Year total stats for Utopian Realism

According to Statcounter, in 2017 this blog, Utopian Realism, had 3.918 pageloads (-94) and 3.140 (-216) unique visitors, of which 2.723 (-481) were first time visitors and 417 (+264) returning visitors. All-time numbers: 43.524 pageloads, 30.150 unique visitors, of which 27.296 one-time visitors and 2.854 returning visitors.

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393 posts in 2017

393 posts in 2017

In 2017 I posted in this academic (b)log, Utopian Realism, 393 times. 2.769 blog posts in the 10 year period 2008-2017 results in an annual average of 277 blog posts. Despite being higher than this long-term average, I posted less in 2017 than in the last three years.

Google Scholar: 166 citations, i10-index of 5

In Google Scholar (see my profile) I now have 166 citations (+9), and an i10-index of 5 (+1). In terms of number of citations, 2016 is now my best year so far, with 47 citations (vs. 40 in 2015). Google Scholar has also recorded my first 4 citations in 2017.

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Google Scholar: 155 citations; i10-index of 4 (December 2016)

10 vacation days left over

I have 10 unused vacation days that I have now applied for transferring to 2017.

Plans for paternal leave 2016-2017

My wife is expecting twins - and I am expecting to be on graded paternal leave (50%) in the whole academic year 2016-2017.

ISCB launches annual conference series - 2017 conference to be organised in Norway by me

The International Socity for Code Biology (ISCB), where I am a member of the Governing Board, is making plans for an annual conference series which will start in 2014. As can be seen from the partial overview below, I have been asked, and agreed, to organise the 4th conference in Norway, in 2017.

• 1st International Conference in Code Biology (2014): Paris, France - organised by Chris Ottolenghi
• 3rd International Conference in Code Biology (2016): Urbino, Italy - organised by Almo Farina
• 4th International Conference in Code Biology (2017): Stavanger*, Norway - organised by Morten Tønnessen
• 5th International Conference in Code Biology (2018): Braga, Portugal - organised by João Carlos Major
• 7th International Conference in Code Biology (2020): Stellenbosch, South Africa - organised by Jannie Hofmeyr

* depending on where I'll be working

I will soon post on Why I joined the ISCB, a post which will make clear how I am relating to the current split in the biosemiotic community. For now, let it suffice to say that I will only regard the enterprise of the International Conferences in Code Biology as truly successful if they result in greater and not less interest in biosemiotics as a field. Consequently, a measure of their value will be whether they bring more people into biosemiotics, or simply contribute to fragmentation of the biosemiotic community. A further criterion for success is naturally how the ISCB conference series will affect the overall development of the discipline of biosemiotics in qualitative terms. 

At any rate, from 2014 onwards there will be two annual conference series in biosemiotics. The already established conference series is the International Gatherings in Biosemiotics (organised by the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies, ISBS), the 13th of which is to be held in Castiglioncello, Italy this June.