Subscribe to our newsletter

Send us a link

Lab Severs Ties With James Watson, Citing 'Unsubstantiated and Reckless' Remarks

Lab Severs Ties With James Watson, Citing 'Unsubstantiated and Reckless' Remarks

In a recent documentary, the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist doubled down on comments he made a decade ago, then apologized for, regarding race, genetics and intelligence.

ETH-Präsident Reagiert Auf Mobbingfall: "Professoren Sollen Führungskurse Absolvieren"

ETH-Präsident Reagiert Auf Mobbingfall: "Professoren Sollen Führungskurse Absolvieren"

Der Mobbingfall an der ETH Zürich veranlasst den neuen Präsidenten Joël Mesot zu einer Massnahme.

Tracking the Popularity and Outcomes of All BioRxiv Preprints

Tracking the Popularity and Outcomes of All BioRxiv Preprints

Though the popularity and practical benefits of preprints are driving policy changes at journals and funding organizations, there is little bibliometric data available to measure trends in their usage. This study collected and analyzed data on all preprints that were uploaded to bioRxiv.org in the past five years.

Crowdfunding Research Flips Science's Traditional Reward Model

Crowdfunding Research Flips Science's Traditional Reward Model

Scientists who have historically been at a disadvantage when pursuing traditional funding sources are now the most successful at sourcing money from the public.

Establishing online mentorship for early career researchers: Lessons from the Organization for Human Brain Mapping International Mentoring Programme

Establishing online mentorship for early career researchers: Lessons from the Organization for Human Brain Mapping International Mentoring Programme

Mentorship in academia facilitates personal growth through pairing trainees with mentors who can share insight and expertise.Expertise can be purely academic, on work‐life balance, personal branding and networking, or general career advice. Mentoring has been shown to be beneficial for mentees, both in terms of objective research productivity and subjective outcomes. Several institutions/organizations have formal in‐person mentoring programs that pair early‐ to mid‐career researchers with mentors who are not their direct supervisors. With global integration in science, however, geographical proximity between mentors and mentees is relevant to a lesser degree.

Women As Leaders in Academic Institutions: Personal Experience and Narrative Literature Review

Women As Leaders in Academic Institutions: Personal Experience and Narrative Literature Review

For the last 12 years, I have had the pleasure and privilege to serve as the Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and as a professor at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH) Zurich and Lausanne (EPFL). My affiliations have afforded me a rare opportunity to observe the structure and governance of academic institutions and to reflect on my own experience in institutional leadership. I have attempted to place my experience in the context of the literature on leadership, particularly that relating to women and academia. On the basis of my experience and reading, I make some recommendations for women faculty, for women in positions of institutional leadership in academia, and for academic institutions. I am deeply convinced that greater participation by women (and members of other under-represented groups) in institutional leadership is needed if academia is to make a meaningful contribution to addressing the huge challenges that face humanity.

Research Funding Bodies: Review of Good Practice in Organisational Design and Governance

Research Funding Bodies: Review of Good Practice in Organisational Design and Governance

This study presents a review of international evidence on best practice in organisational design of research and innovation funding bodies.

Science and the Shutdown: 5 Things to Watch As US Impasse Drags on

Science and the Shutdown: 5 Things to Watch As US Impasse Drags on

A second wave of closures looms as the government funding fight barrels towards a record-breaking fourth week.

When It Comes To Women In STEM Roles, The Results Are Golden

When It Comes To Women In STEM Roles, The Results Are Golden

Young women and girls look to Hollywood for inspiration and guidance, but how can we be sure movies and TV are positively representing women in STEM?

What It's Like to Be a Woman in the Academy

What It's Like to Be a Woman in the Academy

We asked dozens of women about gender and power on campus. Here’s what they told us.

DARPA Wants to Build an AI to Find the Patterns Hidden in Global Chaos

DARPA Wants to Build an AI to Find the Patterns Hidden in Global Chaos

The process of buying something and therefore recognizing it is comparatively simple, but how do you create a schema for recognizing a cold war, or a bear market? That’s what DARPA wants to look into.

Peer Review: First Results from a Trial at ELife

Peer Review: First Results from a Trial at ELife

New approach to peer review proves popular with authors, with very similar acceptance rates for male and female last authors, but with higher acceptance rates for late-career researchers compared to their early- and mid-career colleagues.

Large Scale Publisher Survey Reveals Global Trends in Open Access Publishing

Large Scale Publisher Survey Reveals Global Trends in Open Access Publishing

A survey of publishers with journals indexed in Directory of Open Access Journals has revealed surprising trends in the way that content is published.

Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds

Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds

An analysis concluded that earth's oceans are heating up 40 percent faster on average than a United Nations panel estimated five years ago, a finding with dire implications for climate change.

Life in the Lab

Life in the Lab

  So, there I was, pipette in hand, doing actual labwork for the first time in a year. How had it come to this? When I started out, I was convinced I was not going to be one of those PIs who is never in the lab.