Michael O’Neill
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Michael O’Neill
@michaeloneill.org
1.2K followers 1.3K following 450 posts
Inorganic Chemistry || University of Liverpool || Education || Blogging || Textbooks || www.michaeloneill.org || PERIODically Podcast supporter
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michaeloneill.org
Teaching ligand field theory to a class where some study symmetry and some don’t, which is a fun challenge. This year I am aggressively leaning into sigma/pi labels, which is going pretty ok I think.
Cartoon comparison of good and bad sigma donor MO schemes
February 6, 2026 at 10:25 AM
michaeloneill.org
Very interesting HEPI paper on Awarding Gaps. Analysis of TEF data shows that *large* gaps were completely compatible with winning TEF Gold. The case for including gaps as a metric in future regulation is explored very thoughtfully, I think. www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/maki...
Making Metrics Matter: A more ambitious approach to tackling racial inequity in higher education - HEPI
A new paper by Dr Katharine Hubbard, Making Metrics Matter: Tackling Racial Inequity in Higher Education (HEPI Debate Paper 43), argues progress towards racial equity in English higher education has b...
www.hepi.ac.uk
February 5, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
michaeloneill.org
Free meeting (coffee/lunch included) on links between UG Chemistry teaching and industry on Friday Feb 20th in Liverpool.

No need to be a member of the RSC or the Higher Education Group.

Sign up link in blog.
January 26, 2026 at 11:48 AM
michaeloneill.org
Excellent piece on how universities are important economic players in local economies, but also how they have been giving people hope about the future in very practical ways. 5min read.
February 4, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
vicephec.bsky.social
**ALERT** The #ViCEPHEC26 website is now live! vicephec2026.wordpress.com

Abstract submission will open soon, with satellite meetings on Weds Aug 26th and the conference opening on Thursday Aug 27th.
ViCEPHEC2026
Proudly hosted by the University of Nottingham
vicephec2026.wordpress.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:06 AM
michaeloneill.org
"A pedagogy of the inevitable does not liberate students; it calibrates them to some forecast of future employment demand."

A really thoughtful piece looking at how an academic case for GenAI in teaching is presented. 20min read. read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/...
A Pedagogy of the Inevitable
Over the last couple of years, two altogether incompatible discourses of “AI literacy” have emerged. One seeks just enough literacy to support a smooth, perhaps even joyful, integration with new techn...
read.dukeupress.edu
February 2, 2026 at 10:37 AM
michaeloneill.org
Excellent piece on the Welsh government’s recent HE policy analysis. 10min read. wonkhe.com/blogs/welsh-...
Welsh higher education is running out of wriggle room
Jim Dickinson gets across a candid Welsh Government document that identifies problems that others are less willing to confront – from market redistribution to the graduate brain drain Jim Dickinson ge...
wonkhe.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:37 PM
michaeloneill.org
Free meeting (coffee/lunch included) on links between UG Chemistry teaching and industry on Friday Feb 20th in Liverpool.

No need to be a member of the RSC or the Higher Education Group.

Sign up link in blog.
January 26, 2026 at 11:48 AM
michaeloneill.org
Increasingly hard to see how the student loan model can be sustained in its current form.
katie0martin.ft.com Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 16d
🤷🏼‍♂️
January 25, 2026 at 10:12 AM
michaeloneill.org
I feel the most worrying pressure is on assessment. Whatever the (many) drawbacks of the timed exam, it is a format which guarantees that a student did the work. #LTHEChat
lthechat.bsky.social LTHEchat @lthechat.bsky.social · 19d
Q1. We talk a lot about GenAI as a “disruption”. What actually feels disrupted in your teaching or learning practice, and what hasn’t changed at all?

Reply with A1 #LTHEChat and your response
Q1. We talk a lot about GenAI as a “disruption”. What actually feels disrupted in your teaching or learning practice, and what hasn’t changed at all?
January 21, 2026 at 8:37 PM
michaeloneill.org
Blog on the admissions story at Trinity Hall in Cambridge, trying to draw something a bit wider from it about the internal structures of Cambridge and national politics of state secondary education. www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2026/...
Admissions at Trinity Hall, Cambridge — Michael O'Neill
Reflections on the recent Guardian reporting about admissions at a small Cambridge college.
www.michaeloneill.org
January 21, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
michaeloneill.org
**New blog post** I have taken over running the RSC Higher Education Group Network meetings. This post describes the direction of travel and details for signing up. www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2026/1/14/the-rsc-higher-education-group-network
The RSC Higher Education Group Network — Michael O'Neill
I have taken over organising the RSC Higher Education Group (HEG) Network meetings from Jenny Burnham, who has made an enormous contribution to our community through establishing and arranging the Net...
www.michaeloneill.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
sandykilla.bsky.social
🚨 PhD alert 🚨 Exciting opportunity to develop titanium-based catalysts for bio-derived carbonate materials. Fully funded EPSRC DLA PhD studentship (4 years), based in my group at @leicesterchem.bsky.social.

🧪 More info: le.ac.uk/-/media/uol/...

🗓️ Deadline: 7 February 2026

#ChemSky #PhDChat
January 17, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
josefboronski.bsky.social
Currently advertising a three-year PDRA position in organometallic chemistry. Come and work with us @imperialchemistry.bsky.social: www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
Description
Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...
www.imperial.ac.uk
January 16, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
kylegpearce.bsky.social
The Main Group Committee is looking for nominations for the RSC Main Group PhD Lectureship Prize (@rsc.org). Both Self and External Nominations welcome. Extra details provided on the flyer below:
January 14, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
profrachelgan.bsky.social
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
Dear Sir Paul, Re: Royal Society Code of Conduct I am sure that many scientists have written to you about the specific question of Elon Musk’s Fellowship and whether, under the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct, his retaining that Fellowship is appropriate. I will not rehash these issues. Instead, as a female scientist with extensive experience of activities aiming to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the engineering and physical sciences sector, I am writing to you (in a personal capacity) to ask you to reconsider the statements you have recently made in this context to the UK press about the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct and how it is applied. A 2018 report from the joint National Academies of the United States of America, concluded that “sexual harassment is common in academic science, engineering, and medicine” and that “greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia”. This report described codes of conduct that make clear that sexual harassment is unethical and will not be tolerated as a “powerful incentive for change”. The authors also noted that sexual harassment can have significant and damaging effects on the integrity of research. In my own praxis, I have found that clear and consistently-implemented codes of conduct that address these issues make female scientists and engineers safer, and allow them to focus more effectively on their research. For codes of conduct to have such a positive effect, it is vital that sanctions for actions which transgress the code are meaningful and substantial. I was hence aghast to realise that in an interview with the Financial Times published on 9/1/26, you appear to have suggested that the Royal Society “should only expel fellows if their science proved “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective””. Moreover, in a further interview with the Guardian on 11/1/26 you suggested that the code “may need to be looked at again”, with the implication that your aim would be to remove the option of sanctions on Fellows for reasons not strictly related to faults or defects in their research. I suggest that changing the Royal Society’s code of conduct so that the likelihood of serious sanctions for sexual harassment is reduced, would directly endanger women who interact with the Royal Society at events or otherwise, and would provide a licence to harass to the already powerful people on whom the Society bestows fellowship. The implications of your words - that under your leadership the only infringements of the code which are likely to receive the sanction of the Fellowship being removed are those related to research misconduct - already risk empowering harassers. You stated, in the Financial Times interview, that “there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances”. Given this awareness of the possibility of bad actors in our scientific community, it is wholly irresponsible to suggest that the Royal Society would not act to sanction these people if they harass more vulnerable scientists. I am hence writing to request that you retract any suggestion that the Society’s Code of Conduct should be changed so that the only reason a Fellow might be sanctioned by the removal of their Fellowship is “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective” research. This action is necessary to safeguard female scientists, a requirement placed on the Society by safeguarding legislation and UK statutory guidance. Yours sincerely, Professor Rachel A. Oliver.
January 12, 2026 at 8:59 AM
michaeloneill.org
**New blog post** I have taken over running the RSC Higher Education Group Network meetings. This post describes the direction of travel and details for signing up. www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2026/1/14/the-rsc-higher-education-group-network
The RSC Higher Education Group Network — Michael O'Neill
I have taken over organising the RSC Higher Education Group (HEG) Network meetings from Jenny Burnham, who has made an enormous contribution to our community through establishing and arranging the Net...
www.michaeloneill.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:06 AM
michaeloneill.org
Maybe the real curriculum review is the friends we made along the way
January 10, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Michael O’Neill
josefboronski.bsky.social
The group will soon be advertising a 3-year PDRA position @imperialchemistry.bsky.social. The successful candidate will research the synthesis and reactivity of complexes with alkaline earth-metal bonds. Start date: 03/26. Please get in touch for infomal inquries.
January 8, 2026 at 3:26 PM
michaeloneill.org
I used to teach here, and find this very sad.

The targeting seems to be about subjects which are increasingly hard to sustain in state education (classics, languages, music), which is not a good sign for these disciplines. www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Cambridge college to target elite private schools for student recruitment
Exclusive: Trinity Hall’s new policy described as a ‘slap in the face’ for state-educated students
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:22 PM
michaeloneill.org
Imagine being an academic before emails and you come back after Christmas and there is a tiny bundle of post for you.
January 5, 2026 at 8:51 AM
michaeloneill.org
Lots of people are surprised at how wide the ceramics industry is.

Many smart materials are ceramics designed and made in Britain. These are often high-margin products developed to address urgent challenges like climate change. 1/2
green-alliance.org.uk Green Alliance @green-alliance.org.uk · Dec 29
🏺 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴 | Cracks are showing in Britain’s ceramics industry, with thousands of jobs and a cornerstone of British manufacturing at risk.

But the decline isn’t inevitable. In this joint briefing with TUC and GMB, we set out a clear roadmap to protect jobs and futureproof this vital industry.
Save British ceramics: policy priorities to rebuild a modern, low carbon industry
This briefing was written in collaboration with GMB Union and the Trades Union Congress
buff.ly
December 30, 2025 at 10:01 AM
michaeloneill.org
*substituting parsley for cumin in an Ottolenghi recipe* 🎶no-one cooks like Gaston 🎶
December 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
michaeloneill.org
Cambridge have done a 2-page spread on their curriculum review progress, which is good. Exciting to see both immediate concrete changes and thoughtful ambitions for the longer term. But also good to see UG teaching featured so prominently in their external communications.
Magazine article Titled “Cambridge's new chemist curriculum: a catalyst for change”
December 22, 2025 at 7:29 PM
michaeloneill.org
Have started my break and am now chomping through Wolf Hall. The hype is all true - it’s *really* well written.
Front cover of the book Wolf Hall.
December 19, 2025 at 12:14 PM