iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 20/09/2025

I have to keep this deliberately vague, but this is a total disaster for academic research. And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?

reuters.com

Trump to impose $100,000 fee per year for H-1B visas, in blow to tech

The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.

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Janice Liedl @jliedl.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Pro tip: say no to at least 50% of requests and, whenever you decline, provide the names of two male colleagues who are shirking their share of service. (Gold star for BCCing the dean when you do so.)

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Desk rejection and request from a PO to speak about a foreign subaward this morning. Staying strong… 💪 🫠

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Dr. Kareem Carr, Ph.D. @kareemcarr.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

The US government is aiming to get rid of a quarter million people involved in science research and education by 2026. I have no words.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Something I re-learn throughout life, a little better each time: Self-care means not avoiding what scares me. This can be tricky because 'what scares me' changes over time. This week, it's reading certain papers. Reading papers used to be my main procrastination method!

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Jean-François Cudennec @limpetnerd.eurosky.social · 20/06/2025

🧪 Winner of the 2018 Nikon Small World in Motion : 16 hours of Zebrafish embryo growing its sensory nervous system 🔬 Dr. Elizabeth M. Haynes & Jiaye "Henry" He - University of Winsconsin

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Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

“That’s an awfully nice university you have there. Would be a shame if something happened to it.” -DOJ www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...

nytimes.com

University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration

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DisabledInSTEM @disabledinstem.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Since the US politics have decided to target DEI spaces, I’ve seen a huge drop of engagement in #DisabledInSTEM Disabled, disability and accessibility are part of the list of banned words for grants too really really highlights that these identities are being specifically targeted to be silenced.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Whenever I dislike a research project, I eventually discover it's because some part of it feels stale or wrong: We're not asking the right question, an assumption is bad, or some other work in the field has started to eclipse it, so it's no longer a priority. 🧵

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Judge Young's order has come in. Grant terminations in the plaintiff states or to the plaintiff orgs (APHA, UAW) are officially void and illegal. It also says that the "Challenged Directives" are arbitrary and capricious — and thus illegal as well. Now what exactly are are these directives? 🧵

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

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Dr. Rabbithole @drrabbithole.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

GOOD NEWS! The NIH guide notice prohibiting grantees from engaging in or promoting DEI activities or from engaging in "prohibited boycotts" (such as BDS) has been rescinded!!!! grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

media.tenor.com

a cartoon character says good news in front of a futurama sign

ALT: a cartoon character says good news in front of a futurama sign

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

It has taken me a long time to accept that research requires embracing discomfort as we grow our skills and grapple with the unknown. When I was starting out (including as PI), I didn't know that it was okay for things to feel so hard. It's possible to enjoy the process, even while it's tough.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

For scientists who can do it, I can’t think of a better use of their time.

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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 07/06/2025

The deadline is soon! Nature has launched its seventh global survey of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) doctoral students, which will probe graduate students’ views about their goals and challenges, and their experiences of their studies so far. #Academicsky 🧪

go.nature.com

PhD students in STEM: Nature wants to hear from you

Buried in lab work or drowning in data? Take a break and help shape the future of PhD education.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/05/2025

tl;dr — this EO co-opts the language of open science to implement a system of political control wherein presidential appointees are given broad latitude to designate any number of reasonable scientific activities and inferences as scientific misconduct, and to penalize those involved accordingly.

whitehouse.gov

Restoring Gold Standard Science

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

If any potential advisor or collaborator talks like this while in charge, wish them luck, run, and never look back.

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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

people need to internalize, very quickly, that federal research grants are a hypercompetitive contracting process not charity, and that what Uncle Sam gets in return for that money is American dominance in the future

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I recently learned there are current graduate students selling materials and coaching programs on PhD admissions. I admire their entrepreneurial spirit, but can someone explain why people with negligible to zero experience reviewing PhD applications are trusted in this role? #PhDSky #PhDLife #phd

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

How is this a response to "challenging times"--its the opposite of that. To me it looks like a capitulation to Trump. Shame on @hhmi.org

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Now is not the time for private institutions to be making the situation worse.

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David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3 www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF

Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

A PhD student and woman in a male-dominated field worried (among other things) that she wasn't assertive enough. My advice: Go easy on yourself for not being assertive enough. Some of your peers are definitely too assertive and not thinking twice about it. #womeninSTEM #academicsky #phdsky

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Michal Caspi Tal, PhD @immunofever.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Kseniia Petrova's story is worth reading www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

nytimes.com

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Jessica Tollkuhn @tollkuhn.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

please tell your letter-writers if you get the job/award!

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

An excellent description of the constant heartbreak. We’re not alone, my friends. #savensf #savenih #academicsky

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Recently saw someone who planned to send out ~100 cold emails in search of a postdoc position. 🫠 Friends don't let friends. An easier approach: 1. Read (and ideally network) carefully. Narrow your search to a few labs. Literally one to three.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

There's so much to do here, but I think advisors can help by setting clear expectations and providing encouragement during the long stretches when research effort can seem fruitless. #phdsky

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

If you’re a scientist in the U.S., or if NIH or NSF funds your work, you know this has has been one of the worst weeks of 2025. (I can’t remember the last time I felt this burnt out, dealing with one needless crisis after another.) But we are in this for the long haul. We must pace ourselves.

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Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Conclusion: building a gender/racially diverse research group both improves diversity in the academic workforce now and enhances the capacity for further improving it in the future 📈: diversity begets diversity (and vice versa), above and beyond demographic trends and field-level effects /end

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Lots of people asking whether universities would have standing. The answer is yes, because the arrests injure them—eg by deterring foreign students from participating fully in university life.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Important PSA for anyone at the start of their scientific career especially. Broader PSA for anyone who cares about advancing science.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

My quote of the day A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. Rosalynn Carter

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Academia is cool because if you're doing it right, every paper you published in the last 3 years feels inadequate now that you understand the topic better, but it'll take 3 years to get out the version where you get it more right, and you get to do that until one day you die! Isn't that cool

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

I have never appreciated the opportunity to research as much as I do now. Spent 1.5 h yesterday working with a grad student through some fun conceptual problems in one of his proposed thesis projects. It was the most rejuvenating thing I did in a very hard week.

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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

+1. Harvard standing up is great. But let's not pretend they were the first or only institution to resist. It is important to recognize the efforts happening all over, and to continue to build on those efforts collectively.

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Build relationships before you need them, folks. This is coming up so often these days in recruiting, discussions with collaborators about fallback plans, etc. The scientific community is for the most part a pretty supportive and beautiful place.

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Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

My latest in @plosbiology.org Look I get it, it seems really dark, but there are opportunities. My paper explores some ideas and tries to guide ways of thinking through the anticipated challenges. An emphasis on America’s “biohubs” and entrepreneurship journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

The essence of scientific responsibility is the inner drive to get to the bottom of things: to be discontented until one had done so; to express on reservations fully and honestly; and to be prepared to admit error. Alvin Weinberg, quoted by John Edsell in www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Two Aspects of Scientific Responsibility

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Fiona Campbell-Howes @fortrenn.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

ME (at 6am this morning): Noooo, I only have 10 days to write my first 6,000-word PhD submission! It's not enough time! I have nothing to say! ME (at just before 1pm): Oh, I've written a third of it already. #PhDLife

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

That said, it’s still a good idea to try to negotiate your postdoc stipend! Just remember that higher lifetime earnings come from being a more competitive candidate for a faculty job, assuming you stay in academia. #phdsky #academicsky #postdocsky

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stem phd mentor @stemphdmentor.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

How to choose a postdoc, if you’re angling for a PI position - 🧵 (I see people overcomplicating this all the time.) 1️⃣ Where can you write the best papers in <3 y in an area in which you want to grow? Try to identify the kind of expertise you want to have, the scientist you want to become.

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Eoin Brodie @elbrodie.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

US students. Looking to apply to graduate school? Had an offer rescinded recently? The University of British Columbia in Canada will re-open the application portal in some departments for US students from April 14-18. Details: www.grad.ubc.ca/us-applicant... #ubc #AcademicSky #PhDSky #ScienceSky

grad.ubc.ca

US Applicant Week

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