1/ Small point in a big crisis but I'm *very* grateful to @biozentrum@UniBasel for giving postdocs access to Zoom Pro. Far as I can tell, this is not the norm!
But I'd be mortified to have to beg a collaborator, PI, or media contact to set up a Zoom every time I have a meeting.
2/ As post-docs we are working towards independent research - & that should include being able to schedule our own meetings in this social-distant time. It's infantilizing to not trust your post-docs to use Zoom 'properly'.
3/ (And even worse if the calculation was we're 'not worth the money' - postdocs are often the workhorses of research!)
So Unis, why leave postdocs out of Zoom Pro?
It's a small thing, but small things go a long way to making your staff (& they are staff!) feel valued!
(Clearly this message does not apply if you're the one university in the world who hasn't signed a Pro contract with Zoom in the current crisis.)
(And just to clarify for those not in academia - currently most universities have signed up to provide Zoom Pro to principle investigators (PIs) - leaders of labs/groups. AFAIK few have extended that privilege to post-docs, so their meetings end abruptly after 40 mins)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I'm excited to announce a new paper with @MLReichmuth and @C_Althaus, out now in @PLOSPathogens!
We used phylogenetics & modelling to investigate the introduction & expansion of #SARSCoV2 Alpha & Delta variants into #Switzerland & to simulate different interventions.
1/17
First, we wanted to estimate the number of times Alpha & Delta were introduced into Switzerland before they were dominant.
For this we used sequences: we looked for where Swiss Alpha/Delta seqs descend from non-Swiss sequences - coming to Switzerland from elsewhere.
2/17
We looked at two ways of counting these introductions:
Liberal: every Swiss sequence coming from non-Swiss sequences is an introduction
Conservative: only the first Swiss sequence in a subtree of mixed-Swiss-non-Swiss sequences is an introduction
Benevolent dictators have no place in academic science.
I don't care if they usually make the right decision. Or if people don't think they've abused their power yet.
Science should not depend on one person being well-behaved.
Balance should be built in, power distributed.
1/5
"If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" the African proverb says.
Can driven, visionary people start up groundbreaking ideas & cut through barriers to implement them? Absolutely! This 100% is part of science.
2/5
But if you want your idea to be a keystone of science communities & the public, you have to make it about more than *you*.
If you want to run a private business, go do that.
If you want to be keystone of public science, you have to be transparent, trustworthy, & stable.
3/5
23B (XBB.1.16) is now available on CoVariants! It's visible as part of Per Country & Per Variant plots, on the shared mutation page - and of course, has a page of its own.
As I covered earlier, 23B (XBB.1.16) is descended from the recombinant 22F (XBB) variant, with some additional mutations. You can read more about how it evolved & acquired those mutations below 👇🏻.
Also from this article:
'Marion Koopmans ... says she has received multiple calls from Bogner“with a rather intimidating tone.” So have colleagues, she adds. “I have heard similar experiences from quite a few.”'
And:
"And Science heard many stories about researchers who saw their data curtailed, or cut off, without explanation. Some linked the actions to their being critical of GISAID or being seen as a potential threat."
If you're an early career researcher (yes even 'just' a PhD student!) 1 of my biggest pieces of advice would be:
Go claim/create your Google Scholar page!! 👈🏻✍️🏻
I put this off bc I thought I 'didn't have enough on it'. I also generally thought "nobody is looking for me".
1/4
Now that I'm (a little) on the other end, I see how wrong I was.
It's *just fine* to not have "much" in your Google Scholar profile - anyone worth their salt will be evaluating you relative to your career state.
Much more important: to be findable!
2/4
And alongside that: it's so useful to have an easy way for people to see what your field is & what you've been up to/who you work with/your expertise.
Google Scholar is also pretty easy to maintain (will vary depending on how unique your name is), as it auto-updates.
3/4
23A (XBB.1.5) is now available on CoVariants! It's visible as part of Per Country & Per Variant plots, on the shared mutation page - and of course, has a page of its own.
As I covered earlier, 23A (XBB.1.5) is descended from the recombinant 22F (XBB) variant, with some additional mutations. You can read more about how it evolved & acquired those mutations below 👇🏻.