"In our culture, preferring an algorithm to a trainee feels like a betrayal of the academic mission." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/4bjmEwT

As #AI shakes up science, this professor is wrestling with whether to give a new project to a graduate student or AI. Our latest @science.org Working Life essay. www.science.org/content/arti...

Career effects of preprints get mixed reviews from biomedical researchers Junior researchers are more likely to embrace preprints; grant reviewers and hiring committees express doubts. https://bit.ly/4ljsF1n

My latest: in an interview with @science.org, new NASA administrator Jared Isaacman promises a big uptick in lunar robotic missions, another potential Mars 2028 mission beyond comms, and continued support for earth science observation. (Sorry astro and helio folks, time went fast.)

"There is perhaps no stronger evidence of the [Trump] administration’s objectives to reduce the quality of the US scientific workforce than its treatment of the [NSF]’s flagship Graduate Research Fellowship Program," writes H. Holden Thorp in a new #ScienceEditorial. https://scim.ag/4d0fi3N

Rejoice! It’s grad student recruitment weekend! Our Experimental Error columnist shares advice for making the most of graduate school interviews. #NewSciGen https://bit.ly/46IcSDg

NIH sent notice this week that it will no longer recognize a union of early career researchers on the basis that trainees aren't "employees." My latest for @science.org. www.science.org/content/arti...

"Losing my institutional email address felt like losing a small but vital piece of the scientist I had become." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/3OGpS67

NSF's #GFRP has been embroiled in controversy over the past year. The agency released FAQs today in response to concerns that applicants have had proposals returned without review (RWR). It says there were about the same number of RWRs this year, but that comparison comes with a big asterisk.

"As a scientist, I was trained to seek evidence, test hypotheses, and adjust based on data. However, in the classroom, I was teaching without any feedback." Our latest @science.org Working Life essay—about an innovative teaching experiment. www.science.org/content/arti...

Are #openaccess fees that some journals charge authors too high? The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the world’s largest research institution, reportedly thinks so and plans to stop funding some, a move that could shake up #scientificpublishing. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

The evolution of the football helmet, a critical safety device, has accelerated in recent years, driven by concerns over the long-term effects of concussions, new concepts and materials, and data-driven test protocols. Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/4rAjjjN

The 2026 budgets of individual science agencies may be lean, but Mitch McConnell once again lead Congress in earmarking big bucks for homestate university research facilities www.science.org/content/arti...

"One bad year could kill one of our favorite scientific societies." In my latest story for @science.org, I explored how U.S. conferences fared over the last year amid concerns about an attendance slump. www.science.org/content/arti...

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

Talk about a brain drain. The PhDs who left U.S. federal STEM or health jobs last year had >106,636 years of experience. More grim statistics compiled here: www.science.org/content/arti...

How many STEM Ph.D.s were lost from the U.S. federal government last year? My colleagues @mghersher.bsky.social and @policyhound.bsky.social dug into a recent data release to find the answer. A @science.org exclusive. www.science.org/content/arti...

"Research is messy. … Trying to protect students from that reality does them a disservice." On #InternationalDayOfEducation, take a look back at this Working Life essay on teaching students about scientific failure. https://scim.ag/4sTaQcH

"When the paper finally appeared in print, I was in no condition to rejoice." Our latest Working Life essay explores the burnout a scientist experienced after pouring himself into the pursuit of a Nature or Science publication. www.science.org/content/arti...

Whatever Prototaxites was, it wasn't the Godzilla of Fungus. (Or any kind of fungus.) www.science.org/content/arti...

"What we’re … seeing is the toll of the uncertainty." My latest story for @science.org—part of a package that explores how the U.S. scientific community has changed under Trump—includes new numbers on graduate enrollment and faculty hiring. www.science.org/content/arti...

I actually wrote something for a change: a look at how the US scientific community is trying to push back on Trump policy changes they oppose. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

"I wish I could tell my grad school self it’s OK to feel out of your depth; even deans can feel that way." Our latest Working Life essay. @science.org @sciencecareers.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

"I was thrilled to be on an exchange semester overseas, but I saw it as just a detour from my imagined career path. I didn’t realize I was already pedaling toward a different life ..." Check out one of our top #ScienceWorkingLife essays of 2025: https://scim.ag/3Y573en

"… I share my story in the hope that others … will reflect on moments when trust mattered in their own career journey, and on the responsibility we each hold in ensuring that the next generation enters a scientific world where safety is actively protected." https://scim.ag/4sdMVof

It isn't easy following science as a career path. Our series of personal essays, published on the last page of Science, aim to shed light on the challenges scientists face and, hopefully, help others feel less alone. Here are @science.org's top essays of the year. www.science.org/content/arti...

"I worried no one would believe me." Our latest Working Life essay is a deeply personal story that explores how a scientist felt—and continues to feel, decades later—after a mentor made unwanted sexual advances. @science.org @sciencecareers.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Federal researchers are confronting growing uncertainty about their future, as the 10-day-old shutdown of the U.S. government is now poised to extend into at least next week. https://scim.ag/4n1uy22

As government websites go dark, educators across the country have been reworking lesson plans and searching for reliable sources of up-to-date scientific information. https://scim.ag/46Vlwxu

“The program showed me I was capable of doing neuroscience research, but it didn’t give me a feeling that I belonged.” Read this story about an undergraduate student in a program for students with underrepresented backgrounds: https://bit.ly/4gC03hu #DEI #STEMCareers

Here we go again. www.science.org/content/arti...

Why scientists should take more coffee breaks Grad students should make time for casual conversations with peers, this Ph.D. student writes. #NationalCoffeeDay https://bit.ly/4nyTOOe

Today was a hard day for Ph.D. students who found out that they can no longer apply for NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. "Devastating“ was how one student described it to me. #GradSchool #NSFGRFP www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk

A week later and prospective applicants are still awaiting the instructions for this year's #NSFGRFP. I checked in with NSF today and was told "I don’t have anything for you at the moment." #GradSchool

"We are so very late that many students will not be able to apply this year." My latest story—about frustration over delays for NSF's graduate research fellowship program. #NSFGRFP #GradSchool @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Despite its 162-year-history of service, congressional Republicans tell federal agencies not to seek the advice of the National Academies. www.science.org/content/arti...

How an academic betrayal led me to change my authorship practices “Every cleaned data set, debugged script, and refined figure deserves acknowledgment,” this researcher writes. #AcademicChatter https://bit.ly/4fPwA38

Pushed out by Trump, New Jersey ecologist launches bid for Congress | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

New in @science.org a really helpful metaphor for many life stages! How a Ph.D. is like riding a bike | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Exclusive: NIH suspends dozens of pathogen studies over ‘gain-of-function’ concerns | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

“Everywhere funding is short.” For my latest story, I spoke with U.S. academics who are bracing for a major downsizing of the science workforce amid funding cuts. NSF's own numbers are stark. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Between June 2024 and January 2025, a full 62% of commercial honey bee colonies in the U.S. died, the largest on record. USDA efforts were slowed by funding cuts and layoffs. Now, USDA scientists have finally identified a culprit. But it may be too late. www.science.org/content/arti...

If getting a research grant required scoring applications from your competitors, would you apply? New evidence on this novel method, “distributed #peerreview,” at #Metascience2025. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Hundreds of employees at the EPA released a “Declaration of Dissent” today, accusing EPA officials of politicizing the agency and undermining its core mission to “protect human health and the environment.” scim.ag/4lB937S

new orca skincare routine dropped! read my latest article in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

"There’s a rhetoric that what we do is wasteful." My latest story—about scientists writing op eds in their hometown newspapers, a grassroots effort organized by @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social and others. www.science.org/content/arti...

Breaking from @science.org: The Trump administration wants to kill off a host of active and healthy NASA climate and planetary spacecraft. It would be a "leaner, more focused" agency, they say -- and one far less capable of studying the Earth and exploring space.

Trump's detailed vision for NSF's 2026 budget is not a pretty picture. www.science.org/content/arti...

"Sometimes good can come from a path redirected." #ScienceWorkingLife scim.ag/4kCjozZ