendum campaign has driven me to protest. I will stick to the referendum; enough has been said about the divisive campaign run by … Continue reading →

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LMS SGM, 2

Posted on 05/02/2016 by Peter Cameron

This afternoon I was at the LMS SGM, convened to debate the motion that the LMS council be instructed to reverse the closure of the Journal of Computation and Mathematics. The motion was lost by 158 against to 131 for, … Continue reading →

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Farewell CAUL

Posted on 04/08/2015 by Peter Cameron

CAUL (Centro de Álgebra da Universidade de Lisboa) is no more. Its many links from web pages all over the world no longer lead anywhere. As I understand it, the Universidade de Lisboa have decided that the building is much … Continue reading →

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The Borders

Posted on 20/04/2015 by Peter Cameron

Twelve years ago, I spent a very enjoyable four days on St Cuthbert’s Way, a long-distance walk crossing the border between England and Scotland. The walk officially goes from Melrose (where Cuthbert was prior of the abbey) to Holy Island … Continue reading →

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Open access and the REF, 2

Posted on 06/04/2015 by Peter Cameron

Bob Dylan said, When you think that you’ve lost everything, You find out you can always lose a little more. Open access for the REF is not in that league, but when you think you have plumbed the depths of … Continue reading →

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Open access and the REF

Posted on 04/04/2015 by Peter Cameron

After an exchange with one of the people employed by my university to “police” the institutional repository, I came upon an issue that I didn’t fully understand. If you are a UK academic hoping to submit papers to REF2020, you … Continue reading →

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