Chris Hewson
@chrishewson.bsky.social
Head of Policy Engagement, University of Huddersfield; sociology PhD; advocate of knowledge exchange; co-chair Universities Policy Engagement Network; appreciator of reasonably priced fine wine; understander of the power of football to ruin your weekend.
Pinned
The idea that within a notoriously glacial system you can tinker - during the cycle no less - with a framework that rewards past performance, and hope that this leads to more strategic outcomes is... bold.
REF changes ‘to help deliver new UKRI objectives’, says Ian Chapman
National funding agency handed new targets tied to government priorities as part of R&D revamp
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
National funding agency handed new targets tied to government priorities as part of R&D revamp
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
REF changes ‘to help deliver new UKRI objectives’, says Chapman - Research Professional News
National funding agency handed new targets tied to government priorities as part of R&D revamp
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The idea that within a notoriously glacial system you can tinker - during the cycle no less - with a framework that rewards past performance, and hope that this leads to more strategic outcomes is... bold.
Streisand effect-tactular!
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Streisand effect-tactular!
Hooray, I've found the most depressing article of the year (spoiler: Ryanair didn't back down)
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
As a doctor I stepped in to tend to an elderly passenger … but it won’t waive £100 transfer fee to rebook
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Hooray, I've found the most depressing article of the year (spoiler: Ryanair didn't back down)
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Reposted by Chris Hewson
They remain the only government in my lifetime without a theory of how economic growth happens and a determination that it definitely not be through universities, immigration, high skilled services, tax simplification, trade relations etc
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
They remain the only government in my lifetime without a theory of how economic growth happens and a determination that it definitely not be through universities, immigration, high skilled services, tax simplification, trade relations etc
Reposted by Chris Hewson
This Labour government’s talent for punishing its own natural supporters without gaining any new ones is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in politics. What on earth are they smoking
November 23, 2025 at 10:57 PM
This Labour government’s talent for punishing its own natural supporters without gaining any new ones is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in politics. What on earth are they smoking
Reposted by Chris Hewson
To be clear, this is a tariff on our own exports.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
To be clear, this is a tariff on our own exports.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
"You see, I'm six-foot-one, and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a T
You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali, and I dress so viciously
I got bodyguards, I got two big cars that definitely ain't the wack
I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac."
You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali, and I dress so viciously
I got bodyguards, I got two big cars that definitely ain't the wack
I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac."
November 23, 2025 at 10:01 AM
"You see, I'm six-foot-one, and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a T
You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali, and I dress so viciously
I got bodyguards, I got two big cars that definitely ain't the wack
I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac."
You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali, and I dress so viciously
I got bodyguards, I got two big cars that definitely ain't the wack
I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac."
Reposted by Chris Hewson
It's going to be fascinating if Twitter gets properly regulated again and there are localised economic collapses because the rage farmers of developing countries lose their income.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:25 AM
It's going to be fascinating if Twitter gets properly regulated again and there are localised economic collapses because the rage farmers of developing countries lose their income.
Reposted by Chris Hewson
This sounds like the country’s worst minor league team
November 22, 2025 at 3:05 AM
This sounds like the country’s worst minor league team
*swaps word 'website' with 'thing'*
Every website is just actively, purposefully worse, isn’t it?
November 22, 2025 at 10:17 AM
*swaps word 'website' with 'thing'*
Reposted by Chris Hewson
Elon Musk spending billions of dollars to buy a social network to replicate what it's like to have friends who like you, and an AI to replicate what it's like to have a supportive father who praises you, only to have both consistently turn on him is Promethean torture if Prometheus had deserved it.
November 22, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Elon Musk spending billions of dollars to buy a social network to replicate what it's like to have friends who like you, and an AI to replicate what it's like to have a supportive father who praises you, only to have both consistently turn on him is Promethean torture if Prometheus had deserved it.
Fair play to the BBC for getting two references to Huddersfield into this article
www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
World Cup: Curacao become smallest nation to qualify for World Cup after Jamaica draw
Curacao have become the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup after drawing with Steve McClaren's Jamaica.
www.bbc.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Fair play to the BBC for getting two references to Huddersfield into this article
www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
I understand what the authors are trying to convey, but I think the landscape is much more nuanced (albeit no less problematic) than the one portrayed here. The key issue is that the R&I system systematically favours some forms of engagement and impact over others, with good work often 'crowded out'
Research assessment exercises have turned impact into a means to an end. Instead of writing a good story, do good work for genuine impact: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-get-fourstar-impact-case-study-stop-chasing-one #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky
How to get a four-star impact case study? Stop chasing one
Research assessment exercises have turned impact into a means to an end. Instead of writing a good story, do good work for genuine impact
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I understand what the authors are trying to convey, but I think the landscape is much more nuanced (albeit no less problematic) than the one portrayed here. The key issue is that the R&I system systematically favours some forms of engagement and impact over others, with good work often 'crowded out'
Reposted by Chris Hewson
Have it, Orbán, you snivelling Russian asset
Hungary 2 - [3] Ireland - Troy Parrott Hattrick 90+6'
USED TO BE COYS: PARROTT HATTRICK WINS THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
USED TO BE COYS: PARROTT HATTRICK WINS THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Video - f57847ea
Video was uploaded to Streamin.me on Nov 16, 2025.
streamin.me
November 16, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Have it, Orbán, you snivelling Russian asset
Some valuable points, framed in a way guaranteed to annoy potential allies in the struggle to rescue HE from crude instrumentalism.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
In defence of boredom – Why the social sciences need time to “waste” - Impact of Social Sciences
Why has boredom, or simply the opportunity to linger over research, become a key issue in shaping the kinds of knowledge academics produce?
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Some valuable points, framed in a way guaranteed to annoy potential allies in the struggle to rescue HE from crude instrumentalism.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Reposted by Chris Hewson
i feel sorry for former bbc employees who slag the bbc off in the papers, because it shows they don’t have any friends from when they worked there to vent to on whatsapp
November 15, 2025 at 11:49 AM
i feel sorry for former bbc employees who slag the bbc off in the papers, because it shows they don’t have any friends from when they worked there to vent to on whatsapp
Reposted by Chris Hewson
If you’re going to make your entire political pitch ‘only I can keep the bond market in check’, you sort of have to keep the bond market in check.
November 14, 2025 at 8:21 AM
If you’re going to make your entire political pitch ‘only I can keep the bond market in check’, you sort of have to keep the bond market in check.
Reposted by Chris Hewson
Turns out that bond markets think there should be more to fiscal policy than looking behind the sofa for loose change. Every day's a school day.
November 14, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Turns out that bond markets think there should be more to fiscal policy than looking behind the sofa for loose change. Every day's a school day.
"Supporters of the change say that the subsidies, which can be as high as £7,500, were largely going to middle-class households that could have afforded them anyway"
This seems to fundamentally misunderstand both consumer behaviour and what's ultimately at stake.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
This seems to fundamentally misunderstand both consumer behaviour and what's ultimately at stake.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:46 PM
"Supporters of the change say that the subsidies, which can be as high as £7,500, were largely going to middle-class households that could have afforded them anyway"
This seems to fundamentally misunderstand both consumer behaviour and what's ultimately at stake.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
This seems to fundamentally misunderstand both consumer behaviour and what's ultimately at stake.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Chris Hewson
I love those articles that are 'this thing that I am invested in happening, and I'm invested in you thinking will happen, will happen'. Every time a winner.
November 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I love those articles that are 'this thing that I am invested in happening, and I'm invested in you thinking will happen, will happen'. Every time a winner.
*coughs*
'higher education sector'
'higher education sector'
The BBC and Starmer’s Labour govt share much in common. They’re easily bullied and often afraid, as institutionalised too often are, of exercising their own power. They then appear weak and ineffectual. They’re judged against standards to which their critics would themselves would never adhere...
November 13, 2025 at 3:59 PM
*coughs*
'higher education sector'
'higher education sector'
Reposted by Chris Hewson
My theory: these people have driven themselves so mad that they are now so terrified of ethnic diversity that when he passes Brasserie Zedel and some tourists and two black people come out, what he sees are machete-wielding militiamen.
November 10, 2025 at 6:56 PM
My theory: these people have driven themselves so mad that they are now so terrified of ethnic diversity that when he passes Brasserie Zedel and some tourists and two black people come out, what he sees are machete-wielding militiamen.
Reposted by Chris Hewson
'we have created a youth wing and put Matt Goodwin in charge' is an idea so mesmerisingly bad that it approaches the level of art
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 AM
'we have created a youth wing and put Matt Goodwin in charge' is an idea so mesmerisingly bad that it approaches the level of art
Reposted by Chris Hewson
You can - *absolutely* - argue there are problems with the “reporting the truth” element in any news report and I will listen. But if you are telling me the BBC needs to be balanced in its reporting of global news, I need to ask you “why”? It never has been.
November 10, 2025 at 8:43 AM
You can - *absolutely* - argue there are problems with the “reporting the truth” element in any news report and I will listen. But if you are telling me the BBC needs to be balanced in its reporting of global news, I need to ask you “why”? It never has been.