Marko Hyvönen
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markohyvonen.bsky.social
Marko Hyvönen
@markohyvonen.bsky.social
510 followers 610 following 46 posts
Protein jockey at University of Cambridge, CSO at Qkine, Professor Visitante at USP.
Cyclist.
https://hyvonen.bioc.cam.ac.uk
Posts Replies Media Videos
markohyvonen.bsky.social
Congrats @emmabelcher96.bsky.social for a job superbly done! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Challenging and exciting project, tackled with skill and determination. What more can one hope for? 🙏🏻👍🏻
emmabelcher96.bsky.social Emma Belcher @emmabelcher96.bsky.social · 1d
I had a great experience defending my PhD thesis last week! Thank you to my examiners, @torilhol.bsky.social and Daniel Nietlispach, for a fun viva discussion. Thanks to my AZ supervisor, Taiana Maia de Oliveira, and, of course, bossman @markohyvonen.bsky.social 🫡
November 24, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
dryvonnecouch.bsky.social
👇👇👇👇👇
pematson.bsky.social TrishEM @pematson.bsky.social · 4d
Google has started automatically opting you in to let it read your stuff to train AI. You need to turn this off in SEVERAL places in your settings (not just for Gmail), if you want to maintain privacy and confidentiality.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Gmail can read your emails and attachments to train its AI, unless you opt out
A new Gmail update may allow Google to use your private messages and attachments for AI training. Here's how to turn it off.
www.malwarebytes.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
paolocrosetto.bsky.social
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.

It's *scientific publishing*.

We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.

Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...

Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 AM
markohyvonen.bsky.social
Cambridge Amgen Scholars Programme 2026 is now open. Great opportunity for undergrad students from UK and Europe to join Cambridge labs.
Happy hear from anyone interested in joining our group at @cambiochem.bsky.social
amgenscholars.bio.cam.ac.uk
Home | Amgen Scholars Programme
amgenscholars.bio.cam.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
henrikstrahl.bsky.social
Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026.

This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
jburnmurdoch.ft.com
NEW from me:

Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.

That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀
October 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
torilhol.bsky.social
📣 Save the date 📣
The next FASEB Science Research Conference on TGF-β Family in Development and Disease will take place:
July 26-30, 2026 in Porto, Portugal!
@faseborg.bsky.social
With Mythreye Karthikeyan @mythreye.bsky.social, Rosemary Akhurst and Andrew Hinck

web.cvent.com/event/af5f6d...
Flyer for a conference
August 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
kamounlab.bsky.social
We just published: Why you should sequence your plasmids (and how to do it for free)

Through @GetGenome scientists in 100 countries can access free whole-plasmid sequencing —giving researchers the confidence to move their experiments forward.

medium.com/p/why-you-sh...
Why you should sequence your plasmids (and how to do it for free)
Through GetGenome, scientists in 100 countries can access free whole-plasmid sequencing — removing barriers, improving quality control…
medium.com
August 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
johnholbein1.bsky.social
truth
August 7, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
hansonmark.bsky.social
The "reproducibility crisis" in science constantly makes headlines. Repro efforts are often limited. What if you could assess reproducibility of an entire field?

That's what @brunolemaitre.bsky.social et al. have done. Fly immunity is highly replicable & offers lessons for #metascience

A 🧵 1/n
July 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
cambiochem.bsky.social
The Bornelöv Group is seeking a Research Assistant to work on gene regulation using deep learning. This is an exciting opportunity to use AI-based methods to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind mRNA processing and fate. Apply here by 8 July 2025: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51812/
June 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
fbldconference.bsky.social
FBLD 2025 | Final Call for Abstract Submissions!
Abstract submissions close this Friday, 27 June 2025.
Don't miss your chance to share your research with global experts at FBLD 2025. For more information go to: fbldconference.org/2025-abstrac...
June 23, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
ianwalker.bsky.social
I'm on BBC World Service later discussing how we're not going to get people cycling more just by encouraging them. I've not heard the edit, but hopefully they've used lots of the footage of me slagging off Swansea's car-first infrastructure as we cycled through the city www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
BBC World Service - CrowdScience, How can we persuade more people to cycle?
Can behavioural science help listener Hans with his aim to get more people on bikes?
www.bbc.co.uk
June 20, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
deevybee.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/8778...
Kudos to Andrea Sella for taking a stand against @royalsociety.org’s inaction over Elon Musk FRS
Royal Society prize winner returns award in protest over Elon Musk
Andrea Sella is latest scientist to express dismay over UK science academy’s refusal to criticise tech billionaire
www.ft.com
June 10, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
cyrilpedia.bsky.social
“The visa fees are so exceedingly high that it makes coming here very difficult for some people. We are fishing for the best scientists in the world. They want to come and work here because we are such an effective country at science, but if we have these high costs, they can and will go elsewhere.”
Is the UK paying the price for world’s most expensive visas? | The Observer
Competing political and economic goals on immigration are resulting in the loss of valuable skills and talent in the UK
observer.co.uk
May 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM
markohyvonen.bsky.social
This 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 is so frustrating.
Write to your MPs and make them listen.
Object to these ridiculous costs.
Object to the language they use on immigrants.
Promote the value we bring as fully fledged members of the society.
Island of strangers, my arse.
cyrilpedia.bsky.social Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · May 12
"Researchers recruited to work in the UK have to fund a £1,035 annual immigration health surcharge, which must be paid in full in advance, as well as up to £1,519 in visa fees. For a family of four, the upfront costs can total almost £30,000."
cyrilpedia.bsky.social Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · May 12
“The visa fees are so exceedingly high that it makes coming here very difficult for some people. We are fishing for the best scientists in the world. They want to come and work here because we are such an effective country at science, but if we have these high costs, they can and will go elsewhere.”
May 12, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
tanjabueltmann.net
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame! I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one. I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong. Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean? Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens. This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way. You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces. What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly. The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. Tanja Bueltmann
May 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
markohyvonen.bsky.social
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is bioRxiv search down? Don't seem to get hits with any searches, incl in advanced mode.
May 4, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
atinygreencell.bsky.social
I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.

Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design

Please repost for reach 💚
May 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
markohyvonen.bsky.social
Join us in Cambridge in September for the latest in fragment-based lead discovery 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
#FBLD2025
fbldconference.bsky.social FBLDConference @fbldconference.bsky.social · Apr 28
Do you want to learn more about ultrafast NMR to boost FBLD? Then register for FBLD 2025 to get a chance to talk to Félix Torres Hubiche from NexMR AG. We are delighted to welcome Félix as an invited speaker at our conference.
Register & submit abstract: fbldconference.org
@markohyvonen.bsky.social
April 28, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
surfinnurd.bsky.social
Pedestrians killed by car drivers in UK annually: >400
Cyclists killed by car drivers in UK annually: >100
Pedestrians killed by cyclists in UK annually: <3

So which of these is the most scary and worthy of more laws?

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England and Wales
Reckless cycling is currently prosecuted under legislation from the 1860s, with a maximum two-year jail sentence
www.theguardian.com
April 25, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
hetanshah.bsky.social
Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
"The UK's upfront immigration costs now vastly exceed other leading research nations, so the UK is struggling to compete. EU countries can more easily attract talent from the EU due to free movement, and from non-EU countries due to their relatively low visa costs. "Non-EU countries are also attractive to global research talent due to lower comparative immigration costs than the UK." British scientific institutions are having to spend huge sums on visa costs for cancer professionals they wish to attract and recruit. The Francis Crick Institute, one of the world's leading biomedical research centres, is now spending more than £500,000 a year on visas for cancer scientists. Cancer Research UK institutes are spending almost £690,000 a year, up 44% from £470,000 in 2022-23.
April 22, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Reposted by Marko Hyvönen
fredy-gueiros.bsky.social
My lab and Chuck Farah's at the University of São Paulo (USP) are seeking a postdoc to join an exciting project focused on applying structural biology to novel and unexplored targets in antibiotic discovery.
April 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM