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Matthieu Groussin sits with three other people on stools in front of a low table, on which there are several bowls of food. Another person stands above Groussin spooning something into a bowl.
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples
Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples

Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.

Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.

international collaboration

Man looking up at a telescope
Professors at Bombed Kharkiv University Struggle to Continue Their Work
Stefan Weichert | Jun 2, 2022 | 5 min read
With the Russian army nearby, faculty at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine are trying to return to normal.
Illustration of scientists
Opinion: How Large International Collaborations Have Fared in the Pandemic
Sadye Paez, Giulio Formenti, and Erich D. Jarvis | May 2, 2022 | 5 min read
COVID-19 has challenged the progress of Big Science. Here are the lessons learned.
special report
cracked and jagged Russian flag
Russian Scientists Grapple with an Uncertain Future
Anna Azvolinsky | Mar 25, 2022 | 10+ min read
The now month-long invasion of Ukraine has resulted in changes in policies and severances of international scientific collaborations with Russian universities and researchers. The war has also precipitated a moral reckoning for many scientists in Russia.
university building
Harvard Chemist Found Guilty of Lying About Chinese Funding
Chloe Tenn | Dec 22, 2021 | 3 min read
In a win for the US Department of Justice’s China Initiative, Charles Lieber was convicted of hiding his financial ties to China from federal agencies.
Hand drawing a red line between the UK and the rest of the European Union. Concept of Brexit.
How Brexit Is Transforming the UK’s STEM Community
Katarina Zimmer | Nov 1, 2021 | 8 min read
Scientists face the ramifications of the country’s departure from the European Union, from delays in laboratory supplies to difficulties hiring international students and faculty.
WHO logo on building
WHO Restarts Investigation of COVID-19 Emergence with New Panel
Chloe Tenn | Sep 28, 2021 | 3 min read
A new, more diverse group of researchers is being appointed take over the stalled investigation.
the World Health Organization headquarters building
BioHub Network Aims to Advance Sharing of Pathogens for Research
Shawna Williams | Jun 6, 2021 | 5 min read
The World Health Organization–led program will promote equity in addition to facilitating access to samples, a WHO official involved in the project tells The Scientist.
Gene Exchange Among Gut Bacteria Is Linked to Industrialization
Catherine Offord | Mar 31, 2021 | 5 min read
A study of human populations around the world detects differing rates of horizontal gene transfer in the microbiome depending on what kind of society those people live in.
Science with Borders: Researchers Navigate Red Tape
Max Kozlov | Mar 1, 2021 | 10 min read
Scientists who work with foreign biological specimens face a patchwork of permits that threaten to block their projects, with potentially harmful consequences for the ecosystems they study.
Steps to End “Colonial Science” Slowly Take Shape
Ashley Yeager | Jan 1, 2021 | 10 min read
Scientists from countries with fewer resources are pushing collaborators from higher-income countries to shed biases and behaviors that perpetuate social stratification in the research community.
department of justice doj fbi china scholars foreign talents academics projects asbmb
Racial Profiling Concerns Amid Crackdown on Scholars’ China Ties
Diana Kwon | Sep 17, 2020 | 8 min read
Several organizations suggest that a case against a University of Kansas professor is the latest example of the US government targeting researchers for their ethnicity.
Researchers from All Over the World Pitch In to Fight COVID-19
The Scientist | Jul 7, 2020 | 2 min read
Scientists are lending their expertise—whatever it may be—to help develop tests, medical devices, and other tools to try to save lives during the pandemic.
Opinion: Scientists in the US and China Collaborating on COVID-19
Jenny J. Lee and John P. Haupt | Jun 22, 2020 | 4 min read
Despite high-profile political tensions between the two countries, researchers in the US and China are working together now more than ever, according to our bibliometric study.
The Pandemic’s Effects on Recruiting International STEM Trainees
Abby Olena, PhD | Apr 29, 2020 | 6 min read
The closure of visa offices, travel and immigration restrictions, and general anxiety create barriers for the international graduate students and postdocs who play a huge role in research in the United States.
a photo of Cusco, Peru, showing empty streets
Border Closing Strands Professors, Students in Peru
Shawna Williams | Mar 20, 2020 | 3 min read
Under lockdown in a hotel, members of a plant ecology course continue to work and study as they seek a way to return home.
Publishing in English Presents Challenges for International Authors
Jef Akst | Mar 10, 2020 | 8 min read
When submitting manuscripts to Western journals, authors face issues that go beyond language barriers.
foreign talents program disclosure federal agency funding nih doe nsf
Opinion: Disclosures Scientists Must Make of Foreign Ties
Derek Adams and Kristen Schwendinger | Feb 12, 2020 | 5 min read
Federal science agencies vary in their requirements. Here’s how researchers can follow the rules.
brazil ministry of education bolsonaro science conference
Brazilian Government Limits Academics’ Conference Attendance
Kerry Grens | Feb 11, 2020 | 1 min read
The Ministry of Education’s new rule says only one federally employed researcher per institution can attend international scholarly meetings, Times Higher Education reports.
boston logan airport iran engineering graduate student northeastern university visa customs and border protection immigration iran
Iranian Students Denied Entry to US
Kerry Grens | Jan 28, 2020 | 2 min read
Despite having valid visas to attend universities, more than a dozen would-be graduate students have been detained at the airport and sent back to Iran in recent months.
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