iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Lauren Gonzalez

As a PhD student designing my first survey, I added what I thought was a throwaway question at the end. To my surprise, thousands of academics answered it! The paper is out today: doi.org/10.1093/pnas...

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 8h

The NSF GRFP deadlines are rapidly approaching! If you’re applying, check out advice and example application essays from recent GRFP awardees on the Yale Graduate Writing Lab website. (Mentors: feel free to share with applicants in your networks!)

poorvucenter.yale.edu

Fellowship Writing

Explore resources on fellowship writing for grad students, including how to find funding opportunities & guides to the NSF GRFP, NIH NRSA, and more.

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Reposted by Lauren Gonzalez

DisabledInSTEM @disabledinstem.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A little more about the 2027 #DisabledInSTEM Mentorship Program and who can participate! Whether you’re looking for mentorship or hoping to support disabled people in STEM, there’s a place for you in our community. Applications are open through Dec. 11!

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Hi Dani! I teach scientific writing to graduate students across all STEM disciplines at Yale. (I was previously a geneticist / developmental biologist) I’d love to be added to the science feed! Thank you! poorvucenter.yale.edu/profile/laur...

poorvucenter.yale.edu

Lauren Gonzalez

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Reposted by Lauren Gonzalez

Abby Dernburg @adernburg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Biomedical scientists - a reminder that NIH proposes to "improve" peer review by hiding impact scores from Program Officers and applicants, and binning applications into broad categories of "Most competitive,""Competitive," or "Not discussed." Please provide feedback before the October 13 deadline!

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

CT voters! This group of early-career researchers is gathering info about how the candidates in our upcoming CT elections consider and use science in their decision making. Check it out! #scipol #2026midterms #connecticut

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Stance on Science PA @stancepa.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Do you care about protecting #science in the #MidtermElections? Do you want evidence-based policy creation? Of course you do! Join #StanceOnScience, where we ask candidates for public office their positions on #SciencePolicy issues relevant to voters! #Stance2026 #politics #PA #Pennsylvania

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

After submitting your comment: CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES “Congress can override the rule through the appropriations process. They can write into statute a requirement to follow peer review and best scientific practices. In this way, Congress can stop the attacks on science.”

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Ya’el Courtney, PhD @scienceyael.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

HHMI released the official 2027 Gilliam Fellowship details, and a lot changed. Deadline's earlier this cycle: Oct 27. Int'l & MD-PhD students now eligible. Stipend up to 50K. New postdoc pathway adds up to 7 yrs of support. No Journal names!!!! www.yaelcourtney.com/resources-an...

yaelcourtney.com

2027 HHMI Gilliam Fellowship: New Deadline, Eligibility, and Award Changes — Ya'el Courtney

HHMI's 2027 Gilliam Fellowship guide is out. What changed: an earlier October 27 deadline, expanded eligibility, a higher stipend, and a new postdoc pathway.

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Helen Pearson @helenpearson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

NEW: Is there a 'crisis' of public trust in science? It can feel that way — with attacks on research in the US and growing rejection of vaccines. I investigated for @nature.com - and found some surprises. My feature article is out today and a short🧵here www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story

Some say there’s a global crisis of trust — but research reveals where the real problems lie.

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Scientist Network for Advancing Policy @snapcoalition.org · 16/06/2026

Join SNAP and @protectdemocracy.org to learn about how to write a public comment for the proposed OMB rule! Wednesday, June 17th at 5:30 p.m. ET Registration link here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #SciPol #ECRs #science

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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The FY2027 appropriations fight is entering the House markup right now. If you're a federally funded PI and you haven't contacted your rep's office this cycle, here's a 6-step thread that takes less than 80 minutes to start. 🧵

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

There's some chatter about whether avoiding the phrase "climate change" in an NSF grant constitutes censorship or dishonesty or cynicism or capitulation to fascism or whatever. I thought I'd share my perspective as someone who has grappled with with this (both now and back in 2017-2020).

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Today, our #SCIMaP team released an impact analysis of the White House proposed FY 2027 NIH and NSF budgets. Bottom-line: if enacted, cuts to science and medical research would lead to $35B in economic losses and 150,000 lost jobs in communities all across the US. scienceimpacts.org 🧵

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

(I got this from Joshua Schimel’s book Writing Science—highly recommend!)

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

^ this! A similar way to think of it is that the beginning introduces your characters (cells, molecules, processes, etc) and the current state of their world, they/you encounter & overcome a challenge, and the end shows how the characters/our understanding of them have *changed* as a result

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

$2.45 billion NIH grant cuts and ~2300 terminated active research grants were DOGE'd in early 2025 Who were most affected? www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.... Early career and women researchers

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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Oh wow. I know people here have THOUGHTS. Write them up & submit!! I love that all essays have to be public before entering. This is exactly the type of conversation we need more of. (Also cash prizes + philanthropy is listening) Now which on my list should I pick 🤔? astera.org/essay-compet...

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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

This #InternationalWomensDay I want to tell the story of Lilian Vaughan Morgan. I learned of Lilian this past year - what a badass. Lilian was a leading scientist when women weren't welcome in the lab, nor even the department. But she contributed immensely to the genetics of sex determination 1/n

A photo of a young Lilian Vaughan Morgan, sitting with a book on her lab staring into the distance.

A photo of an older Lilian Vaughan Morgan, sitting at a lab bench with a microscope and dozens of glass milk bottles bunged with cotton. Lilian is in the middle of applying ether to anaesthetize a bottle of flies.

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Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Action item: The Department of Education proposed a rule that would limit who counts as a professional degree. This affects loans students can get. Under the new definition, nurses and educational degrees are not professional degree. Please comment! Link: www.regulations.gov/document/ED-...

regulations.gov

Regulations.gov

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Counterpoint to the article: “Loss of promising talent supported by these [DEI] programmes will substantially weaken our research capacity, limit innovation and substantially reduce discoveries important for driving scientific advancements.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131402/

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent - PubMed

Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent

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Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 09/12/2025

Big new blogpost! My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more. --> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...

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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing: a 🧵 1/n Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/... Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below.

1. The four-fold drain
1.1 Money
Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for
whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who
created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis,
which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024
alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit
margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher
(Elsevier) always over 37%.
Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most
consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial
difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor &
Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American
researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The
Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3
billion in that year.

A figure detailing the drain on researcher time.

1. The four-fold drain

1.2 Time
The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce,
with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure
1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material
has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs,
grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for
profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time.
The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million
unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of
peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting
widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the
authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many
review demands.
Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of
scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in
‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow
progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to
volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier,
local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with
limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging
with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks
intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision.

A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below:

1. The four-fold drain
1.1 Money
Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for
whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who
created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis,
which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024
alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit
margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher
(Elsevier) always over 37%.
Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most
consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial
difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor &
Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American
researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The
Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3
billion in that year.

The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised
scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers
first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour
resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.

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Reposted by Lauren Gonzalez

Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Curious how scientists influence policy? Join @abankston.bsky.social on Nov 13, 12–1 p.m. EST, for "From the lab to the legislature" and learn how your research experience can drive change in Congress. Register now: buff.ly/kDO5sln 🔗

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Reposted by Lauren Gonzalez

Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Applications are now open for the 2026 SDB Science Communication Internship. Graduate student and postdoc members of the Society for Developmental Biology are eligible to apply. Deadline: August 15. Learn more: www.sdbonline.org/science_comm...

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Hosted by my fabulous colleague, Dr Julia Istomina, Associate Director of the Graduate Writing Lab at Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning poorvucenter.yale.edu/writing/writ...

poorvucenter.yale.edu

The Write In Podcast

Student narratives about writing in graduate school. Each episode explores an important decision, strategy, or challenge faced by the guest.

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

🌟 New podcast alert! 🌟 In “The Write In: Grad Student Narratives,” PhD students share tips for navigating grad school & grad-level writing. 3 short & sweet episodes out now - designing writing practices for your style and deadlines, crafting your career path, and finding your perfect lab.

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María M. Hincapié Otero @mariamhincapie.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I’m so happy to share a project very close to my ❤️ launching this September: Atlas de Científicxs Latinoamericanxs que Inspiran ✨ We’re currently collecting nominations! This atlas spotlights researchers from LATAM who trained in the North & returned home to lead labs. Here’s why this matters 🧵👇

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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

We're hiring! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30219 The Cornell Department of Communication is hiring an Assistant Professor in Science, Environment, and Risk Communication! Applications received by September 15, 2025, will be given full consideration.

academicjobsonline.org

Cornell University, Department of Communication

Job #AJO30219, WDR-00053939 Assistant Professor in Science, Environment, and Risk Communication, Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, US

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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Featuring @isakoditomassi.bsky.social 🧪 The McClintock Letters is getting the attention it needs. Graduate students facing uncertainty as a result of Trump’s cuts want to draw attention to the disruptive research funding cuts by writing local Op Eds. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/s...

nytimes.com

To Protest Budget Cuts, Young Scientists Try Letters to the Editor

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Angela Andersen @angelaandersen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Opportunity Alert for Scientists Facing Unfair, Systemic Barriers! Apply for a Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion award & receive in-depth feedback on a manuscript, grant proposal, or job application. We have three great awardees this year - could YOU be next? 😊 lifescienceeditors.org/apply/

lifescienceeditors.org

Apply for a JEDI Award - Life Science Editors Foundation

“Before this backlash worsens, DEI advocates, the scientific community, universities, and federal agencies need to collectively call out the dangers of setting aside DEI and come up with robust ways t...

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Such a thought-provoking and fun piece in @the-node.bsky.social about PhD candidate Reem Abu-Shamma’s brain organoid research!

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Lauren Gonzalez @lgonzalez.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

“‘The genome is a really big place…It kind of feels like detective work because you’re trying to see where in this really big space it’s telling us to be human.’ By tweaking bits of human and chimp DNA so they behave more like their counterparts—a sort of genetic Freaky Friday—Reem can do just that”

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

The National Science Foundation marks its 75th anniversary this week. Rather than celebrate, it's time to save it. www.savensf.com/nsf-at-75-to...

NSF at 75 years, image of planetary shapes and starlight

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jp flores (he/him) @jpflores.rbind.io · 22/04/2025

Decided to drop a big op-ed project to help in this effort instead! (Sorry for those heavily invested lol 😬) Super collaborative effort from STUDENTS @ Cornell, Penn, UNC, UCLA, UAB, Hopkins, Georgetown, UCSF, Stanford, Yale, Florida, Notre Dame, Cold Springs Harbor & more @sciforgood.bsky.social

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CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠 sciencehomecoming.com

sciencehomecoming.com

Science Homecoming

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Mariah Hoye @mariahhoye.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

#neuroscience #metasci #science 📢 Calling all early-career scientists who are trying to change the culture of science and promote more rigorous research practices: The NINDS Office of Research Quality just launched the NINDS Early-Career Rigor Champions Prize: www.challenge.gov?challenge=ni...

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Skype a Scientist @skypeascientist.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Scientists! We are trying to get 1000 of us into the volunteer database by Jan 1. You'll be volunteering to speak with classrooms over video chat about your work, and answer their questions! You can volunteer for up to 5 sessions per semester. Sign up here! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

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the Node @the-node.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Are you a #DevBio/#StemCell researcher and keen to do more #SciComm? We're looking for new correspondents to work together with the Node team to develop and produce content over the coming year. We're open to any ideas💡 📅Apply by 20 Jan Find out more: thenode.biologists.com/become-a-nod...

Become a Node correspondent! Are you passionate about developmental and stem cell biology, writing, and communicating science? Apply to join the team.

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