Under Review

Welcome to another episode of Under Review, the podcast where we dare to imagine a better academia for everyone. In each episode, I give my guests the ultimate power to toss the most annoying, outdated, and useless parts of the academic system straight into the Under Review Bin, never to be seen again! In this episode, we are tackling a central piece of the academic ecosystem: conferences. Ideally...

In this episode of the Under Review podcast I am joined by Professor James Wilsdon for a deep dive into a crisis brewing at the intersection of generative artificial intelligence and academic survival. We  discuss the fine line between AI-driven efficiency and the exponential growth of research funding bids. We discuss whether we need to completely throw out traditional proposals in favour of trac...

Welcome to Under Review, the podcast where we stop tweaking the edges and start reimagining a future where things might actually work. I’m Andy Tattersall, and today, we aren't here to talk about incremental policy changes. We’re here to ask: What would we stay, what would we build from scratch, and what needs throwing into the Under Review rubbish bin? Joining me today is one of the sector’s...

Welcome to this episode of Under Review where I am joined by Professor Stephen Curry. Before taking retirement in late 2024, Stephen worked at Imperial for almost 30 years as a Professor of Structural Biology where he retained an Emeritus position. He continues to write about science and describes his area of expertise as figuring out the three-dimensional structures from biological molecules in a...

In this episode of Under Review I chat with Jason McDermott who is a senior research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he has spent over two decades working at the intersection of computer science and biology.  He is a leading expert in systems biology, and specialises in the use of computational models to understand how complex biological networks, such as the interactions...

In this episode of Under Review, I dive into a recent and thorny side of the academic ecosystem, that being AI hallucinations. While Large Language Models are revolutionising research, they are also ‘bullshitting’ their way into journals, fabricating references, and spreading like weeds through the publishing landscape. To get to the heart of the problem, I decided to put one of the perpetrators u...

The balance has finally tipped. As of early 2026, UK universities on X are now in the minority. In this Rapid Response episode, I dive into a dataset of nearly 500 academic organizations to track the mass tactical retreat from Elon Musk’s platform. While universities were the most reluctant to leave the party, the data shows the glow has finally faded. With 76 institutions now inactive and engagem...

My guest is Elisabeth Bik who is a microbiologist and scientific integrity consultant. Her work involves detecting and outing photo manipulation in scientific publications. This problem has become a rather big one in the world of research, not least since the introduction of generative AI into the world of academic publishing. Elisabeth’s journey into the murky world of academic malpractice starte...

Trailer for the forthcoming second edition of Under Review where renowned microbiologist and academic fraud investigator, Elisabeth Bik talks about how easy it has become to get fabricated images within academic papers through peer review and into journals. Using the example of the rat with the big testicles and penis, that was published in a Frontiers journal, highlighting the extent of the probl...

Academia has a 'wicked problem' - actually, it has several. Welcome to Under Review, the podcast where I give guests an opportunity to stop tweaking the edges and start reimagining a future where things might work better. What would stay, what would we build from scratch, and what needs throwing into the Under Review rubbish bin? It’s time to put the system itself... ‘under review. What ha...

I made a break for the outdoors and between the continual winter rain and gloom to head out into the fields near home. It was a good opportunity to talk about a new podcast series I am hosting called Under Review, where I invite esteemed guests from across academia to talk about how they would envisage the higher education world free of all the wicked problems that currently blight it. From publis...