When reviewing PhD applications this cycle, I made small notes of things that stood out to me. Both good and bad. I think it could be helpful to those considering applying this Fall. gonzales.science/resource-blo...

Reviewing PhD Applications: A stream of consciousness — Gonzales Lab

A list of notes takes in real-time when reviewing PhD applications and interviews

gonzales.science

We snagged two GRFPs and one honorable mention this cycle. Super proud of the lab and the great quality we’re able to recruit! gonzales.science/lab-news/apr...

April 15, 2025: The lab lands multiple NSF GRFPs — Gonzales Lab

The lab snagged multiple NSF GRFPs!! A huge congrats to Camila Romero and incoming BME PhD student Lauren Iskander on their awards! Hailey Edelman also received an honorable mention. We are so proud o...

gonzales.science

The lab has had a hell of a month and I’m excited for some upcoming announcements… …but for now please enjoy these pics as we move step-by-step towards simultaneous ephys and two-photon imaging with our flexible & semi transparent electrodes

So as of this week it appears the lab is now in the NHP ephys game Recorded with thin film flexible electrodes

i want to neuropixels these things

LE Draig (Louise)@ledraig.bsky.social · 2y ago

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

There’s been some talk on here about communicating more with undergrads about science funding, policies, outlook etc. I admit I was skeptical there would be interest. I polled my course. 70% were interested in having a discussion. The other 30% were “maybe interested.” 0% were not interested.

This new Atlantic piece on the timeline of the NIH shutdown reads like the script to a new Soderbergh film. It is so, so dark and perfectly captures the evil and intentional chaos behind everything we've experienced over the last month www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

Inside the Collapse at the NIH

Administration officials pressured the NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency’s own lawyers to restart grant funding now.

theatlantic.com

More bad news

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2y ago

NASA announced on Monday that the odds that an asteroid would smash into Earth in 2032 have dropped to nearly zero.

Microsoft is inventing new forms of matter for quantum computing before making Outlook or Teams usable without feeling the pain of a thousand suns

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2y ago

Microsoft unveils chip it says could bring quantum computing within years

Awesome thread and be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · 2y ago

NIH indirects case update: Hearing ongoing now, and I'll try to live tweet some notable exchanges. Prior to more detailed arguments, Judge Kelley starts off with a few point questions to both sides: (I'm paraphrasing here)

Nice to see McKnight digging in when others are stepping back

Teaching citizens about science 🤝 Teaching students about being a citizen

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 2y ago

In a special edition of her “How to teach this paper” column, Ashley Juavinett @analog-ashley.bsky.social explains how to best educate students about how the business of scientific research actually works. www.thetransmitter.org/how-to-teach... #neuroskyence

I just covered this for @thetransmitter.bsky.social — will keep following! www.thetransmitter.org/funding/fede...

Federal Register hold makes ‘end run’ around court pause on NIH funding freeze

NIH-related updates to the Federal Register, which are required for the scheduling of study sections and advisory councils, are on hold indefinitely, according to an email reviewed by <i>The Transmitt...

thetransmitter.org

NIH meetings are still not being announced in the federal register, so nearly all study sections and councils after this week are not going to happen. This is basically a freeze on funding new grants...

Anita Devineni@anitadevineni.bsky.social · 2y ago

Sounds like upcoming NIH SS/council meetings not posted in the federal register before 1/21 are not going to meet - nothing was posted since then and they must be announced 15 days in advance 🙁 You can see if your meeting is listed: www.federalregister.gov/documents/se... (e.g. type the SS name)

2018 vs 2025. This dude has been coming to lab with me since he was in diapers 😭

We’re official doing two photon imaging (and chronic too!). So much work to do but all of these firsts are special

also this same org has this super useful infographic, breaking down the difference between direct and indirect (also called Facilities and Administration) costs and what F&A costs can and cannot be used for at a research university or institute

Rebecca D. Burdine, PhD@rburdine1.bsky.social · 2y ago

PDF fact sheet: www.aau.edu/sites/defaul...

This week's sensorimotor superlab reading list is out @andpru.bsky.social @diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social @paulgribble.bsky.social #neuroskyence #psychscisky #Sensorimotor https://superlab.ca/posts/2025-02-07-list281.html

Dear biologists & neuroscientists -- I'd like to collect some cursory data on what the "typical" breakdown of funding between federal & private looks like in labs. If you run a research lab or know enough about yours, could you fill this small form out? forms.gle/PEzWEYojBjfj...

Neuroscience & biology lab funding

What is the current rough breakdown of funding sources for your lab? The answers below should add to 100%!

forms.gle

Ashley Juavinett, PhD@ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social · 2y ago

I’ve decided that explicitly teaching about how science funding works needs to be a part of my neurobiology lab course — it’s something I haven’t included before, and that was an oversight. Please send any teaching resources you might find helpful. I’ll share what I end up developing.

Are you an HHMI-funded researcher affected by the cancellation today of IC3 (Inclusive Excellence 3)? Find me at mwadman@aaas.org or on Signal: meredithwadman.13

This is so embarrassing

Cooper Battle@chbattle.com · 2y ago

Extremely disappointed to see HHMI decide to kill their Inclusive Excellence program, including terminating the current IE3 awards to over a hundred institutions effective this year in the middle of a 6-year grant. I was hoping HHMI (and other private funders) would continue to lead the way.

Sensory inputs trigger a fast-traveling wave, followed by a slower wave carrying top-down info (value/choice). The late wave reactivates ensembles in superficial cortical layers. Touch-evoked traveling waves establish a translaminar spacetime code www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #neuroscience

Touch-evoked traveling waves establish a translaminar spacetime code

Translaminar spacetime patterns organized by feedback-dependent cortical circuits support sparse traveling waves.

science.org

Well, would you look at that - travelling waves in cortex have the ingredients necessary to do credit assignment via the apical dendrites of L5 neurons! 😎 #neuroscience 🧪

Earl K. Miller@earlkmiller.bsky.social · 2y ago

Sensory inputs trigger a fast-traveling wave, followed by a slower wave carrying top-down info (value/choice). The late wave reactivates ensembles in superficial cortical layers. Touch-evoked traveling waves establish a translaminar spacetime code www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #neuroscience

New blog post. Thoughts on this first year of being a new PI gonzales.science/resource-blo...

Year One in Review — Gonzales Lab

One year. What a wild ride. They give you a lump of money, an empty lab space, a course to teach, and a parachute. Before you can even comprehend the purpose of the parachute, you get roundhouse kicke...

gonzales.science

Is there a way to speed this up

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2y ago

On Wednesday, an unprecedented memo from the International Asteroid Warning Network reached government officials. The memo said “Asteroid 2024 YR4,” first detected in late December, might hit our planet on Dec. 22, 2032.

1/19 I’m thrilled that my postdoctoral work, with John Widloski and David Foster is now out in @science.org, along with a wonderful preview by Daniel Bendor!

The time course and organization of hippocampal replay

The mechanisms by which the brain replays neural activity sequences remain unknown. Recording from large ensembles of hippocampal place cells in freely behaving rats, we observed that replay content i...

science.org

Really proud to see my postdoc work out!! We used flexible, semi-transparent NeuroGrids to record traveling waves while simultaneously mapping cellular and subcellular dynamics with two-photon imaging www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Touch-evoked traveling waves establish a translaminar spacetime code

Translaminar spacetime patterns organized by feedback-dependent cortical circuits support sparse traveling waves.

science.org

Perfection

Unreal day to be submitting my first R01 lol

Amidst the chaos (and not unrelated), I wrote a sequel to my posts from the last 2 years since they seemed to resonate with people: Thoughts after 3 years as a PI www.brains-explained.com/thoughts-aft...