Fintan Burke

@fintanburke.com

2001 Followers 702 Following

Irish science journalist in Hamburg | Outreach for @esci.eu | President @eusja.org Sé/é. Big fan of the en-dash. Signal: fintanburke.01

Screengrab from New Scientist. The headline reads "Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion." The subhead reads "An experiment with a toy universe made up of extremely cold atoms shows how time can emerge from quantum interactions, instead of existing by default."
Article with headline ‘Businesses hiring storytellers to 'cut through the AI slop’
An image macro of Gordon Ramsay from his television show Kitchen Nightmares in which he says, "Delicious. Finally, some good fucking food." The subtitle has been altered to read "Delicious. Finally, some Open Access."
A photo of Hamburg’s HafenCity district, with snow on the ground and patches of ice in the canal
A screenshot of the Merrion Webster Word of 2026 game, showing the result ‘mortifying’
Sad Pablo Escobar mem - a series of three-panel image macros featuring the character Pablo Escobar (played by Wagner Moura) from the Netflix series Narcos staring blankly in three different screen-captures from the series.
A view of an 18th century alleyway in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt
A photograph of Hamburg’s port in the background, with trees and park benches in the foreground.
Wesley Snipes in a scene from New Jack City tearfully pointing a gun at someone offscreen
Panorama view of Perugia, Italy.
A newsletter piece about a new dinosaur discovery. It explains the dinosaur type has two fingers instead of three. The headline reads 'New dino gives two fingers to the norm'
An academic journal called 'Scandinavian Journal of Pain'
Map of Europe showing the proportion of female researchers and engineers. Ireland has 48.6%. In 2023, women made up 52% of of the 78.3 million people employed in science and technology in the EU, only 41% of scientists and engineers are female. Denmark has the highest representation of female scientists and engineers with 50.8%, while Hungary has the lowest at 30.7%. Map from European Parliament.
Multiple intersecting Tain lines below a bridge. It’s frosty weather.
Following years of underfunding, Ireland is under-resourced relative to our ambitions in further and higher education and innovation. Funding for Research & Development (R&D) in this country has not recovered since the financial crash. There is a clear need for a larger role for the State in ensuring that a sufficient amount of the R&D that is vital to maintaining an innovation ecosystem is conducted. Higher Education institutions will be vital in delivering on this. How we structure and fund our higher and further education system will have a huge impact on how we fare in tackling the many challenges we face. In Government, the Social Democrats will: Increase total investment in R&D to 2.5 per cent of national income and increase investment in ‘basic’ research to balance applied research. ➢ Invest in a Research & Innovation transformation fund so that Technological Universities can meet research growth targets as set out in the TU Act. ➢ Introduce specific funding to support Technological Universities (TUs) as regional drivers of innovation and to engage with SMEs, MNCs and start-ups on innovation training and strategy development. ➢ Begin the process of creating a full university in the southeast of the country via the upgrading of the South East Technological University. ➢ Introduce targeted supports to enable SMEs to invest in innovation and productivity, including through the expansion of the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher Scheme with a supportive mentoring programme. ➢ Increase funding for apprenticeships through the National Training Fund. ➢ Resource the National Apprenticeship Office to drive the delivery of the Apprenticeship Action Plan, to bring strong alignment between training schemes and employment need. ➢ Make multi-annual investment in community education the norm, and reform financial supports aimed at – and develop more robust wraparound supports for – adult learners.
Despite commitments under Funding the Future and new funding from the NTF, the higher education sector has not been properly funded for the cost of public sector pay agreements and rising student numbers. Labour will allocate the proposed €150m a year from the NTF by 2030 earlier than planned. We will close the overall funding gap while ensuring that the costs of public service pay agreements are provided separately in annual funding and do not fall on HEIs as at present. We will also: » Bring spending per student up to the average of peer countries and align staffing ratios to best international practice, including the removal of the employment control framework to provide more local f lexibility. » Introduce a sectoral engagement forum and stronger dialogue between trade unions and HEIs to address terms and conditions including precarious employment and workforce planning. » Address the scourge of precarious employment and casualisation, which threatens to undermine the quality and stability of the sector, support pathways to permanent contracts, ensure fair and equitable working conditions and address gender inequalities within the academic workforce. » Allow Technological Universities to borrow to fund student accommodation.
• €1.2 billion on the retrofit of public buildings. • €200 million on energy efficiency measures for businesses. • €250 million to support the development of district heating. • €300 million to support a new biomethane industry. • €200 million for a programme of research and innovation for clean technologies. • €100 million for new infrastructure required for offshore wind and microgeneration.
According to a report published by the CSO in 2022, Ireland has one of the highest levels of third or tertiary level education qualifications amongst 25-34 year olds in the European Union (62% vs 41% EU average). However, the sector is currently facing significant challenges. Sinn Féin priorities Include: v The Free Fee scheme now exists in name only, with the Student Contribution Charge at €3,000 v The increasing cost of third level education for parents and students v The crisis of student accommodation, which is forcing students into long commutes, requiring individuals to often pay substantial sums on rent, and forcing others to decline or drop out of courses v The sector’s core funding deficit and recruitment restrictions (Employment Control Framework) The use of precarious employment contracts in the sector and the lack of a viable career path for many academic researchers v The need to increase the numbers of people training in certain professions - doctors and qualified tradespeople to deal with the health and housing crises, for example
Advancing Research, Innovation, and Science Fine Gael is committed to driving Ireland's global competitiveness, economic growth, and innovation through strategic investment in research, innovation, and science. Fine Gael will: • Establish a Research Infrastructure & Talent Fund This fund will maintain Ireland's g Obal competitiveness and stimulate growth across regions. • Invest in Irish Research with Taighde Éireann: We will promote and fund Taighde Éireann to support outstanding Irish research and innovation at home, In Europe, and global y • Raise Research Investment towards 2.5% of GNI: Increasing research funding will drive economic growth, create jobs, and strengthen Ireland's competitive edge, focusing on sectors like healthcare, climate, agri-food, digital innovation, and advanced manufacturing. • Strengthen Academia-Industry Partnerships: We will foster closer collaboration between educational Institutions and industry, formalising postdoctoral employment structures and funding graduate research programs to sustain economic growth
Increase funding for research and development in each budget based solely on excellence criteria and independent review. • Ensure that distinct funding programmes for research in the Humanities and Social Sciences are maintained. • Publish annual details of research funding - providing transparency on the areas funded, the division between basic and applied research and the number of researchers supported. target. • Strengthen all-island R&I collaborations and increase Co Centres Programme funding to €100 million for all-island R&I hubs. • Facilitate international researcher mobility through targeted visa programmes for non-EU countries to broaden expertise. • Scale up exchange programmes and secondments between academia and Government, to enhance policymaking. • Expand EU Research and Innovation Partnerships with Small and Medium sized businesses. • Maximise Horizon Europe engagement with a €1.5bn funding • Increase third-level places in the blue bioeconomy, renewable energy, and marine science to position Ireland as a leader in marine research
View from Hamburg train crossing the Elbe river
A wide shot of the Alster lake with a statue of thee boatmen to the right. It’s is grey and overcast.
An anthropomorphic taxidermied fox sitting on a chair with a thousand-yard stare.
Video from a window of a high speed train, showing fields passing by
An autumnal park with old trees and leaves on the ground
A view of leafy Janhannes Brahms Platz in Hamburg, showing an equestrian statue and come classical/neoclassical buildings. In the far background a massive radio tower is just visible behind the clouds.
Two characters from ‘The Umbrella Academy’ are in separate vehicles, driving past each other. Both look out their respective windows with surprised and slightly annoyed expressions, as if unexpectedly meeting someone they know but didn’t want to see.
Map of Dublin in the 15min-city platform, showing most areas of the city clouded in positive blue, with some peripheral areas coloured in red.
A peak from the Picos de Europa national park
View of Santander Bay
Frame form the movie ‘Amelie’, with subtitles for the narration saying “It's August 29th. In 48 hours, her life will change forever...”
The Bangalore outpost is the newest addition to a network of seven science galleries—in America, Australia, Britain, Germany, Mexico and, the first, in Ireland—whose purpose is to bring art and science together. All except India’s are sponsored by and located in universities, which are capable of throwing together researchers and experts from across disciplines.
Photo of an article in a printed magazine. The headline is “Pesta Porcinǎ Africanǎ în Europa”
Bluesky's content languages setting, selected to English, French and German
A canal on a sunny day. On one side is a modern looking theatre, while on the other is a white stepped plaza leading to the water. It’s all framed by foliage.
Browsing the lobbying register, the activity of data centre lobbyists is pronounced. If you’re looking for a quirk in terms of who’s attempting to counter this lobbying power, I give you: nuns. Sisters from the Sisters of Mercy and the Presentation Sisters have both attempted to highlight the negative consequences of the mass rollout of development of data centres in Ireland by writing to politicians. While I appreciate that nuns taking a stand against the data centre industry, its lobbyists, Big Tech, and the bold new age of AI, would make a great Erin Brockovich-style Netflix dramedy (and I’d happily write it), we will probably need more than climate-conscious sisters taking a stand.
A screenshot of my notifications icon showing 30+ alerts
Standing poster with the Transatlantic Big Science Conference ident
A wide angle view of the sunny Alster lake in Hamburg.
Exterior of the Uni Hamburg IHF building
Logo of the Transatlantic Big Science Conference, happening from 27-28 June in Berlin, Germany
Under the current funding model for universities, this is another vital support. Internationally, the third-level sector is largely funded by governments in countries like France and Germany and by business, rich graduates and stratospheric fees in the United States, where the big universities are effectively large corporations. Ireland has a kind of hybrid model, comprising direct State funding; indirect funding from the SFI and elsewhere for research, tuition charges; valuable fees from non-EU students; and other income – like rents for student accommodation, investment returns, donations and so on. For this reason, we should not be surprised that universities charge royally for accommodation, focus on getting in students from outside the EU at the expense of places for locals, try to maximise cash from opportunities like the Book of Kells, or twist and turn every way to try to get up the international rankings. It’s only business.
A pond in a park, with a willow tree dipping into the water. A small fountain is in the middle.
Professional Ethics Advice: Meta retained the services of Ethical Resolve, a data ethics firm that was consulted by both Meta and academic researchers at various stages of the project prior to implementation of the research to evaluate whether it met long-running traditions of research ethics as well as emerging norms and best practices for conducting digital research
A poorly-stuffed, anthropomorphic taxidermied fox sitting on a chair
May 13, 2024: America is a lonely country, planning for a human settlement on the moon, and brain worms around the world.
When invited to list the everyday behaviours that contribute to their carbon footprint, just one in 25 adults mentioned their diet. Any references to food were more likely to be about where it came from or how it was packaged than whether meals contain foods linked to high emissions, such as red meat.
On the left side is a still of the Barbie movie, showing the character smiling against a bright pink background. On the right side is a still from Oppenheimer, a close-up of the character looking sullen and depressed.
A canal surrounded by trees in bloom. A duck is swimming in the middle. A church steeple peeks behind the trees.
A dead crab on the footpath. It’s as big as a hockey puck.
A wooded area with the snow-covered alps in the distance
and her co-authors, participants were asked to watch dull, sad and neutral film clips and given the ability to self-administer electric shocks as they did so. Those watching monotonous films shocked themselves more often and at greater intensity. (Films by Wes Anderson were presumably too dangerous to be shown for this reason.)
The entrance sign to a town called No, in Denmark
A fisher wearing orange fishing gear reels in a fish while sitting on a boat in a wide body of water.
Still from video showing Édith Cresson
A view of Hamburg’s Alster lake. A tree’s branches are visible in the top-left.
Football coach Jose Mourinho ripping off a headset in apparent revulsion.
A top-down view of a baguette on a wooden chopping board. Its crust is dark and dusted with flour.
A shot of the final scene of the TV show Mad Men, showing Don Draper meditating with his eyes closed. Cliffs and the sea are in the background. He has a slight smile, feeling content.