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Banning Preprints from Grant Applications Penalises Researchers for Being Up-to-date

Banning Preprints from Grant Applications Penalises Researchers for Being Up-to-date

A sudden rule change by the Australian Research Council-to ban grant applications that cite preprint material-has deemed 32 early and mid-career researchers ineligible to receive critical funding.

Internally Incentivized Interdisciplinarity: Organizational Restructuring of Research and Emerging Tensions

Internally Incentivized Interdisciplinarity: Organizational Restructuring of Research and Emerging Tensions

Interdisciplinarity is widely considered necessary to solving many contemporary problems, and new funding structures and instruments have been created to encourage interdisciplinary research at universities. This article looks at a small technical university specializing in green technology which implemented a strategy aimed at promoting and developing interdisciplinary collaboration.

Universities Say They Want More Diverse Faculties. So Why Is Academia Still So White?

Universities Say They Want More Diverse Faculties. So Why Is Academia Still So White?

Academia has a problem with race. It’s a problem that academia — like the rest of American society — doesn’t like to acknowledge.

Space Tourism: Out of Reach for Most Earthlings

Space Tourism: Out of Reach for Most Earthlings

Space tourism began in 2001 with Italian-American millionaire Dennis Tito. Decades later, it's still a preserve of the rich and essentially white.

Call for EU to Help Afghan Scientists

Call for EU to Help Afghan Scientists

The European People's Party (EPP) is calling on the Commission and member states to fund emergency placements for Afghan researchers and academics at European higher education and research institutions. One of the EPP's lead MEPs, Christian Ehler, said scientists in Afghanistan risk being persecuted by the Taliban, after the islamist group took over the country when the US military and its allies pulled out.

Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries. How Is That Possible?

Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries. How Is That Possible?

The most popular cryptocurrency wastes energy by design. Why is that, and could it ever be greener?

Air Pollution is Cutting More Years from People's Lives Than Smoking, War or HIV/AIDS

Air Pollution is Cutting More Years from People's Lives Than Smoking, War or HIV/AIDS

Air pollution is slashing years from billions of people's lives around the world and is a greater threat to life expectancy than smoking, HIV/AIDS or war, a report published Wednesday shows.

Ten (basic) Points About Demand for Higher Education This Year

Ten (basic) Points About Demand for Higher Education This Year

These are my remarks from yesterday's UK Student Accommodation Forum on demand for higher education in 2021/22 and on, hosted by Unipol. The event also saw the launch of an excellent new paper on International Students and Factors Affecting Accommodation in the UK. When it comes to demand from home students, the naysayers were wrong in 2020 and […]

Rafia Zakaria: 'A Lot of White Female Professors Told Me to Quit'

Rafia Zakaria: 'A Lot of White Female Professors Told Me to Quit'

The activist and author discusses why there is no one-size-fits-all feminism and her aim to create work that comforts women of colour who have been 'gaslit'

White House Sets R&D Priorities Across Agencies

White House Sets R&D Priorities Across Agencies

The Biden administration's first annual list of R&D priorities includes an emphasis on bolstering pandemic preparedness and climate mitigation efforts, strengthening domestic manufacturing, and incorporating equity considerations across federal programs.

Scientists Need to Better Communicate the Links Between Pandemics and Global Environmental Change

Scientists Need to Better Communicate the Links Between Pandemics and Global Environmental Change

The pandemic and global environmental change are intimately intertwined at multiple levels, and this must be more clearly articulated to the public and in policy.

A Science Advice Network for Francophone Countries

A Science Advice Network for Francophone Countries

A leading science policy group has launched a science advisory network for French-speaking countries, enabling researchers across the francophone world to share ideas and best practice.

Afghanistan's Terrified Scientists Predict Huge Research Losses

Afghanistan's Terrified Scientists Predict Huge Research Losses

For 20 years, science has blossomed in Afghanistan. Now many researchers are fleeing and those who remain face lost funding and the threat of persecution.

Without a Clear Sense of Purpose, What is the Future of National Research Assessment Exercises in Australia?

Without a Clear Sense of Purpose, What is the Future of National Research Assessment Exercises in Australia?

Australia’s ERA and EIA research assessment exercises lack a clearly defined purpose, or return on investment for Australian universities. In a climate of declining trust in the Australian Research Council, together with a confused idea about how research should be funded, the assessment regime itself is at a critical point of juncture.