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A winding path to satisfaction
Many feel there is only one path to success and that any deviations will be catastrophic. My own academic path might seem to support this belief. On the surface, it appears quite linear: undergrad, grad student, postdoc, faculty member. But if you look deeper, you will see the series of roadblocks and revised plans that led me to where I am today.
A peek at peer review helps young scientists
Winning a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hard, especially if it's your first one. New data from a pilot project called the Early Career Reviewer (ECR) Program suggest that sitting in judgment of other grant applicants can help young scientists improve their odds when they apply for their own grants.
Genuine research keeps students in science
A new study of a novel undergraduate program at the University of Texas (UT), Austin, has found that giving college freshmen the opportunity to do research as part of their coursework significantly increases their chances of completing college and graduating with a science degree.
What does research reproducibility mean?
The language and conceptual framework of “research reproducibility” are nonstandard and unsettled across the sciences. In this Perspective, we review an array of explicit and implicit definitions of reproducibility and related terminology, and discuss how to avoid potential misunderstandings when these terms are used as a surrogate for “truth.”
Preprints for the life sciences
Piece reflecting the opinions of researchers, funders, and journals.
Why pursue the postdoc path?
Complex, diverse rationales require nuanced policies: evidence suggests a need for increased attention to career planning among students, their mentors, graduate schools, and funders
When the payoff for academics drops, commercialization suffers
A 2002 law in Norway that ended the country's long-running practice of giving academics 100% ownership of their intellectual property and adopted a U.S.-style system caused the per capita number of patents from academics to drop by 53% in the next 5 years.
A radical change in peer review
A radical change in peer review
Creating a more inclusive academy
Although there has been a welcome increase in discussion about gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), broad participation of women from all backgrounds in academic STEM will not be achieved until institutions are transformed.
Europe on course for a neutron drought
Scientists in Europe face a dramatic reduction in neutrons beams for research within the next 5 to 10 years.
Italian scientists protest ’serious neglect’ of research
Researchers gathered at Sapienza University of Rome last week to discuss the cuts in Italy's research budget.
For female scientists, mixed funding results at US agencies
A new study by a congressional watchdog agency finds that female scientists are less likely than men to receive research grants from the U.S. government.
How can non-scientists influence the course of scientific research?
Science communication should be more than the dissemination of results to the public; it should also flow in the other direction, with members of the public able to communicate their priorities to scientists and those who fund them. But how?