Ven Popov
@venpopov.bsky.social
I build mathematical models to understand cognition and behavior. Care about history and philosophy of science.
Tenured Senior Scientist, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
https://venpopov.com
Tenured Senior Scientist, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
https://venpopov.com
When he asked me, he was fascinated, but couldn't give an example. Next class he began "I looked into it. Here are some examples in psychology!" For the rest of the semester he loved saying "and as we know this finds uses in fields as unexpected as psychology" and then look at me conspiratorially
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
When he asked me, he was fascinated, but couldn't give an example. Next class he began "I looked into it. Here are some examples in psychology!" For the rest of the semester he loved saying "and as we know this finds uses in fields as unexpected as psychology" and then look at me conspiratorially
3) The professor who taught Analysis really liked to emphasize the practical usefulness of Calculus. In one of the first lectures he asked each student what their major is (it was a small class with ~20 students), and then gave an example of problems from that field that can be solved using Calculus
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
3) The professor who taught Analysis really liked to emphasize the practical usefulness of Calculus. In one of the first lectures he asked each student what their major is (it was a small class with ~20 students), and then gave an example of problems from that field that can be solved using Calculus
… I could only sign up for them as "independent study" on top of my existing course load. I had to fight the administration about this, and eventually, with a letter of support from one of my professors, they agreed to change the rules.
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
… I could only sign up for them as "independent study" on top of my existing course load. I had to fight the administration about this, and eventually, with a letter of support from one of my professors, they agreed to change the rules.
2) Even though it wasn't part of the curriculum, I signed up for two courses, Linear Algebra and Analysis. I was then "unsigned" because someone in the administration thought it was a mistake. Then it turned out that as a psychology major I couldn't choose math classes as my electives...
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
2) Even though it wasn't part of the curriculum, I signed up for two courses, Linear Algebra and Analysis. I was then "unsigned" because someone in the administration thought it was a mistake. Then it turned out that as a psychology major I couldn't choose math classes as my electives...
1) I went to a a high school famous in my country for being really math heavy. When I was accepted into a psychology bachelors program and met with the admissions officer for some documentation, she was really confused what I'm doing there and dryly noted "Didn't like the math, huh?"
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
1) I went to a a high school famous in my country for being really math heavy. When I was accepted into a psychology bachelors program and met with the admissions officer for some documentation, she was really confused what I'm doing there and dryly noted "Didn't like the math, huh?"
maybe I should bump it up my list (it was already pretty high)
November 13, 2025 at 9:25 AM
maybe I should bump it up my list (it was already pretty high)
But I don't have direct students to think about at the moment. Two years ago when I made the decision I had two papers under revision that were likely to be published. Those were hard to let go. I do run into the same issue when collaborating with colleagues on student-lead projects, though
November 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
But I don't have direct students to think about at the moment. Two years ago when I made the decision I had two papers under revision that were likely to be published. Those were hard to let go. I do run into the same issue when collaborating with colleagues on student-lead projects, though
That's a tough one. It's prisoner's dilema. If we all decided to stop publishing in for-profit and glam journals all at once, that would be the end of it. In the meantime, those of us who can afford it should do it. I do not impose my rules on collaborators, but I don't submit first-authored papers
November 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
That's a tough one. It's prisoner's dilema. If we all decided to stop publishing in for-profit and glam journals all at once, that would be the end of it. In the meantime, those of us who can afford it should do it. I do not impose my rules on collaborators, but I don't submit first-authored papers
that article is a treat. I also found this real photo of Elsevier execs
November 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM
that article is a treat. I also found this real photo of Elsevier execs
Progress is happening, for sure. And I'm not as naive as to think that we can do this wholesale in a day. The fixed point of this ugly attractor system driven by prestige is too strong. My hope is for an eventual phase change. But while actual change is likely step-wise, we need a clear rallying cry
November 12, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Progress is happening, for sure. And I'm not as naive as to think that we can do this wholesale in a day. The fixed point of this ugly attractor system driven by prestige is too strong. My hope is for an eventual phase change. But while actual change is likely step-wise, we need a clear rallying cry
Last year a bunch of us wrote about the issue of incentives and possible alternatives. I’m not in love with any of the options we reviewed but I *am* happy we were able to highlight major aspects of the problem in a highly visible space www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The misalignment of incentives in academic publishing and implications for journal reform | PNAS
For most researchers, academic publishing serves two goals that are often misaligned—knowledge
dissemination and establishing scientific credential...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Last year a bunch of us wrote about the issue of incentives and possible alternatives. I’m not in love with any of the options we reviewed but I *am* happy we were able to highlight major aspects of the problem in a highly visible space www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The academic publishing system is so rotten, it must be completely dismantled. Not partially, and not improved. Dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up.
When I tell non-academic friends how it all works they stare at me in disbelief. Not only that it exist, but that we still allow it to.
When I tell non-academic friends how it all works they stare at me in disbelief. Not only that it exist, but that we still allow it to.
November 12, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The academic publishing system is so rotten, it must be completely dismantled. Not partially, and not improved. Dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up.
When I tell non-academic friends how it all works they stare at me in disbelief. Not only that it exist, but that we still allow it to.
When I tell non-academic friends how it all works they stare at me in disbelief. Not only that it exist, but that we still allow it to.
hah, now it's all of them, single author or no. Even if you are 17th on a 30 author preprint, its quarantined. For a moment I wondered if it also flagged as spam any co-author's account as well, but thankfully the madness stopped short of it. It would have taken everything down due to network effect
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 AM
hah, now it's all of them, single author or no. Even if you are 17th on a 30 author preprint, its quarantined. For a moment I wondered if it also flagged as spam any co-author's account as well, but thankfully the madness stopped short of it. It would have taken everything down due to network effect
Last semester it was hard to find unified resources aimed at scientists rather than software devs, so ended up using bunch of individual resources for each lecture. I even toyed with the idea of writing a very similar textbook from lecture notes. Eager to see if yours will match the course intents!
November 11, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Last semester it was hard to find unified resources aimed at scientists rather than software devs, so ended up using bunch of individual resources for each lecture. I even toyed with the idea of writing a very similar textbook from lecture notes. Eager to see if yours will match the course intents!
I’m teaching “introduction to scientific computing“ in the spring and looks like the existing chapters already cover a lot of what I do in the class (this will be the 2nd iteration). The entire course philosophy is based around workflows and modern practices, so this might be a great resource!
November 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I’m teaching “introduction to scientific computing“ in the spring and looks like the existing chapters already cover a lot of what I do in the class (this will be the 2nd iteration). The entire course philosophy is based around workflows and modern practices, so this might be a great resource!
yeah I had assumed at least part of the sluggishness of OSF is server related, but it’s astonishing how much faster just removing all the frontend bloat makes it…
November 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
yeah I had assumed at least part of the sluggishness of OSF is server related, but it’s astonishing how much faster just removing all the frontend bloat makes it…
You are telling me you can load text on the web in less than a second in 2025? What is this sci-fi magic 🙄
November 10, 2025 at 12:58 PM
You are telling me you can load text on the web in less than a second in 2025? What is this sci-fi magic 🙄
it didn’t end up in the paper. It has non-trivial problems, though not unsolvable. Many things were cut and reorganized during revisions so maybe that discussion fell out (can’t quite remember - writing a paper either so many people is hard and messy!)
November 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
it didn’t end up in the paper. It has non-trivial problems, though not unsolvable. Many things were cut and reorganized during revisions so maybe that discussion fell out (can’t quite remember - writing a paper either so many people is hard and messy!)
I’m one of the authors and agree with this. I think most of the others would too. While I can’t speak for everyone, the dichotomy you mention is not something we endorsed, but you are right it’s implicit. I remember we had some internal discussions of post-publication commentary, not sure why…
November 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I’m one of the authors and agree with this. I think most of the others would too. While I can’t speak for everyone, the dichotomy you mention is not something we endorsed, but you are right it’s implicit. I remember we had some internal discussions of post-publication commentary, not sure why…
Aside from the critical failures, I always found it baffling everything was so slow and frustrating. The recent redesign ironically made everything worse. They are leaning into the worst tendencies of mdoern web dev. Sometimes simple is best. Arxiv and bioarxiv are so fast, snappy and reliable.
November 8, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Aside from the critical failures, I always found it baffling everything was so slow and frustrating. The recent redesign ironically made everything worse. They are leaning into the worst tendencies of mdoern web dev. Sometimes simple is best. Arxiv and bioarxiv are so fast, snappy and reliable.