Mauricio González-Forero
@mauriciogforero.bsky.social
Senior postdoctoral fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Vienna, Austria. Interested in mathematical evolutionary theory, evo-devo, brain evolution, eusociality, and more. https://mauriciogforero.github.io
Pinned
Why did the human brain size evolve? A way forward | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Why the human brain size evolved has been a major evolutionary puzzle since Darwin,
but addressing it has been challenging. A key reason is the lack of research tools
to infer the causes of a unique e...
royalsocietypublishing.org
New paper with Aida Gómez-Robles: “Why did the human brain size evolve: a way forward”. We propose that this seemingly unanswerable question can be tackled with simulation-based inference. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
New paper!
We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 12, 2025 at 11:56 AM
New paper!
We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
We're excited to share the final version of our paper, where we demonstrate how confounding remains a thorny problem for claims about causal genetic influences on human behavioral and socioeconomic outcomes. (w/ @jedidiahcarlson.com @oliviarxiv.bsky.social Ruth Shaw @arbelharpak.bsky.social) 🧵👇
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We're excited to share the final version of our paper, where we demonstrate how confounding remains a thorny problem for claims about causal genetic influences on human behavioral and socioeconomic outcomes. (w/ @jedidiahcarlson.com @oliviarxiv.bsky.social Ruth Shaw @arbelharpak.bsky.social) 🧵👇
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
“Financial restrictions oblige funders to reject vast numbers of sound proposals. Why not retain them for other funders to consider?”
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/comm...
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/comm...
A common grant application database would cut the waste of resubmission
Financial restrictions oblige funders to reject vast numbers of sound proposals. Why not retain them for other funders to consider, asks Mikhail Spivakov
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
“Financial restrictions oblige funders to reject vast numbers of sound proposals. Why not retain them for other funders to consider?”
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/comm...
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Independent researcher fellowships (non-tenure track) at OIST, with a focus on broadly defined theory www.oist.jp/research/bur...
Buribushi Fellowship
www.oist.jp
October 30, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Independent researcher fellowships (non-tenure track) at OIST, with a focus on broadly defined theory www.oist.jp/research/bur...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
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
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
October 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
I'm Jewish. I'm also Mancunian.
Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg during their conference.
Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine - I had nothing to say?
Let's keep growing: join.greenparty.org.uk
Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg during their conference.
Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine - I had nothing to say?
Let's keep growing: join.greenparty.org.uk
October 5, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I'm Jewish. I'm also Mancunian.
Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg during their conference.
Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine - I had nothing to say?
Let's keep growing: join.greenparty.org.uk
Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg during their conference.
Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine - I had nothing to say?
Let's keep growing: join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.
sites.stat.columbia.edu
October 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Are you studying animal sociality?
My (now published) first PhD chapter proposes a Bayesian + causal framework to infer the factors shaping the social relationships that animals form with one another.
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
My (now published) first PhD chapter proposes a Bayesian + causal framework to infer the factors shaping the social relationships that animals form with one another.
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
A causal framework for the drivers of animal social network structure
Author summary Behavioural ecologists ask mechanistic questions about behaviour—causal questions. When studying animal societies, these questions often concern the drivers of social network structure....
journals.plos.org
September 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Are you studying animal sociality?
My (now published) first PhD chapter proposes a Bayesian + causal framework to infer the factors shaping the social relationships that animals form with one another.
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
My (now published) first PhD chapter proposes a Bayesian + causal framework to infer the factors shaping the social relationships that animals form with one another.
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Intervening on a central node in a network likely does little given that its connected neighbors will "flip it back" immediately. Happy to see this position supported now.
"Change is most likely [..] if it spreads first among relatively poorly connected nodes."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Change is most likely [..] if it spreads first among relatively poorly connected nodes."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Transformation starts at the periphery of networks where pushback is less - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Transformation starts at the periphery of networks where pushback is less
www.nature.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Intervening on a central node in a network likely does little given that its connected neighbors will "flip it back" immediately. Happy to see this position supported now.
"Change is most likely [..] if it spreads first among relatively poorly connected nodes."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Change is most likely [..] if it spreads first among relatively poorly connected nodes."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Haven't read the preprint, but heritability of 0.3 doesn't mean traits are largely environmentally driven. The remaining 0.7 includes non-additive genetic effects. And the 0.3 heritability might include non-genetic effects (e.g., developmental noise). Interpreting heritability is hard.
September 20, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Haven't read the preprint, but heritability of 0.3 doesn't mean traits are largely environmentally driven. The remaining 0.7 includes non-additive genetic effects. And the 0.3 heritability might include non-genetic effects (e.g., developmental noise). Interpreting heritability is hard.
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
New Substack post
It's very personal: my story of a 20-year academic career, and the many challenges of theoretical and cross-disciplinary work
As I put it in the subtitle: There is a lot of success and a lot of pain here, and no happy ending
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/happy-in-t...
It's very personal: my story of a 20-year academic career, and the many challenges of theoretical and cross-disciplinary work
As I put it in the subtitle: There is a lot of success and a lot of pain here, and no happy ending
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/happy-in-t...
Happy In Theory
This is the short story of my long, 20 year search for a stable academic home. There is a lot of success and a lot of pain here, and no happy ending.
thomscottphillips.substack.com
May 23, 2025 at 9:28 AM
New Substack post
It's very personal: my story of a 20-year academic career, and the many challenges of theoretical and cross-disciplinary work
As I put it in the subtitle: There is a lot of success and a lot of pain here, and no happy ending
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/happy-in-t...
It's very personal: my story of a 20-year academic career, and the many challenges of theoretical and cross-disciplinary work
As I put it in the subtitle: There is a lot of success and a lot of pain here, and no happy ending
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/happy-in-t...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
I am excited to announce that the position of a senior postdoc (3 +3 years) in the field of theoretical biology is available in my group.
The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects.
Please RT.
Details 👇:
shorturl.at/iiiOv
The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects.
Please RT.
Details 👇:
shorturl.at/iiiOv
116 FB 5 Research Assistant (m/f/d) field of Theoretical Ecology and Evolution or Computational Biology: Uni Osnabrück
shorturl.at
August 8, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I am excited to announce that the position of a senior postdoc (3 +3 years) in the field of theoretical biology is available in my group.
The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects.
Please RT.
Details 👇:
shorturl.at/iiiOv
The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects.
Please RT.
Details 👇:
shorturl.at/iiiOv
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Just got this book by one of my favourite anthropologists (and people) in the mail - if it's only half as good as the gushing advanced praise, this'll be an instant classic! Also, brilliant title, immediately putting to bed the notion that long lifespan is a new thing; we've evolved to live to ~70
September 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Just got this book by one of my favourite anthropologists (and people) in the mail - if it's only half as good as the gushing advanced praise, this'll be an instant classic! Also, brilliant title, immediately putting to bed the notion that long lifespan is a new thing; we've evolved to live to ~70
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
1/6 A plea to Lisa Nandy from a very concerned citizen & historian: I’m not so naive to believe that the BBC has or can ever be completely impartial. It has always been a site of struggle.
www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthe...
www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthe...
The BBC: A People's History
David Hendy describes how he went about writing 'The BBC: A People’s History', his authorised biography of the Corporation, published to coincide with its 2022 Centenary.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 7, 2025 at 7:39 AM
1/6 A plea to Lisa Nandy from a very concerned citizen & historian: I’m not so naive to believe that the BBC has or can ever be completely impartial. It has always been a site of struggle.
www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthe...
www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthe...
Peter Taylor Professorship at Queen's University in any area of mathematics. The Professorship includes a fund to support mathematical scholarship, and educational and outreach activities.
universityaffairs.ca/search-job/?...
universityaffairs.ca/search-job/?...
Search Jobs - University Affairs
universityaffairs.ca
September 4, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Peter Taylor Professorship at Queen's University in any area of mathematics. The Professorship includes a fund to support mathematical scholarship, and educational and outreach activities.
universityaffairs.ca/search-job/?...
universityaffairs.ca/search-job/?...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
This should have been big news!
Ten funding agencies from eight European countries have pledged to support a public infrastructure that is poised to replace academic journals:
FWF 🇦🇹
RCN 🇳🇴
Forte 🇸🇪
ARIS 🇸🇮
SRC 🇸🇪
FCT 🇵🇹
CSIC 🇪🇸
DFG 🇩🇪
Formas 🇸🇪
ANR 🇫🇷
Only two of them issued press releases in […]
Ten funding agencies from eight European countries have pledged to support a public infrastructure that is poised to replace academic journals:
FWF 🇦🇹
RCN 🇳🇴
Forte 🇸🇪
ARIS 🇸🇮
SRC 🇸🇪
FCT 🇵🇹
CSIC 🇪🇸
DFG 🇩🇪
Formas 🇸🇪
ANR 🇫🇷
Only two of them issued press releases in […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 3, 2025 at 12:34 PM
This should have been big news!
Ten funding agencies from eight European countries have pledged to support a public infrastructure that is poised to replace academic journals:
FWF 🇦🇹
RCN 🇳🇴
Forte 🇸🇪
ARIS 🇸🇮
SRC 🇸🇪
FCT 🇵🇹
CSIC 🇪🇸
DFG 🇩🇪
Formas 🇸🇪
ANR 🇫🇷
Only two of them issued press releases in […]
Ten funding agencies from eight European countries have pledged to support a public infrastructure that is poised to replace academic journals:
FWF 🇦🇹
RCN 🇳🇴
Forte 🇸🇪
ARIS 🇸🇮
SRC 🇸🇪
FCT 🇵🇹
CSIC 🇪🇸
DFG 🇩🇪
Formas 🇸🇪
ANR 🇫🇷
Only two of them issued press releases in […]
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Amazing! Full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
www.nature.com
September 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Amazing! Full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
“Other books teach you how to write beautiful sentences and paragraphs; Nunez tells you how to get your imperfect writing submitted and published.”
August 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM
“Other books teach you how to write beautiful sentences and paragraphs; Nunez tells you how to get your imperfect writing submitted and published.”
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Our article "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience" (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social, @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marc Feldman) is now published online.
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
August 27, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Our article "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience" (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social, @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marc Feldman) is now published online.
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
🚨 We're hiring!
PhD position in Evolutionary Systems Biology at Stockholm University & SciLifeLab
🎓 Focus: evolution, development, computational & mathematical modeling, prediction
📍 Stockholm, Sweden
🕒 4 years, fully-funded
🔍 Details: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Please share!
PhD position in Evolutionary Systems Biology at Stockholm University & SciLifeLab
🎓 Focus: evolution, development, computational & mathematical modeling, prediction
📍 Stockholm, Sweden
🕒 4 years, fully-funded
🔍 Details: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Please share!
August 25, 2025 at 9:01 AM
🚨 We're hiring!
PhD position in Evolutionary Systems Biology at Stockholm University & SciLifeLab
🎓 Focus: evolution, development, computational & mathematical modeling, prediction
📍 Stockholm, Sweden
🕒 4 years, fully-funded
🔍 Details: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Please share!
PhD position in Evolutionary Systems Biology at Stockholm University & SciLifeLab
🎓 Focus: evolution, development, computational & mathematical modeling, prediction
📍 Stockholm, Sweden
🕒 4 years, fully-funded
🔍 Details: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Please share!
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Five 3-year Postdoc positions open at @ebdonana.bsky.social. I am happy to sponsor and mentor good candidates working in my field, but note that these are quite independent positions aimed at helping stabilize new researchers in the system. www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4nqkq...
www.dropbox.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Five 3-year Postdoc positions open at @ebdonana.bsky.social. I am happy to sponsor and mentor good candidates working in my field, but note that these are quite independent positions aimed at helping stabilize new researchers in the system. www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4nqkq...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
Excited to present at the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology this Thursday! Find me at the Craniofacial Evolution Session-09 at 3.15 pm!
August 19, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Excited to present at the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology this Thursday! Find me at the Craniofacial Evolution Session-09 at 3.15 pm!
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
The new left party must be different: member-led, shaped by the people it serves, honouring and learning from the past, and building the future.
Me in the New Left Review: newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Me in the New Left Review: newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
August 17, 2025 at 10:50 AM
The new left party must be different: member-led, shaped by the people it serves, honouring and learning from the past, and building the future.
Me in the New Left Review: newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Me in the New Left Review: newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Reposted by Mauricio González-Forero
How to convince your friends, family and networks to support wealth taxes. A step-by-step guide
How to convince your friends to back wealth taxes
YouTube video by Garys Economics
www.youtube.com
August 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
How to convince your friends, family and networks to support wealth taxes. A step-by-step guide