All Comments
Listed in reverse chronological order. Click on the commenter’s name to see the full comment.
Vaibhav Pai: Tufts
Posted: May 29, 2015
Topic: Errors in Science
5/29/2015
NIH has a vested interest in publishing the research conducted using its funds even if it validates or refutes (negative result) previous findings. NIH should invest in creating a centralized (online) publishing outlet (free for NIH funded research/researchers) that accepts individual experiments, negative results and validation results with a post-publication review model. Such a model has already been tried in the field of Physics and is enormously successful in cutting down the publication costs…
Vaibhav Pai: Tufts
Posted: May 29, 2015
Topic: Effects of Hypercompetition
5/29/2015
It would be wiser to not focus too much on solving the harmful effects of hyper-competition but rather highly focus on solving the hyper-competition itself. Tackling the hyper-competition will automatically alleviate all the harmful effects that arise from hyper-competition.
0 comments
Julian Menter: Morehouse
Posted: May 27, 2015
Topic: Other Topics
5/27/2015
I think the ideas articulated by the “gang of four” are good as far as they go, but:
Biomedical research has come up with some fantastic results based mainly on high technology. But that is one – dimensional. It tends to lead to the results that we are observing. Young scientists, especially those at have – not institutions (see above) are not usually able to avail themselves of the expensive high – tech gadgets necessary for such projects.
Matthew Cook: UCSF
Posted: May 22, 2015
Topic: Postdoctoral Training
5/22/2015
The vast majority of incoming faculty have no background in management and receive no formal mentorship training. I propose a mandatory, structured 5-day training upon new faculty hiring, and another session after earning tenure.
Jessica Lao: UCSF
Posted: May 22, 2015
Topic: Postdoctoral Training
5/22/2015
We propose that postdocs have access to structured career development and exploration tools, currently available to graduate students at many institutions. Postdocs (and the ir mentors) should be prepared for more than one career outcome. Making myIDP, my Individual Development Plan, an official requirement for postdocs would facilitate this goal.
John Denning: Cornell
Posted: May 20, 2015
Topic: Graduate Education
5/20/2015
I propose three actions to whittle down the number of PhDs to only the very best pool of future scientists. The overarching theme is to make it more costly to employ graduate students and to raise the standard for admission:
Philip Clifford: UI Chicago
Posted: May 20, 2015
Topic: Other
5/19/2015
Overlooked in the topic categories is taking control of wasteful spending by scientists. There needs to be some accountability for the way direct costs are spent.
Michael Gavino: UCSF
Posted: May 19, 2015
Topic: Postdoctoral Training
5/16/2015
The postdoc is a position that is at once trainee and employee. While this feature has remained constant over the years, the circumstances that a postdoc inhabits today have changed much from those of even a decade ago…
Katherine Thompson-Peer: UCSF
Posted: May 19, 2015
Topic: Workforce diversity
5/14/2015
Postdocs who are trying to raise a family while training for a scientific career need more support…Increasing support for postdoc parents would go a long way to increasing diversity at the postdoc and faculty stages, especially in the STEM fields where postdocs are longer and more common…
Megan Mayerle (P-value): UCSF
Posted: May 19, 2015
Topic: Postdoctoral training
5/14/15
1) Increase the number of Institutional and National fellowships for postdocs. 2) Increase the training related budget for postdoctoral fellows, and ensure that this money goes toward research, not overhead or health care…
Becca Weinberg: Michigan State
Posted: May 13, 2015
Topic: Graduate Education
5/12/15
The first thing to do for graduate students is for NIH obtain from previously funded training grants the best strategies to track student outcomes. Then we must require all graduate programs to track students.
Alex Carli: Harvard
Posted: May 7, 2015
Topic: Government Sources
5/7/2015
The quality of the federal workforce needs to be maintained by keeping employees more accountable for their actions. In order to encourage accountability, supervisors need to be able to warn, demote, and even remove employees based on overtly dysfunctional behavior…..
Drew MacKellar: Harvard
Posted: May 6, 2015
Topic: Staff Scientists
5/4/2015
Many of the people I have spoken to about the structure of the US Biomedical research structure have emphasized a role for staff scientists (and particularly in increasing their number as a portion of the workforce) in improving outcomes, and I agree with that assessment….The expanded use of permanent staff may need to be encouraged at first by funding agencies such as the NIH, but ultimately PIs may find their interests better served by a greater variety of levels of seniority among the members of their labs, too.
Drew MacKellar: Harvard
Posted: May 6, 2015
Topic: Publication Processes
5/4/2015
While journals remain a crucial part of the dissemination and evaluation of research results, I consider the basic paper format to be in need of extensive updating.…Of course, a concise, human-readable summary will always be required, but journals should encourage authors to augment this wherever possible with other media and online tools to make their data easier to grasp as well as reinterpret and build upon.
Nadya Vasilyeva: UC Berkeley
Posted: May 6, 2015
Topic: Infrastructure Support
5/2/2015
Promote special conference registration fee category for people without institutional support (including post docs, adjuncts, etc.)
Drew MacKellar: Harvard
Posted: May 6, 2015
Topic: Government Sources
5/4/2015
As contributing the lion’s share of research funding in the US, federal government agencies like the NIH and NSF are crucial in shaping the culture and direction of science. In conversations with other scientists, I’ve heard several themes of proposed changes in the way these agencies distribute funds….