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Margot Finn

@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

16K followers 4.1K following 7.8K posts

Historian of Britain and colonialism, material culture, the EIC. Also works on equalities, museums, open access & research policy. Download the EIC @ Home open access volume here: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/88277 (or individual chapters via JSTOR) .. more

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Margot C. Finn is a British historian and academic who specialises in Britain and the British colonial world during the long nineteenth century. She has been Professor of Modern British History at the University College, London (UCL) since 2012. Finn was previously the President of the Royal Historical Society and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. .. more

Political science 31%

Economics 26%

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 38m

'The four-year Research Professional Futures initiative will seek to create a strategy for research professionals across the sector to maximise their potential. These are roles that have “historically lacked visibility, recognition and clear career pathways”, according to the project’s leaders.'

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 3h

Initiative to transform research support roles gets £4.5m.

Research Professional Futures initiative will aim to create a strategy for research professionals in roles that have “historically lacked visibility, recognition and clear career pathways”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Initiative to transform research support roles gets £4.5m - Research Professional News

Sector-wide collaboration to establish identities and pathways for research professionals receives Research England backing

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

Reposted by Catherine Baker, Margot C. Finn

LSE Library @lselibrary.bsky.social · 58m

New online: The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) collection is now available on LSE Digital Library! We’ve digitised and published the GLF Diaries and the GLF newspaper Come Together. Further series from the archives will be added as digitisation continues.
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digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/...

Cover image of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) Diary, December 21-30, 1972. A purple and green poster-style image featuring text and a leafy plant design.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1h

Thanks very much.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1h

Thanks Max--good (well, bad) to know. And huge thanks for your heroic organisation (with colleagues) of the Madlerfest. It was ace.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1h

Many thanks!

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1h

Many thanks for this information which is much appreciated.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2h

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply: very helpful and much appreciated.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2h

Thanks Laura--undergraduate students a constituency I'm ashamed to say I'd not considered yet.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h

That's why I suggested alternative employment.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h

'By investigating analogous examples in minimal physical systems of what life does, a new movement of scientists and philosophers are trying to tell a more plausible story regarding the origin of life’s complex behavioral repertoire, and perhaps the origins of life itself.'

The Surprisingly Lifelike Behavior Of Mindless Material | NOEMA

New ways of studying the origin of life are leading to a better understanding of consciousness and the mind.

www.noemamag.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Justin Lewis, Fiona Moore , and 1 more Lesley A. Hall, Justin Lewis, Fiona Moore, Catherine J. Frieman

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h

For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.

Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...

Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research

observer.co.uk

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h

Works both ways. Researchers with policy relevant research need to augment academic publications with more accessible ones (as very many already do). Meanwhile, managers in universities, where research is a core activity, need to respect research & researchers. Otherwise, they should work elsewhere.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 3h

Initiative to transform research support roles gets £4.5m - Research Professional News

Sector-wide collaboration to establish identities and pathways for research professionals receives Research England backing

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 3h

A really excellent Open Letter to Students on using GenAI, which I came across over on Mastodon: librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/a...

An open letter to students considering submitting AI generated work

“We have concluded a Faustian pact with our science and technology generally, and with the computer in particular. So it seems to me. And in such a pact with Mephistopheles both partners gain somet…

librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

in plain sight...

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

£20 million for all local authority museums (from the government); £30 million for the Courtauld (from a family charity). Not that I'm knocking the £20 million, but....

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Librarian Capital @librariancapital.bsky.social · 4h

96% of UK people know who Elon Musk is
53% of UK people dislike him

Even Nigel Farage broke with him on Tommy Robinson

yougov.co.uk/topics/econo...

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

But let's call him by his proper title please, Elon Musk, Fellow of the Royal Society.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

Agree re the data, but data sadly don't drive most public narratives and ditto beliefs. We need (evidence based) narratives about what universities are for that encompass but are not contained by employment statistics. We're marathon, not sprint, institutions.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

Surely should be one of them.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

Charities value and support the arts. Do governments?

The Courtauld gets a £30mn boost

Gift from the billionaire Reuben brothers’ family foundation will be ‘transformative’ for the London arts institute and gallery

www.ft.com

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

'It is the third consecutive year the university has announced job cuts, having confirmed a reduction of 40 roles in October 2024 and 100 in November 2023.'

University of Staffordshire proposes to cut nearly 70 jobs

The university says the proposed reduction in staff comes are in response to financial challenges.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Dave Beck

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

'A “challenging” graduate labour market in the UK could further erode trust in the higher education sector, with the “bad times” showing little sign of ending.'

All the more reason to have a serious, nationwide discussion of what universities do and what they are for.

Faith in universities ‘at new low’ as graduate jobs dry up

Challenging economic conditions may have led to bump in student recruitment numbers this year but experts fear long-term damage after institutions pegged futures to employability agenda

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Leo McCann

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

'While researchers typically publish in academic journals and books, the authors found, higher education managers are more likely to consult practice-oriented journals, newsletters, conference inputs and social media platforms such as LinkedIn.'

Physician, heal thyself.

HE research ‘rarely informs administrators’ decisions’

Knowledge transfer should include the university itself, says thinktank after identifying disconnect between managers and those who study them

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5h

A great time to double-down on the new mantra of UK HE policymakers: universities and university researchers should do less research...

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 5h

1 in 6 bacterial infections now resistant to treatment, says WHO - rising to 1 in 3 in SE Asia on.ft.com/46Zv7Dq

One in six bacterial infections now resistant to treatment, says WHO

Levels of antimicrobial resistance highest in south-east Asia and eastern Mediterranean

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Dolly Jørgensen

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5h

'Hidden under tonnes of rock, a dinosaur superhighway is emerging - where palaeontologists are walking in the footsteps of these giant beasts.'

In the footsteps of giants - BBC News

One of the longest sets of dinosaur footprints in the world has been discovered in a limestone quary near Bicester, in Oxfordshire, England.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5h

'Crucially, HEFCE was widely accepted to be a neutral broker who would help facilitate institutions coming together – and it had the funding to help smooth the path. By contrast, OfS...[lacks] “the remit, powers or funding to intervene to prevent closure or to facilitate mergers or acquisitions.”

The higher education sector needs an honest broker to support structural change

As a white paper on the future of post-16 education is expected imminently, Matthew Howling and Poppy Short make the case for the appointment of an HE Commissioner to facilitate mergers and other form...

wonkhe.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 5h

1 in 6 bacterial infections now resistant to treatment, says WHO - rising to 1 in 3 in SE Asia on.ft.com/46Zv7Dq

One in six bacterial infections now resistant to treatment, says WHO

Levels of antimicrobial resistance highest in south-east Asia and eastern Mediterranean

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5h

'Staff working with elderly and disabled service users have been advised to travel to work in racially mixed groups and carry panic alarms....It comes against a backdrop of charities also warning of growing intimidation, racial abuse and threats of violence towards staff and beneficiaries.'

‘Frightened to get out of their cars’: Britain’s toxic race debates threaten overseas care workers

Staff are being advised to travel in mixed groups and carry panic alarms as incidents of intimidation spread

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Caroline T. Schroeder, Margot C. Finn

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 14h

The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact that would grant preferential federal funding in return for commitments to specific policy changes like DEI bans, according to a source

Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT

The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in return for commitments to specific policy changes like DEI bans, according to a person familiar with the matter.

bloom.bg

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