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a middle-aged male scientist wearing a white lab coat points at a computer screen while a younger woman scientist also wearing a lab coat looks on.
Younger Scientists Are More Innovative, Study Finds
On average, researchers’ impact dropped by one-half to two-thirds over their careers.
Younger Scientists Are More Innovative, Study Finds
Younger Scientists Are More Innovative, Study Finds

On average, researchers’ impact dropped by one-half to two-thirds over their careers.

On average, researchers’ impact dropped by one-half to two-thirds over their careers.

NIH funding

magnifying glass in front of a stack of paper
Opinion: Science Needs Better Fraud Detection—And More Whistleblowers
Aman Majmudar, Undark | Oct 26, 2022 | 5 min read
An influential paper on amyloid protein and Alzheimer’s disease potentially fabricated data. Why did it take 16 years to flag?
A building behind trees
Ford Foundation Sunsets Diversity Fellowships
Andy Carstens | Sep 27, 2022 | 6 min read
For more than 50 years, the program has served as a pipeline to get more scholars of color into academic institutions.
Approved grant abstract with hype words
Major, Groundbreaking Increase in Hype in Grant Applications
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Aug 30, 2022 | 3 min read
Projects funded by the National Institutes of Health increasingly employ subjective and promotional language in describing research, a study finds.
A red sign that reads “Clinical Center, Building 10” outside of a brick building
NIH Fails to Enforce Rules for Reporting Clinical Trial Results
Amanda Heidt | Aug 18, 2022 | 3 min read
A review by the US Office of Inspector General found that only about half of the scientists running clinical trials funded by the NIH in 2019 and 2020 appropriately recorded their findings in a federal database, as is legally required.
smiling woman with hands on hips with blackboard in background
In Deep Water With Gül Dölen
Peter Hess, Spectrum | Aug 4, 2022 | 10 min read
A researcher’s existential crisis led to a scientific breakthrough.
President Biden meeting with a group of people in the oval office
Biden Orders More Research on Long COVID
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Apr 6, 2022 | 2 min read
A new presidential memorandum requires the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate a government-wide push to generate a research action plan for the condition.
Large brutalist concrete building
ARPA-H to Be Within NIH but Independently Managed by HHS
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Apr 1, 2022 | 3 min read
After lobbying efforts from lawmakers and science advisors, the new, DARPA-like biomedical research agency will be a part of the National Institutes of Health, but its director will report directly to the secretary of Health and Human Services.
Brick building with white pillars and three banners spelling "UNC"
UNC Research Chief Admits to Plagiarism, Resigns
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 11, 2022 | 2 min read
Geneticist Terry Magnuson steps down as vice-chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after he copied text from multiple sources he found online into a grant application. 
Capitol on a sunny day
US Spending Bill to Provide New Funds for Science and Health
Catherine Offord | Mar 10, 2022 | 1 min read
The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives yesterday, will increase research agencies’ budgets by around 5 percent in 2022 and support the creation of a new health agency.
man standing in front of gene sequencing machines
Q&A: Nearly Every Single Human Gene Can Be Linked to Cancer
Dan Robitzski | Oct 29, 2021 | 6 min read
The Scientist spoke with University of Liverpool aging and longevity researcher João Pedro de Magalhães about how human biases can influence scientific priorities and outcomes in genetics.
NIH Director Francis Collins receiving his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on December 2020.
Francis Collins to Retire as NIH Director by Year’s End
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Oct 5, 2021 | 3 min read
Collins has announced his intent to step down after leading the National Institutes of Health for more than 12 years.
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NIH Changes Extension Policy to Better Support Women PIs
Chloe Tenn | Sep 20, 2021 | 2 min read
The revision allows more time on previous extensions due to COVID-19 and other life events such as childbirth that disproportionately impact early-career women in science.  
photograph of the US Capitol Building at sunset
US House Committee Proposes Increases to Research Funding
Annie Melchor | Jul 14, 2021 | 2 min read
Although many of the hikes are less than what the Biden administration had requested, the draft legislation calls for a boost in spending for agencies like NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.
Pain Researcher Quits Academia, Takes Lab Home with Him
Jef Akst | May 1, 2021 | 6 min read
After resigning from the University of New England last year, Geoffrey Bove continues to study the effects of massage on rats in a facility he set up in his house.
fetal cells, fetal stem cells, policy, Biden administration, Trump administration, NIH
NIH Reverses Limits on Human Fetal Tissue Research
Amanda Heidt | Apr 19, 2021 | 3 min read
A new ruling removes the requirement that grants and proposals using the material receive approval from an ethical review board, reverting to the process in place before 2019.
Biden administration, Trump administration, science policy, politics, research funding, public health, climate change, NSF, NIH, CDC
Science Advocates’ Wishlist for the Biden Administration
Amanda Heidt | Jan 7, 2021 | 6 min read
From immigration reform to climate change amelioration, researchers and science policy advocates share their hopes for 2021 and beyond.
2020 in Scientists’ Own Words
Abby Olena, PhD | Dec 23, 2020 | 5 min read
The world was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, but researchers rose to all manner of challenges.
an illustration of the earth with lines illustrating its geomagnetic fields
Paper Proposing COVID-19, Magnetism Link to Be Retracted
Shawna Williams | Nov 4, 2020 | 4 min read
The study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, has attracted widespread derision from researchers.
Most Members of Federal Fetal Tissue Ethics Panel Oppose Abortion
Lisa Winter | Aug 3, 2020 | 3 min read
The members of a new advisory board to the NIH met for the first time and will weigh in on federal funding for grants that rely on donated tissue from abortions.
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