Will an intuitive AI program like OpenAI’s ChatGPT be able to imitate the vocabulary, grammar and most importantly, content, that a scientist or researcher would want to publish? And should it be able to?
How have rolling deadlines changed the proposal-funding landscape?
How important is a data management plan for researchers?
Is your h index really a comprehensive indicator of your research's reach?
Is it necessary to share ALL your data? Is transparency a good thing or does it make researchers “vulnerable,” like author Nathan Schneider writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education article, “Why Researchers Shouldn’t Share All Their Data.”
We have all needed scholarly articles to cite in our academic careers. Now, there is a place where researchers can get millions of them, all on one site. Named after the Library of Alexandria, OpenAlex is an index of over 200 million scientific documents including publication sources, author information and research topics that can be ...
Fresh on the heels of an Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) integrity overhaul, its leader, Eric Lander resigned in early February. This doesn’t look particularly good for the OSTP, an office trying to quell fraud and increase scientific accountability in society. For instance, the White House OSTP stated: “Violations of scientific integrity should be ...
The OSTP has rolled out a five-pronged approach to increasing the reputation of science in the U.S.
Time for a quick pulse-check on the Biden presidency. You may recall his Tweet: “Science will always be at the forefront of my administration,” (@JoeBiden). So, we ask again at the The Big Idea: how has the Biden administration gone about implementing a return to science through appointments, funding and policy? Uphill Battle According to the ...
Learn how researchers and scientists can give girls a "leg up" in STEM classes and careers.
The proposed 2022 White House Budget — is more money the only answer? By Claudia Neuhauser, Ph. D. Associate Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, Professor of Mathematics, University of Houston Brian Herman, Ph. D. Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and former Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota and University of Texas Health, ...
It has been – and for a while, will be – everywhere. The words: COVID-19, coronavirus and pandemic. According to an article by Holly Else in Nature, “coined in April by Madhukar Pai, a tuberculosis researcher at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, ‘covidization’ describes the distorting impact of the pandemic on the way science is ...
Could we, in a few short decades, be living in a quantum computer-filled world? Will superpositioning and entanglements be the wave of the future?
Is free speech for faculty protected? Public universities and academic freedom have many interesting cases to ponder.
Teleworking in the research enterprise may just may be the new normal.
Making Research More Credible for Public Consumption “In the 17th century, many scientists kept new findings secret so that others could not claim the results as their own. Prominent figures of the time, including Isaac Newton, often avoided announcing their discoveries for fear that someone else would claim priority,” stated the authors of On Being ...
How Social Media Sows Confusion “Social media platforms were designed for engagement and therefore revenue. Unfortunately, the most engaging content is usually controversial and polarizing. This means that a platform’s algorithms often end up contributing to the problem,” said Ali Tehrani, writing for the Forbes Technology Council. Social media gives universities and researchers alike a platform ...
Why the Constant Barrage of Headlines Adds to the Hysteria “In the old days, on the first day we would report what happened. On the second day, we would tell what the reaction was. On the third day, we would analyze what it means. Now CNN tells you what happened and five minutes later some ...
Exploring the Confusion Among the Masses “If you have diabetes, some research suggests that eating seven eggs a week increases heart disease risk. However, other research failed to find the same connection. Still other research suggests that eating eggs may increase the risk of developing diabetes in the first place. More research is needed to ...
By Claudia Neuhauser, Ph.D., Associate Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer, Professor of Mathematics, University of Houston Brian Herman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and former Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota and University of Texas Health, San Antonio We read several newspapers every morning. Like many other people, we get notifications ...
The #MeToo Movement in the sciences, known by some as #MeTooSTEM, found that 50 percent of women in a science-related career have been harassed. How do we move forward?
President Biden seems to be putting scientific research first. Will the new science appointments, especially in his Cabinet, mean more funding?
How close is six feet? Try to picture two golden retrievers standing nose to tail. Or a regular mattress. Or even the width of the front of your car. All of these measure in at about six feet. But what happens when human research subjects need to be closer than six feet away from the research team?
Q&A with Alexandra Albinak, Johns Hopkins University January 21, 2020. That was when news first broke that the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, had arrived in the United States. The next three months saw the country scrambling to understand the scale of what was about to happen. In the midst of this, universities began shuttering their campuses ...
“We’re not spending money on that anymore. We consider that to be a waste of your money.” These words regarding climate change were spoken by Mick Mulvaney, director of the Trump Administration’s Office of Management and Budget. The government has rolled back policies that aimed to slow down climate change and reduce environmental pollution. It ...
SEO Changes If you’re stranded on an island, it’s probably not smart to go into hiding and just hope someone finds you. You’re better off dedicating your time to making a fire, spelling HELP with logs, or sharpening your hunting skills. During this pandemic, it would best serve your company’s future to dedicate your time ...
PPP loans for startups Unless you’ve been vacationing on Mars for the past six months, you know that a $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was recently approved by Congress. Business owners are sifting through the fine print to see if they qualify for PPP loans for startups. The stimulus ...
Biotech startups stand tall At a time when the business world is reeling, biotech companies are still hanging on. Many biotech startups have successfully pivoted their entire platforms to focus on coronavirus-related work. Of course, these companies aren’t without their struggles. Clinical trials have come to a pause, finding investors has become more difficult and ...
Look around you. We have a pandemic pumping paranoia into the public. We have the longest unemployment lines we’ve seen in 90 years. Tensions with China teetering on the brink of collapse. Sports are cancelled. Concerts are a memory. Parties are forbidden. We live in a time of suffocating anxiety. A time of uncertainty. It ...
Finding funding tougher than ever Almost eight months in to the pandemic and many startups are still fighting to survive. Finding funding has become harder in an era the New York Times calls “The Great Unwinding.” But not every startup is succumbing to a bleak fate. Some have shown unique strategies for attaining funding. Here, ...
These months have been difficult. Every person has tired of the quarantine. Tired of the anxiety, the endless memes on social media, the debates. At the same time, we’re facing issues of race relations. These issues are taxing. But higher education is strong. Universities are using its font of resources to understand these important issues ...
One might not expect the game of checkers to have anything to do with Artificial Intelligence, but the game really marked the beginning of machine learning in 1959. Pioneered by an MIT professor named Arthur Lee Samuel, it was discovered that teaching a simple strategy game to a computer is not so simple when every ...
Working remotely While most of the country is still in quarantine mode, some states have started to open up. Even still, businesses have learned a lot about their operations during their shutdown. Some companies are opting to continue operations virtually; having employees working remotely. Many companies have come to the realization that remote work offers ...
Reopening during COVID As startups venture into uncharted waters, founders might tremble at the thought of unpredictability. The future for startups was clearer six months ago. Now, in post-COVID America, small businesses are left out in the cold. Confused and alone. What safety protocols do we need to implement? What’s a smart way to re-open ...
Repurposing operations Companies nationwide are repurposing operations to help America overcome the pandemic. Let’s take a look at why repurposing is important and how it helps an entire country. Sometimes in sports, a new player will join the team. Sometimes that player is so good, we consider them a superstar. Someone that can do almost ...
Learn about some scenarios that may be causing you something known as Zoom Fatigue.
Virtual call of duty When we last covered ways to make the most of your virtual call, there were some tidbits that we didn’t go over. Here, we’ll cover these tips to give you a more comprehensive understanding of just how you can maximize your virtual experience in the age of quarantine. Is your webcam ...
With the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a natural uptick in the amount of funded Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grants from the NSF. With an abbreviated timeline, these grants go to the researchers on the frontlines.
COVID-19 PPE usage Although PPE usage is second nature to PIs, it’s worth reiterating some important points. Especially now that we’ve found ourselves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we’ll take a look at some common PPE questions. We will refer to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as our source for answering ...
Face mask usage Last week, Houston Judge Lina Hidalgo announced an order that would mandate Houstonians wear face masks for the next 30 days or else face a fine of up to $1,000. While this order drew its share of criticism, it sparked interest in the effectiveness of masks and face mask usage in general. ...
“Rapid and rigorous research into the impact of COVID-19 on mental health is needed to limit the impact of the pandemic.” The impact on the mental health of individuals may be long-lasting and significant, say experts.
The rise of virtual meetings Even in the pre-pandemic world, more employees were working remotely in America than ever before. Participating in virtual meetings is the norm, at least for now. The shift came rather abruptly. Millions of Americans had only a few days to make the transition. People are now working on laptops where ...
Fighting COVID-19 Fighting COVID-19 has become priority number one for everyone, everywhere. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the nation’s economy, startup companies are now feeling those effects. Startup layoffs and furloughs have begun to take place en masse. Startups have reached a point where they are worried about demand for their services ...
Many researchers have begun to work from home due to the novel new virus, COVID-19, with only essential personnel able to work on university campuses. For a researcher, what is considered “essential personnel”?
Imagine a hypothetical “Dear Abby” letter to the science community: “I am the principal investigator and corresponding author on a paper detailing research findings in our lab. A leading investigator at another university contacted me and states that she cannot duplicate our results. I re-ran the samples analyzed by my post-doc and I couldn’t either. ...
Remote work by the numbers According to the State of Remote Work 2017 report, over 60% of engineers working in product development work remotely about once a week. That’s 20% more than average. The report also sheds light on why startup settings are particularly ideal for working remotely. The report found that small businesses are ...
Silicon Valley has been a tech startup paradise for decades. It has been described as the modern day Florence in the Renaissance. Tech gods from Apple and Google to Facebook and Twitter were born here. We can credit Silicon Valley as the birthplace for such world-changing innovations like smartphones, microprocessor chips, Tesla automation, and WIFI-enabled ...
As the partial government shutdown loomed, academic institutions explored ways this might affect their research operations. Although we expect delays in processing proposals and award payouts, the impact on the institution may have been much less than expected. Consequently, most of the impact occurred at the individual PI level. That is where research that required ...
