A single event can completely change the direction of a career in science; four researchers share their stories.

University partnerships that let PhD students split their time between two countries and keep jobs at home have many benefits.

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.

Three years on, scientist mums implore universities, funding agencies and publishers to heed calls to account for COVID-19 disruptions.

The EU is to pilot a new initiative that aims to improve working conditions for young researchers, starting in 2024. The pilot will test how the European Commission, member states and industry could work together to coordinate financing and knowledge networks and strengthen and diversify research career paths by promoting links between academia and industry.  

A small but growing number of scientific faculty positions are focusing on the science of teaching.

Communication is important across science, but special steps are needed when taking part in research away from the lab, says Anna Osiecka.

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

Matteo Tardelli needed mentoring in his new role after leaving academia, but soon learnt how to prioritize tasks and manage client expectations.

Tracking goals on various timescales can help scientists to make the most of their days, says Maya Gosztyla.

A need for community drove Jennifer Geddes-McAlister to found a network for mothers in science. Here's what she learnt.

Everyone hates them and they're rarely essential, say Adaira Landry and Resa E. Lewiss. So why are we still getting the calendar invites?

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

People are more likely to land high-paying jobs through friends of friends than through their close friends or family, study finds.

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

From next year, the National Health and Medical Research Council will give half of its investigator grants for mid-career and senior scientists to women and non-binary applicants.

After many professional twists and turns, a researcher reconsiders what it means to 'make it' in academia.

Is a stream of negativity putting people off academia? Let's acknowledge the good, as well as the bad.

The learning scientist Manu Kapur, architect of the theory of productive failure, on reframing our notion of failure, and letting kids stumble (but with purpose).

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

Examining funded proposals enables grant writers to produce more compelling proposals.

Opening up about my feelings during my PhD was powerful and cathartic.

Being open about being gay allows me to reach my full intellectual potential.

Spain is about to overhaul its research career structures, after the Congress of Deputies approved the final version of a reform to the country's 2011 science, technology and innovation law last week.

Saying no is a skill - and practising it improved our science.

As a schoolboy, I put little effort into my homework. But a long night wrestling with Euclidean geometry led to a career in nuclear physics - and a more resilient personality