Standing down from the community council

Community Governance
#1

Dear Gosh :gosh:,

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last few weeks. My job at the university is ending soon after a spate of grant rejections, I find that I don’t have the fight in me to keep applying for funding to stay in academia. I need to do some soul searching and work out what I want to do with my life.

The most wonderful thing about GOSH is you don’t need to be an academic to be in GOSH. For me, however, my fight for open science and open science hardware went hand-in-hand with my identity as a scientist. Currently I am too burned out to even see myself as a scientist and the fight is no longer in me. I do not feel I have it in me to continue on the council, (I will also step down from the GOSH Inc. board once a suitable candidate has been selected). It seems now is an appropriate time to step down as an extra seat will be vacant at the time of the election results.

I have valued my time serving the GOSH community. I have made such great friends in the community and have always been honoured to have been elected. I am not leaving the community, but I need to stand back from the vanguard especially while I find employment and get my life back under control. I will probably not make it to Panama either, which is a great shame.

Thank you everyone for your trust. Sorry I could not see out my term.

Julian

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#2

@julianstirling I’m very sorry to hear this and I wish you the best in discovering what’s next for you. As someone who is not a scientist and not in academia, I still greatly value my connection to the GOSH community. I’m glad to hear that you won’t be leaving the community completely.

Do you know yet whether this will mark an end of your involvement in the OpenFlexure and GitBuilding projects?

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#3

I don’t know what this will mean for things like GitBuilding (or OpenFlexure, but that is far better set to continue without me). I very much doubt that my next job will align well enough that I can spent time on GitBuilding.

I know many open source projects survive on donated time in evening and weekends. Currently the bulk of my non-work time is spent running my historic waterwheel (as I am chair of the management committee), and being a parish councillor. We will see, I might have much more spare time if I get a job with better work-life balance than academia.

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#4

You’re an incredible person, @julianstirling! Take care and take it easy. You have a lot to think about. :fist:t2::heartpulse:

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#5

You’ve made really amazing contributions @julianstirling , it’s been such a joy and inspiration to work with you. Life is long and has many turns for all of us and that’s the joy of it, so whether you are back here in a year or doing something totally different, I hope it brings you joy.

We’re here to keep in touch as you go :slight_smile:

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#6

I’m here to join you all in this tele-tribute to the great @julianstirling. I have really enjoyed every time our paths have crossed. Thanks for your generosity and all the best for the future!
Javier

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