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Tobacco industry-funded research, peer review, and nannying

Tobacco industry-funded research, peer review, and nannying

Aside from the occasional cigar (once every five years or so), I'm one of those smug "never smoked" gits. You then might think that I'm all for plain packaging, not publishing tobacco industry-funded research, and completely against the " normalization" of smoking via the evidently evil medium of e-cigarettes.

Credit where credit is due

Credit where credit is due

Liz Allen, Amy Brand, Jo Scott, Micah Altman and Marjorie Hlava are trialling digital taxonomies to help researchers to identify their contributions to collaborative projects. Research today is rarely a one-person job.

Ein Fünftel der Schweizer Stiftungen unterstützt Wissenschaft

Ein Fünftel der Schweizer Stiftungen unterstützt Wissenschaft

Ein Studie zeigt, dass immer mehr Stiftungen in der Schweiz die Wissenschaft fördern.

The post-doctoral situation: interview with Gregory Petsko

The post-doctoral situation: interview with Gregory Petsko

Gregory Petsko discusses some of his own findings about the post-doctoral situation: "We asked institutions to tell us how many post-docs they had. Almost without exception, they couldn't do it."

Nations chasing Harvard merge colleges to ascend rankings

Nations chasing Harvard merge colleges to ascend rankings

Countries from Finland to Portugal are shaping their higher education policies based on outside rankings, eager for the validation and attention the annual lists bestow, even while they are criticized as flawed or misleading.

Western science severs ties with Russia

Western science severs ties with Russia

NASA Scientific relations between Russia and the West have reached their lowest ebb since the cold war, after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

Evidence-based science policy

Evidence-based science policy

Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the European Commission, discusses evidence-based policy and nurturing and supporting a European scientific culture.

Eight (no, nine!) problems with big data

Eight (no, nine!) problems with big data

There is no doubt that big data is a valuable tool that has already had a critical impact in certain areas. But because of its popularity, we need to be levelheaded about what big data can and can’t do.

The sexiest job of the 21st century

The sexiest job of the 21st century

The sudden appearance of data scientists on the business scene reflects the fact that companies are now wrestling with information that comes in varieties and volumes never encountered before.

Science funding and short-term economic activity

Science funding and short-term economic activity

New data show the short-term economic activity generated by science funding, by Julia Lane.

Internet publicity of data problems in the bioscience literature correlates with enhanced corrective action

Internet publicity of data problems in the bioscience literature correlates with enhanced corrective action

Publicity spurs science study retractions 7 times more often.

On the time spent preparing grant proposals

On the time spent preparing grant proposals

Academic research can be hugely stressful. This study shows that the demands of applying for a research grant also carry an emotional toll.

The annual report on the economic status of the profession

The annual report on the economic status of the profession

The proportion of non-tenure-track and non-tenured faculty posts continues to rise across all US institutions. Overall proportion of assistant professors in non-tenure-track posts was 23.4% for 2013–14, compared with 20.8% in 2010–11.

The impact of universities on the UK economy

The impact of universities on the UK economy

The report highlights universities' increasingly significant impact on the economy in terms of output, contribution to GDP, job creation, and overseas investment.

Biomedical research: are all the results correct?

Biomedical research: are all the results correct?

Poor reproducibility is only one of many factors that together make biomedical research highly inefficient.

Appell an Europa unter Beschuss

Appell an Europa unter Beschuss

Gross war die Unterstützung für einen Appell, den Studierendenvertreter im Zuge der Einwanderungsinitiative veröffentlicht haben. Doch mit dem Aufruf sind längst nicht alle einverstanden. Ein offener Brief von Hochschulangehörigen übt deutliche Kritik.

Solutions sought for immigration conundrum

Solutions sought for immigration conundrum

How can February’s vote in favour of limiting immigration be implemented without harming relations with the European Union or damaging the economy? Many proposals have been made, but each seems to have more opponents than supporters.