Runners-up in Science’s annual competition include dances of streambank erosion and moth mating.

Funding doctoral training can be a driving force for innovation, especially if it involves industry, according to a new European Commission study.

Half of postdocs say they don’t have access to social security and many don’t have permanent contracts either. Now campaigners are putting pressure on the EU to lean on member states to improve working conditions for Europe’s young scientists.

An analysis of the eligibility rules, assessment criteria and potential gender bias in best researcher and best paper awards from broad-scope ecology and evolution journals and societies shows a lack of assessment transparency, few attempts to foster equitable access and minimal consideration of open science.

Heavy workloads, bullying and a lack of support add to falling job satisfaction for postdocs, junior faculty members and other young scientists.

If researchers are to meet society's expectations, their training and mentoring must escape the nineteenth century.

The Manifesto for Early Career Researchers calls for increasing the recognition of the research activity and fostering diversified research careers at a European level. 

Andrew Wood plans for a career-defining 12 months ahead, and what he needs to focus on.

As I learned to savor my limited slivers of writing time, my childhood love for it returned.

Reporting on their findings from qualitative research project focused PhD students across China, Hugo Horta and Huan Li explore how a culture of publication has become central to doctoral study and…

Ukraine urgently needs new doctoral schools to train its next generation of academics, according to a senior Ukrainian science administrator. He warned that, without that and other measures to stop "internal brain drain", many researchers are fleeing universities for better paid IT jobs in order to make ends meet. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, European countries have launched countless schemes and scholarships to help displaced Ukrainian students and academics.

On average, researchers' impact dropped by a half to two-thirds over their careers.

The cost-of-living crisis is a fundamental threat for PhD scholars and early-career researchers. They need to be paid properly.

The cost-of-living crisis is causing widespread financial distress among those in master's and PhD programmes worldwide.

For Ph.D. candidates and postdocs, the relationship with your supervisor can make or break a career. The onus for a positive and nurturing relationship should fall largely on the senior member. 

Ph.D. students who belong to minoritized groups experience challenges with interpersonal understanding and social ties. 

University associations, legislators, students and other stakeholders release a declaration on ways to recruit and retain early-career researchers in academia.

A grassroots network led by early-career scientists offers new pathways to policy careers.