Man in a business suit sitting at a desk in front of a laptop with his hands in the air in frustration looking really exasperated

Does keeping up with REF requirements have you feeling like FrustratedOfficeWorker.jpg?
Join our ExplORe Session tomorrow at 11:30 for a simple explainer on what you need to do to make your work REF-eligible. It's a 15-minute session with Q&A. Sign up on coursebooking: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebookin...

And for researchers, remember that outlets like @theconversation.com can help you share your research with the general public, increasing it's reach and social impact.

Exams coming up? Use the science of memory to improve how you revise Use stories, rhymes and acronyms that catch your imagination.

Students are coming back from holiday today and we'll soon be in the Exams period. To help you revise effectively, check out this article from The Conversation on what cognitive science tells us about how to revise theconversation.com/exams-coming...

Yesterday humanity went out the farthest from Earth we've ever been. Accomplishing this required huge numbers of researchers to collaborate on a shared goal. It's a beautiful reminder of what we can accomplish when we work together and share knowledge.
What's the 'moon shoot' in your field?

📢Coming up: Social Media for Researchers Training.

If you're a researcher looking to improve your #scicomm skills and boost your impact check out this course offered through our Research and Innovation team and conducted by @jamiebgall.co.uk
Book on coursebooking: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebookin...

If you're struggling to balance motherhood and your academic career, reach out for support. Talk to other mothers in your field, and consider joining the Women's Development Network abdn.site/wdn or speaking to your school EDI lead. Also consider following the work of @mothersinsci.bsky.social

A woman in graduation regalia, including a grey master's hood is holding a toddler in her arms and smiling, they are standing in front of a rhododendron bush in bud. Image by The Kids and Kahlie via flickr, CC BY_NC_ND

For Mother's Day, we're thinking about how to enable mothers to thrive in research. Research by the NGO @mothersinsci.bsky.social found that a third of mothers leave science after having children, due to factors such as gender inequality in child-rearing and lack of accommodation by employers.

This could be an incredible opportunity for a student or ECR interested in writing for a general audience. The award includes a £2,000 bursary and mentorship including publishing support #ScienceCommunication

h/t @jessbutler.bsky.social

If you're around Edinburgh, be sure and check out our fearless leader Simon Bains, talking about openness in the Arts and Humanities, all part of Scottish Research Integrity and Culture Week!

Do you still need costume ideas for World Book Day, because our friends at AUP have options!
Or, if you have enough silver glitter, you could always dress up as #DiamondOpenAccess

Logo for Scottish Research Integrity and Culture Week, featuring a map of Scotland showing all the universities joined up as dots on the map

Scottish #ResearchIntegrity and Culture Week is finally here! 🎉
Check out the full list of events happening throughout Scotland, both in-person and online, here www.sricw.co.uk/programme

After all of the talks yesterday at the #CopimConference about the importance of accessibility, this feels like great timing

A little black cat stands politely next to a lap desk

Who's going to the #CopimConference today? We've got a few people down in London -- including our fearless leader @simonjbains.bsky.social who will be speaking about our Thesis preservation project -- but most of us are joining from home. We'll miss meeting colleagues, but there are some advantages😉

Improving research culture will require us to consider some bold ideas, perhaps even a Conference Timekeeping Bear.

What's your big idea for research culture?

ARL Libraries Love Data Week — Association of Research Libraries During Love Data Week, the international celebration of data focuses on building and engaging community around good data practice. ARL member libraries are enthusiastic supporters of Love Data Week—se...

Check out the amazing things ARL member libraries have been doing for #LoveDataWeek!

www.arl.org/blog/arl-lib...

#DataScience #DataViz #OpenData #Research #Libraries #LoveData26

This looks like it should be a great event, and we appreciate you making it hybrid so we all can come 😊 Especially looking forward to the keynotes!

UoA researchers, be sure to check out the list for events relevant to your work!

Underground sensors assess Aberdeen's geothermal energy potential The data will be used to build a 3D map of granite lying deep beneath the city.

Today for #LoveDataWeek we're asking what can you do with large datasets? Well, a team a geologists at Aberdeen, led by @seismoamy.bsky.social have started a massive data gathering project aimed at finding effective spots for generating sustainable geothermal heat in the city abdn.site/GTheat

graphic reading 'Love Data Week: February 9-13, 2026' written in tones or red and pink with the o replaced with a pixelated heart

It's #LoveDataWeek and things are heating up with interesting events that you can log into from anywhere. We wanted to highlight talks hosted by @unisouthampton.bsky.social this week, starting this afternoon with friends from @glasgow.ac.uk about their new Petabyte storage system abdn.site/XY0B7

Graphic reading 'Save the Date! Love Data Week February 9-13, 2026' Graphic by the ICPSR re-used with permission

Next week we're celebrating International Love Data Week! This year's theme is 'Where's the Data?' so we'll be thinking about long term digital preservation and repository security.
We'll be posting more next week, but see the official Love Data week site for events and resources abdn.site/3DTA

Logo for Scottish Research Integrity and Culture Week, featuring a map of Scotland showing all the universities joined up as dots on the map

Have you heard? Scottish Research Integrity & Culture Week is less than a month away! Events will take place both all over Scotland and online and will discuss research ethics, open research, career development, and more! Register now!
abdn-research-integrity-and-culture-week.eventsair.site

A large industrial tube filled with diamonds suspended in clear liquid image by Globefill Inc., CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Would you like to publish in or otherwise support the work of Diamond Open Access journals? Check out the Diamond Discovery Hub created by @craft-oa.bsky.social and launched last October. It has a huge listing of journals and an easy search function ddh.diamas.org/en

A young woman is taking notes while watching a lecture on her computer Photo by Annushka Ahuja: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-attending-an-online-class-8055848/

A new term has begun! Check out our guide to finding Open Access resources for help finding teaching materials that will be affordable and accessible to all your students, even online students working from abroad who may not be able to use all e-resources licensed by the university
abdn.site/x8qKf

Two friends laughing and holding onto each other, standing in from of a white aluminum christmas tree with a santa hat on top Photo by Boko Shots: https://www.pexels.com/photo/joyful-friends-celebrating-christmas-indoors-29930171/

On the last day before break our OA community gave to us: a wonderful community!
Thanks to everyone who participates in this endeavour of trying to make the world of research dissemination more open, fair, equitable, and human-centered. It isn't always easy, but it's always better in community🥰

Publisher Agreements | Library | The University of Aberdeen Open Research

On the 2nd day before break the OA community gave to us: our new SciFree Journal Search Tool!
This makes it much easier for authors to figure out which journals they can publish in at no cost, even if they don't have funding. Try it out now!

UKRI developing new research data policy framework New pan-UKRI research data policy framework will maximise the value of data arising from UKRI funding and support an open research and innovation culture.

On the 3rd day before break the OA community gave to us: a brand new draft policy for open data from @ukri.org ! This policy will help support researchers making their data open and incorporating FAIR principles into their data management!

Surges in Party Membership | The SNP and Scottish Greens after the Ind This book presents a comprehensive analysis of a remarkable and unexpected outcome of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. Despite defeat in the

Surges in Party Membership: The SNP and Scottish Greens after doi.org/10.4324/9780...
Narrative Objects: Museums, the Sakha Summer Festival, and Cultural Revival in Siberia doi.org/10.4324/9780...
On encountering and holding Reindeer in the Convivial North: www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-...

A black and white cat is climbing over stacks of books Photo by Arti Kh: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cat-climbing-a-stack-of-books-22129776/

On the 4th day before break the OA community gave to us: the @ukri.org Open Access Fund for Books!
This funding has dramatically improved many author's ability to publish their books open access. At UoA we've had 2 books and one chapter published through this funding!

A lego guy who looks like a stereotypical lab scientist standing in front of some kind of fancy computer terminal. The image is labelled 'Mad Social Scientist' and the chat bubble reads 'When I push this button the median income for Americans age 17-35 will increase 15% in fiscal year 2020!' Image is by Chris Blakeley, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

On the 5th day before break the OA community gave to us: the launch of the @morphss.bsky.social project!
MORPHSS is working to push forward open research in the humanities and social sciences by understanding the unique needs of that community, and we can't wait to see what they accomplish!

A pumpkin carved with skeleton hands forming a heart symbol. Meghan Wilson via Liverpool John Moore's University

On the 6th day before break the OA community gave to us: the sheer joy of seeing our 'Carve your PhD contest spread to new institutions! We were thrilled to see all the contestants (and glorious champion) from @ljmuresearch.bsky.social and hope to see even more get in on the fun next year!

The strain on scientific publishing Abstract. Scientists are increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of articles being published. The total number of articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science has grown exponentially in recent years;…

On the 7th day before break, the OA community gave to us: Landmark research into the state of academic publishing. @hansonmark.bsky.social & team produced two papers: 'The Strain/Drain on Scientific Publishing' demonstrating the challenges we face
doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
doi.org/10.48550/arX...