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Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1.2K following 610 posts

Sociologist at Utrecht University, NL, studying cooperation, trust, social networks, social media, platform economy, using computational social science and experimental methods. I mostly follow academics.
Also: @[email protected]

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Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · Oct 10

WORK! At Utrecht University (@utrechtuniversity.bsky.social) We're recruiting a PhD student in experimental sociology! More info: www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

PhD Position in Experimental Sociology

Do you want to apply innovative methods to study fundamental sociological questions?

www.uu.nl

Reposted by Rense Corten 🟥

jamelle

@jamellebouie.net

it is almost as if accommodating and conceding to far right ideas legitimizes them and signals to voters that the far right is a legitimate choice for governance

Mark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 1d

The Danish Social Democrats are currently on course for their worst election result since at least the Second World War, despite their brand of far-right accommodationism being touted as a blueprint for other centre-left parties.

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 1d

November 18, 2025 at 2:24 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

This is a very interesting paper but the empirical evidence presented for an increase in connectivity (in their Fig. 1E) is rather problematic. A little thread 👇(1/7):

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 12d

Is it possible that social media, which promised to connect the world, instead increased polarization? A model of human social dynamics predicts a sharp transition into a polarized state above a certain threshold of social connectivity. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Gym350XnNW8

Conceptual image showing a hand reaching out to a network of people icons. Stock photo.

November 18, 2025 at 11:18 AM

Reposted by Rense Corten 🟥

ODISSEI

@odissei.bsky.social

Kiesraad published a pre-release of the 2025 election results, but the data isn't analysis-friendly.

Our @odissei-soda.bsky.social team turned it into an easy-to-use database for researchers. It’s open data and ready to explore. Download & code 👉 github.com/sodascience/...

November 17, 2025 at 11:51 AM

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Silke Schneider

@silkelschneider.bsky.social

Job Opportunity! We're looking for a post-doc or late doc to join our team at @gesis.org and @konsortswd.bsky.social (hi @nfdi.de)! You'll work on enhancing comparability of German survey data across projects & disciplines. Strong German skills & interest in social structure required. Check it out:

Details

GESIS Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften

www.gesis.org

November 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM

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Mark A. Hanson

@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

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Rashmi Sasidharan

@rsasidharan.bsky.social

Registration is now open for the 2026 edition of our UU PhD summer school. Check out the not-to-be-missed speaker lineup 🤩🤩 signup now!! @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social @utrechtpmi.bsky.social @epsgraduateschool.bsky.social @rlberendsen.bsky.social @mproveniers.bsky.social @kaisakajala.bsky.social

UU Plants @uuplants.bsky.social · 7d

We are beyond excited to reveal the full line-up for our Environmental Signaling in Plants summer school 2026!

Registration is now open here eps.sites.uu.nl - we look forward to seeing you in Utrecht on 24th-26th August!

13th Utrecht PhD Summer School
Environmental Signaling in Plants
Aug 24-26 2026
Speakers: Laura Ragni, Roeland Berendsen, Mariana Silva Artur, Matthew Paul, Ari Sadanandom, Beatrice Giuntoli, Bruno Guillotin, Priya Ramakrishna, Caroline Gutjahr, Niko Geldner, Laura Bacete and Marcel Beukeboom.

November 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Et tu, Cornell?

November 8, 2025 at 11:05 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

One of the greatest challenges of attending conferences (for me) is finding the time to properly process my notes afterwards

November 7, 2025 at 9:28 AM

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John Holbein

@johnholbein1.bsky.social

Look at the distribution of z-values from medical research!

November 4, 2025 at 10:36 PM

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Herman van de Werfhorst 🟥

@hermwerf.bsky.social

Job! A vacancy at the @eui-eu.bsky.social for a postdoc joining the @learnineq.bsky.social project, for 13 months, starting mid January. We study inequalities in school careers, and we engage with policy makers. The vacancy is here, please forward. DEADLINE 24 NOVEMBER. www.eui.eu/Documents/Se...

November 5, 2025 at 6:11 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Ik ben ook wel eens sceptisch over de vele bijzondere leerstoelen, maar de suggestie van Peter de Waard in de @volkskrant.nl dat hoogleraren na een belletje van een nieuwsrubriek een "factuurtje mogen schrijven" lijkt me grote onzin. Een factuurtje aan wie dan? www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-...

Mogen hoogleraren Bohemian Rhapsody rustig staken?

www.volkskrant.nl

November 5, 2025 at 9:39 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Milieudefensie, Urgenda, het Samenwerkingsverband van Marokkaanse Nederlanders, en WO=MEN: Volgens Yvonne Hofs in de @volkskrant.nl allemaal "linkse organisaties". Wie opkomt voor het milieu of vrouwenrechten of zelfs maar tot een minderheid behoort is blijkbaar per definitie links tegenwoordig

November 1, 2025 at 8:34 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Geert Wilders, the far right leader in the Netherlands who's party lost considerably and is now is the second party by a small margin, is now spreading (false) rumors about election fraud, straight from the Trump playbook. Just as a reminder that what happens in the US has impact elsewhere

October 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM

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Eileen Clancy 🧿

@clancyny.bsky.social

A Nature poll found that 75% of U.S. researchers are considering leaving the country.

Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'

A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...

www.pbs.org

October 31, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Recognizing talent is an underrated academic skill

October 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM

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Cas Mudde

@casmudde.bsky.social

On the “defeat” of the far right in the Netherlands 🇳🇱

The total number of far-right seats in the Tweede Kamer:

2021: 28
2023: 41
2025: 42 👈

And I don’t even count BBB here, which has radicalized significantly in the last year.

October 30, 2025 at 1:24 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

De politicologen worden blijkbaar almaar militanter. Wordt het tijd dat we ook gaan nadenken over een sociologenleger?

Simon ter Horst @simontweetniet.bsky.social · 20d

Fijn commentaar van jou vandaag op de radio. Nederland mag trots zijn op z'n politicologenleger.

October 30, 2025 at 11:51 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Ik wacht nog even met opgelucht ademhalen als je het goed vindt. D66 staat niet bekend om hun ruggengraat

ScienceGuide @scienceguide.bsky.social · 20d

Het hoger onderwijs kan even opgelucht ademhalen nu D66, naast de PVV, de grootste partij van Nederland is geworden. D66 heeft immers onlangs beloofd dat er onder geen beding zal worden bezuinigd op onderwijs in een kabinet waarvan de partij deel uitmaakt.

D66 grote winnaar, maar koers voor hoger onderwijs blijft ongewis - ScienceGuide

Met wie D66 de belofte om niet te bezuinigen op onderwijs gestand kan doen, werd in de loop van de nacht onzekerder.

www.scienceguide.nl

October 30, 2025 at 8:10 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Mag Sigrid Kaag Frans Timmermans opvolgen? 🙏

Nadia Bouras @nadiabouras.bsky.social · 20d

Hoe het begon in 2023: zoete wraak.

October 30, 2025 at 8:03 AM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Exit polls for the Dutch general elections: the Left has never been smaller (says @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social)

October 29, 2025 at 8:45 PM

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

Zal je zien dat D66 straks toch gewoon weer in een rechts kabinet gaat zitten

October 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM

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Jana Lasser

@janalasser.bsky.social

My lab is looking for a Senior Scientist (= PostDoc with option of permanency)!

We are looking for someone interested in doing cutting-edge computational social science + helping us with data & software engineering 🤓.

See job ad for details jobs.uni-graz.at/en/jobs/7d14...

Universität Graz

jobs.uni-graz.at

October 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM

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Kustaw Bessems

@kustaw.bsky.social

Wat goed dat @nu.nl vanochtend, een dag voor de verkiezingen, zelf durft te agenderen en opent met een superbelangrijk thema waar het in de verkiezingen weinig over gaat:

www.nu.nl/tech/6373853...