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Nationalfonds: Frauen Bei Vergabe Von Fördergeldern Benachteiligt

Nationalfonds: Frauen Bei Vergabe Von Fördergeldern Benachteiligt

Der Nationalfonds ist der wichtigste Förderer hiesiger Forschung.

Potential Bias in Peer Review of Grant Applications at the Swiss National Science Foundation

Potential Bias in Peer Review of Grant Applications at the Swiss National Science Foundation

Study shows that peer review of grant applications at the SNSF may be prone to biases stemming from different applicant and reviewer characteristics. Based on this study, the SNSF abandoned nomination of reviewers by applicants, and made members of panels aware of the other systematic differences in scores.

"I Want a Climate Where Everyone Can Fulfil Their Potential"

"I Want a Climate Where Everyone Can Fulfil Their Potential"

The ETH Zurich Executive Board is submitting a request to the ETH Board for the dismissal of a professor, while simultaneously launching a package of measures to improve the quality of leadership and supervision at ETH.

"We Should Treat Each Other with Respect"

"We Should Treat Each Other with Respect"

ETH Zurich has submitted a request to the ETH Board to terminate the employment relationship with a professor in the former Institute for Astronomy. To avoid as far as possible similar cases from escalating in future, ETH Zurich is adapting its structures and processes.

"Biological Variability Makes Reproducibility More Difficult"

"Biological Variability Makes Reproducibility More Difficult"

Research findings based on HeLa cells cannot always be reproduced by other scientists. To get to the bottom of this lack of reproducibility, a group of system biologists working with ETH Professor Ruedi Aebersold has embarked on a massive project: molecular cell measurement.

UC Press Supports University of California's Stance on Elsevier

UC Press Supports University of California's Stance on Elsevier

As the publishing arm of the University of California system, UC Press supports the UC libraries in their cancellation of the Elsevier "big deal" package. As small to medium-sized publishers of largely humanities and social sciences (HSS) journals, university presses (including UC Press) have had to compete for diminishing library resources to support our publishing programs.

A History of the Iberian Peninsula, As Told by Its Skeletons

A History of the Iberian Peninsula, As Told by Its Skeletons

With an analysis of DNA from nearly 300 fossilized remains, scientists are peering into human prehistory in the region.

Predicting the Results of Evaluation Procedures of Academics

Predicting the Results of Evaluation Procedures of Academics

The 2010 reform of the Italian university system introduced the National Scientific Habilitation (ASN) as a requirement for applying to permanent professor positions. Since the CVs of the 59149 candidates and the results of their assessments have been made publicly available, the ASN constitutes an opportunity to perform analyses about a nation-wide evaluation process.

Statement of Scientists and Scholars Concerning the Protests for More Climate Protection - #scientists4future

Statement of Scientists and Scholars Concerning the Protests for More Climate Protection - #scientists4future

The concerns of the young protesters are justified.

Adopt a Moratorium on Heritable Genome Editing

Adopt a Moratorium on Heritable Genome Editing

Eric Lander, Françoise Baylis, Feng Zhang, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Paul Berg and specialists from seven countries call for an international governance framework on genome editing.

Science and Its Significant Other: Representing the Humanities in Bibliometric Scholarship

Science and Its Significant Other: Representing the Humanities in Bibliometric Scholarship

The article explores the conceptual frameworks, methods, and data sources used in bibliometrics to study the nature of the humanities, and its differences and similarities in comparison with other scientific domains.

Ten Myths Around Open Scholarly Publishing

Ten Myths Around Open Scholarly Publishing

The changing world of scholarly communication and the emergence of 'Open Science' or 'Open Research' has brought to light a number of controversial and hotly-debated topics. Yet, evidence-based rational debate is regularly drowned out by misinformed or exaggerated rhetoric, which does not benefit the evolving system of scholarly communication.

Debunking Pseudo-science | Canadian Lawyer Mag

Debunking Pseudo-science | Canadian Lawyer Mag

For those trained in the sciences and the practice of law, where skepticism, logical reasoning and critical thinking are the most closely held tools to guide them through life, it's vexing to witness seemingly intelligent people duped by pseudo-scientific nutrition advice and treatments for illnesses with no evidence of effectiveness.

Science and Politics: Can Research into Legislative Decision-making Help to Address Food Security?

Science and Politics: Can Research into Legislative Decision-making Help to Address Food Security?

Policymakers need to be encouraged to take a scientic approach when drawing up legislation to boost food security, according to a panel of experts.

ELife Announces First Release of Open-source Submission and Peer-review Platform: Libero Reviewer

ELife Announces First Release of Open-source Submission and Peer-review Platform: Libero Reviewer

New software enables the rapid submission of manuscripts for initial assessment.

Algorithms Are Now Shockingly Good at Doing Science

Algorithms Are Now Shockingly Good at Doing Science

Whether probing the evolution of galaxies or discovering new chemical compounds, algorithms are detecting patterns no humans could have spotted.

​Norwegian Research Institutions Have Decided Not to Renew Their Agreement with Elsevier

​Norwegian Research Institutions Have Decided Not to Renew Their Agreement with Elsevier

The offer from Elsevier is a long way from fulfilling the Norwegian requirements for open access to research articles. There is also no movement in transitioning the agreement from paying to read to paying for open publishing. Norwegian research institutions will therefore not renew the agreement with Elsevier for 2019. 

UK Considers Post-Brexit Research Fund Open to World

UK Considers Post-Brexit Research Fund Open to World

The government will assess whether a UK granting scheme could help make up for lost EU research funding.

The Life of P.I. - Transitions to Independence in Academia

The Life of P.I. - Transitions to Independence in Academia

The data in this report summarises the responses gathered from 365 principle investigators of academic laboratories, who started their independent positions in the UK within the last 6 years up to 2018. We find that too many new investigators express frustration and poor optimism for the future. These data also reveal, that many of these individuals lack the support required to make a successful transition to independence and that simple measures could be put in place by both funders and universities in order to better support these early career researchers. We use these data to make both recommendations of good practice and for changes to policies that would make significant improvements to those currently finding independence challenging. We find that some new investigators face significant obstacles when building momentum and hiring a research team. In particular, access to PhD students. We also find some important areas such as starting salaries where significant gender differences persist, which cannot be explained by seniority. Our data also underlines the importance of support networks, within and outside the department, and the positive influence of good mentorship through this difficult career stage.