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Does Closing Schools Slow the Spread of Coronavirus? Past Outbreaks Provide Clues
A researcher who forecasts epidemic spread argues that proactive closures, though disruptive, could help.
Cancel Everything
Social distancing is the only way to stop the coronavirus. We must start immediately.
A Disease Tracker Backed by Gates and Zuckerberg Tackles Covid-19 in Cambodia
A Disease Tracker Backed by Gates and Zuckerberg Tackles Covid-19 in Cambodia
The two tech titans funded an effort to bring metagenomic sequencing and software to poor countries. Now, it's helping trace the spread of the new coronavirus.
Making a Plan When Planning Is Impossible
Travel bans, office closures, and conference cancellations have publishers and societies thinking about how best to ensure that scholarly content continues to be reviewed and distributed. This post by Angela Cochran looks at some of the impacts and questions whether.
Reimbursement Policies Make Academia Less Inclusive
Paying conference expenses up front from personal accounts is a significant burden, this grad student writes
Preventing Spread of SARS Coronavirus-2 in Humans
Göttingen infection researchers identify a potential drug.
#COLA4ALL Shuts Down UC Santa Cruz
Graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shut down campus Thursday as part of their ongoing strike for a cost of living adjustment, and all other system campuses saw their own one-day protests. Santa Cruz graduate assistants went on a grade strike in December, then a full labor strike this month. Tensions mounted last week when the university fired or disqualified 80-some grads from spring assistantships for continuing to withhold undergraduate grades. Graduate assistants blocked all entrances to the Santa Cruz campus before dawn, forcing the university to cancel classes, except those offered online. Many faculty and undergraduate supporters joined the picket lines on that campus and across the UC system starting midmorning. As of last week, graduate assistants at the Santa Barbara campus are also on a labor strike for a COLA, and assistants at the Davis campus are on a grade strike. Systemwide, graduate instructors make about $2,400 pre-tax, per month, for nine months out of the year. Strikers say that they need between $1,400 and $1,800 extra per month to be able to secure housing in California's expensive rental markets and have anything left over for utilities and food. The United Auto Workers, with which UC's graduate workers are affiliated, has urged the university to reopen their contract to bargain for a COLA. This week it authorized a systemwide strike vote for April on the grounds that the university has committed unfair labor practices. The university has filed a similar claim against graduate workers. The system said in a statement that it "values all our graduate students, including academic student employees (ASEs) who are essential to UC's teaching mission, supporting the university as teaching assistants, readers and tutors. However, that mission is in jeopardy when ASEs refuse to fulfill their teaching obligations." The system noted that these assistants are striking in violation of their union contract, negotiated in 2018, and said it's "unfortunate that the UAW has resorted to announcing a strike authorization vote as the university continues pursuing opportunities to engage productively with graduate students on housing affordability and other issues."
Airlines Are Burning Thousands of Gallons of Fuel Flying Empty 'ghost' Planes So They Can Keep Their Flight Slots During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Airlines Are Burning Thousands of Gallons of Fuel Flying Empty 'ghost' Planes So They Can Keep Their Flight Slots During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Airlines are running empty "ghost" flights because of European rules forcing operators to run their allocated flights or risk losing their slots.
Empfehlungen für eine nationale Open-Science-Strategie in Österreich
Die Arbeitsgruppe Open-Science-Strategie des Open Science Network Austria (OANA) hat Empfehlungen für eine nationale Open Science Strategie in Österreich erarbeitet und lädt ein, das Dokument bis zum 05.04.2020 online zu annotieren bzw. zu kommentieren.
The Bleak Job Landscape of Adjunctopia for Ph.D.s
Ruthless labor exploitation? Generational betrayal? Understanding the job crisis in academia requires a look at recent history.
Making Sense of Preprint Versions
Europe PMC has made changes to make sense of preprint versions.
What Should Be the Essential Baseline Practices for Repositories That Manage Research Data?
What Should Be the Essential Baseline Practices for Repositories That Manage Research Data?
COAR and SPARC have published a joint response to the OSTP Request for Public Comment on Draft Desirable Characteristics of Repositories for Managing and Sharing Data Resulting From Federally Funded Research. Good data management is critical for ensuring validation, transparency of research findings, as well as to maximize impact and value of publicly-funded research through data reuse.
Open Peer-Review Platform for COVID-19 Preprints
Open Peer-Review Platform for COVID-19 Preprints
The public call for rapid sharing of research data relevant to the COVID-19 outbreak is driving an unprecedented surge in (unrefereed) preprints. To help pinpoint the most important research, Nature launched Outbreak Science Rapid PREreview, an open-source platform for rapid review of preprints related to emerging outbreaks.
Registration is Open for the Women in Technology Mentoring Programme
After the success of the first two rounds, Women in Technology is organising the third year of WIT Mentoring.
Swiss Science is Caught in Tangle of Brussels Politics
Swiss Science is Caught in Tangle of Brussels Politics
Swiss scientists fear a number of political obstacles could block their path into the EU's next big research programme.
QS Rankings: ETH Zurich Top in 13 Subjects
The university analysts at QS have published their 2020 rankings by subject.
To Help 'left Behind' Britain, More Adults Need to Feel Able to Go to University
To Help 'left Behind' Britain, More Adults Need to Feel Able to Go to University
Adult learning is at a 20-year low because mature students can't study flexibly. This must change
Shortage of Personal Protective Equipment Endangering Health Workers Worldwide
WHO calls on industry and governments to increase manufacturing by 40 per cent to meet rising global demand.
Students, Professors and Politics
Some students do feel political pressure from their professors, but few change their views.
How to Work From Home Without Losing Your Mind
Coronavirus concerns have some businesses urging employees to work from home. If you're telecommuting, for public health reasons or otherwise, remember: Boundaries are your friend.
Moving for Research
An example of finding the balance between personal and professional lives during moves overseas and in and out of academia.
How China's New Policy May Change Researchers' Publishing Behavior
How China's New Policy May Change Researchers' Publishing Behavior
A researcher from the Wuhan University of China offers a view of how Chinese researchers are reacting and are likely to alter their behavior in response to new policies governing research evaluation.
Conference on "Reproducibility, Replicability and Trust in Science"
Conference on "Reproducibility, Replicability and Trust in Science"
This new meeting at the Wellcome Genome Campus will bring together an international audience of researchers motivated to improve the robustness of scientific research.
Testing a New Approach to Open Access Fees
New OA payment models are needed make open access implementation practical, journal editor says.
Who is Getting Sick? A Look at Coronavirus Risk by Age, Gender, and More
Who is Getting Sick? A Look at Coronavirus Risk by Age, Gender, and More
For a variety of reasons, researchers want to figure out who's most at risk of being infected and who's most at risk of developing severe illness.
Column: COVID-19 Could Kill the For-profit Science Publishing Model. That Would Be a Good Thing
Column: COVID-19 Could Kill the For-profit Science Publishing Model. That Would Be a Good Thing
The coronavirus crisis shows how the free sharing of data is crucial in science.