Link to original article form Richie Kirwin www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

But I must thank Joe Wicks because this is going to make a great case study for discussion with our PhD students in @tcddublin.bsky.social for my Science Communication module!

There’s already a name for it which is a play on the original use of “MAD”… Model Autophagy Disorder (MAD) arxiv.org/abs/2307.01850

Absolutely - but my main issue is what the cold spots implies when used without context…. “If only a uni closer to them did the course they wanted, they would do it”… it ignores the institutional, class and generational barriers to higher Ed & certain subjects. Accessibility is not just geography

So even though there is a great chemistry course only 30mins from me, it’s completely inaccessible without a car. So the only realistic option for a student from a low-income background is the 4 hour daily commute on the bus to Dublin…

Basically it doesn’t matter where you live or how far, but are the supports in place to make it accessible? I live 30mins drive from a Uni, but there’s no public transport options there from where I live (i.e. you need a car), yet there is a regular bus option to all the Dublin universities (2hrs!)

Closures are terrible and accessibility to courses are affected and should be highlighted - but I’m not sure if “commutable distance” is a great way of highlighting this when many people commute long distances already. Feels like a bit like an ivory tower way of looking at it

Oh thank you, the @rsc.org have also used the term “cold spots” and I was curious if it’s a term that has been defined or not. I guess “commutable distance” can be very subjective

We presented two posters, one about the public engagement aspect of our hugely successful @researchireland.ie Discover project (Current Chemistry Investigators) and the other about our training programme for our PhD’s at Trinity #Vicephec25 #SciComm #ChemEd #ChemEPE #ChemSky