By Sonia Hall In a paper published today in PLoS ONE, Moneta-Koehler et al. demonstrated that scores on the Graduate Record Exam are not predictive of success in biomedical graduate school. Taking the GRE is required by nearly every biomedical graduate school, and higher GRE scores have been assumed to be indicative of success in […]
Blog
In this section the Steering Committee will invite specific contributions on important issues. for each item click on the title to read the full post.
U.K.’s Medical Research Council encourages use of preprints
By Kelsey Hampton On Tuesday, the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom released a statement “actively encouraging” researchers to share pre-peer reviewed manuscripts on preprint servers such as bioRxiv and others. The MRC’s endorsement of including preprints in grant applications adds to the increasing support in scientific communities to adopt a rapid, effective system […]
Encouraging and expanding research collaborations
By Elizabeth Moses Recent political events in the U.S. and the U.K. have cast significant doubt on the future of international research collaborations. The decision in the U.K. to exit the European Union has generated uncertainty about the future of the U.K.’s international research partnerships. In the U.S., some scientists have expressed concern that president-elect […]
21st Century Cures Act now law
Yesterday, President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law. The bill passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. The 21st Century Cures Act is nearly 1,000 pages with 25 separate Titles, or sections. Titles I and II deal specifically with the National Institutes of Health and the conduct of basic research. […]
Challenges and recommendations for the future director of the NIH
By Swagata Basu Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health is slated to step down from his role after 7 years. The absence of a Senate-confirmed NIH director, responsible for managing all NIH programs and activities and setting agency policies, could have serious policy implications for the research enterprise, especially at a time […]
Competitive advantage for early career researchers with previous NIH funding
By Kelsey Hampton Intense competition for a limited amount of federal funding has long been a reality for biomedical researchers. In a post on the Open Mike blog, Michael Lauer, deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, and his team examined the pool of research project grant applicants to determine what […]
Preparing Ph.D.s for non-academic careers
By Jennifer Nguyen As more Ph.D.s are turning towards careers outside of academia, it is important for universities to equip them with the training and skills necessary to succeed. In 2013, the National Institutes of Health launched the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training program to encourage universities to explore methods focusing on professional training of […]
RBR comments on use of preprints in grant review
Today, Rescuing Biomedical Research submitted a response to the National Institutes of Health’s request for information regarding the use of preprints and other interim research products in grant review. We strongly support the ASAPbio position in this regard, and our response is highly similar to the ASAPbio response to the RFI. From the response: A […]
New study on next generation of researchers begins
Today, the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Science announced the formation of a 16-person committee to work on the Next Generation of Researchers study. This study was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in the fiscal 2016 omnibus appropriations package that passed in December 2015. Similar legislative language has been […]
Injunction granted to block FLSA overtime rule update
This evening, a federal judge granted a preliminary, nationwide injunction to prevent the implementation of an update to the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule. This rule change would have increased the pay of postdoctoral scholars. After a lengthy review process, the Department of Labor released its final version of the FLSA overtime rule in […]