🧪 NIH Postbac Opportunity Popping in to say I got funding to hire a postbac to work with me! This position is ideal for a recent undergrad or masters student who wants 1-2 years of research experience before grad/med school. See ad below for details. Share or tag students who might be interested.

I've been taking a break from social media lately to focus on taking care of my newborn daughter, who just turned two months yesterday! She's doing great so far, and I'm enjoying being a new dad. But, I decided to hop onto Bluesky briefly to quickly share a few work-related updates.

New: 150 unionized ProPublica workers are on strike TODAY over AI, layoff protections, wages, and more. They're asking readers to not visit ProPublica or engage with content on other platforms. It's the first work stoppage of its kind at the newsroom. www.theverge.com/news/908401/...

Unionized ProPublica staff are on strike over AI, layoffs, and wages

A key issue is protections against layoffs from AI

theverge.com

The recent presidential budget request has a 40% increase in military spending and 10% cut to non-military spending, including a 25% cut to the NIH. It seems worth pointing out that NIH (and other R&D) boosts the economy by 250%, whereas military spending (except R&D) shrinks the economy by 10%.

NIH Funding Led to a 250 Percent Economic Return on Investment | The Scientist

Research advocacy group United for Medical Research reported that NIH grant money stimulated the US economy, but certain funding mechanisms may limit future benefits.

the-scientist.com

A 25% increase to the NIH budget is actually not that ridiculous. Adjusted for inflation, NIH funding has consistently been below its peak in 2003, so we have a lot of lost investment time to make up for it. Source: www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

Mark Histed@markhisted.org · 4mo ago

Some real talk, on a Friday evening before #NoKings: This is a proposal designed to re-anchor our expectations. No Republican in Congress wants to walk the plank and vote for cuts to cancer research! We shld not fall for it. Our counter-proposal should be a 25% incr in govt support for research.

Powerful speeches this morning from @michaeldgreen.phd and many others at today's #nokings edition of #nihvigils. Shoutout to @27unihted.bsky.social, @nihvigils.bsky.social, and all the great organizers who made the event possible.

A new paper suggests that grant terminations from the NIH over the past year may have further punctured the so-called "leaky pipeline" because women were more impacted by grant terminations than men www.statnews.com/2026/03/23/n...

NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds

A new paper shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, have been disproportionately affected by NIH grant terminations

statnews.com

Tomorrow, Director Bhattacharya is hosting the inaugural "Scientific Freedom" Lecture with Matt Ridley sharing his perspectives on the search for the origin of Covid-19 (and hawking his book on the subject published in 2022). 1/3

@statnews.com conducted a national survey of NIH-funded researchers and found that, a year after Trump's return, many scientists are reeling, with some closing labs entirely. ‘This is like the Titanic,' one respondent told me. For full details, see our special report www.statnews.com/2026/03/19/n...

National survey of NIH-funded researchers shows precarious state of U.S. science — ‘This is like the Titanic’

A nationwide STAT survey of NIH-funded researchers reveals that, a year after Donald Trump's return to the White House, many scientists are reeling

statnews.com

I literally just sent out a manuscript draft yesterday and my mind was still doing this today. #scientistproblems

PHD Comics@phdcomics.com · 5mo ago

Your daily reminder

I had a great conversation today with Amy Juravich at WOSU-NPR and @annadarling.bsky.social, a graduate student at OSU, about the state of science.

Examining the state of research at Ohio colleges

From funding cuts to programs like the National Science Foundation, how is the state of research in the United States, and where does the state of Ohio fit into it?

wosu.org

A heads down approach will not save science. We need to speak up, live our values, and demand integrity. www.statnews.com/2026/03/12/n...

I’m an NIH whistleblower. The scientific community cannot afford to avoid politics

“Scientists are often encouraged to avoid politics. But this advice is outdated, if it was ever correct in the first place,” writes Jenna Norton, NIH whistleblower.

statnews.com

That moment when you find the content you didn't know you were looking for. If you've ever submitted (or reviewed) an NIH grant, this satire is for you.

Stephanie@stephy.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Retired NIH Program Officer Requests Grandson Address Weaknesses From Last Year’s Christmas List Before Considering New Submission open.substack.com/pub/inprepar...

Was distracted by a few other developments earlier this week, but I'm resharing my yearly reminder to be careful out there because "spring forward" is dangerous and makes little sense.

Ian L Morgan@ianlmorgan.bsky.social · last yr.

Yearly reminder that there is a 6% increased risk of fatal car crashes during the week following daylight savings "spring forward" along with a host of other health issues 🧪. Obligatory, why do we still do this? dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

A must read/listen to interview about what it's like to be an early career researcher in this day and age. Thanks @michaeldgreen.phd for continuing to speak up!

Michael D. Green, PhD@michaeldgreen.phd · 5mo ago

My interview with @jeremyfaust.bsky.social is now live! We talked about instability in life as an early career scientist, the importance of policy in research, and more. Process is incredibly important for science, and the process is failing me. I put a thread of some of my favorite clips below!

Great new piece by @melodyschreiber.com in The Guardian about NIH/CDC Director Bhattacharya . In it, I talk about asking Bhattacharya in January about a recent issue affecting the affordability of healthcare for thousands of early career researchers on the NIH campuses.

‘How is he going to have the time?’ NIH staff voice concern as Bhattacharya takes on CDC role

Scientists fear NIH director will be even more absent and leave key issues unresolved as he takes interim CDC lead

theguardian.com

Don't panic, Organize! It was great to be able to represent @nihfellowsunited.bsky.social today at the Take Back Our Science Rally in DC to speak out against the attacks on our union and for scientist workers rights!

Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 5mo ago

NIH Fellows Union speaking at the Take Back Our Science Rally in Washington D.C.! They are putting out the call to ORGANIZE!!! #StandUpForScience #science #March7 #March7DC #savescience

I will be speaking on behalf of @nihfellowsunited.bsky.social today at the DC @standupforscience.bsky.social National Day of Action. Come hear about the attacks on our union this week and how we're standing up for science and scientist workers! #march7 #standupforscience

Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 5mo ago

WASHINGTON D.C. TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY. SATURDAY, MARCH 7TH, National Day of Action Rally!!! We have three goals: Save Science. Protect Health. Defend Democracy. We need YOU to join us to Take Back our Science!!! See map below for location details! Visit zurl.co/EREaO to learn more about D.C.!

If you block junior scientists from ensuring that they can afford to live (or start families!) in the exorbitantly expensive areas around their workplaces, only family-subsidized solitary rich kids will be able to pursue careers in research - amidst exponential inflation, increasingly few people.

Jenna Norton@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I agree!

I agree!

Shame on the NIH for stripping fellows of collective bargaining rights! "The fellows at the NIH deserve the same voice, protections, and dignity on the job that academic workers across the country are fighting for every day." Read @proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social's statement⬇️

AAUP's Wolfson and AFT's Weingarten on the NIH’s Decision to Strip Fellows of their Right to Collective Bargaining

AAUP President Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement in response to the decision by the National Institutes of Health to strip research fellows of their right ...

aaup.org

The number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades. Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more. Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...

Six federal scientists run out by Trump talk about the work left undone | CNN

Federal data shows the NIH lost about 4,400 people — more than 20% of its workforce. Scientists say the departures harm the U.S.’ ability to respond to disease outbreaks, develop treatments for chroni...

cnn.com

NIH leadership wants to strip worker's rights from the majority of scientists on its campuses. But, the NIH does not get to say whether we are a union or not. We do, and we are no strangers to having to fight for our union. Time for a short history lesson. 1/n Disclaimer: all views are my own.

NIH Says It Will No Longer Recognize the Research Fellows’ Union

NIH leadership said the union “should never have been certified,” in an email to the union’s leadership.

notus.org

NIH HR deleted our CBA off the website. Luckily for us, even if the agency says there is no CBA in ba sing se, the union still exists.

Shoutout to @27unihted.bsky.social for all their advocacy on the SBIR/STTR program.

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Senate has (finally) voted to reauthorize the small business SBIR/STTR program. Not reauthorized yet, but this was likely the biggest hurdle.

Great essay from @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social. Liz’s story resonates with me. I also grew up unvaccinated. I know my mom made the choice not to vaccinate me and my sisters out of love, misguided as it was. I got myself vaccinated when I turned 18. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/o...

Opinion | I Grew Up Unvaccinated. Now I’m an Immunologist.

nytimes.com

Respectfully, senior scientists need to stop saying what worked for me will work for you. It is a bad take.

Drug Monkey@drugmonkey.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Somehow US science got by for a decade 98-08 without any young investigator policy or mechanism, calm down. Some of us managed to get funded.

This is why it's not enough for Congress to just appropriate funds to scientific agencies. How the funds are or are not spent and when they are spent needs to be enforced. The administration is playing games with our taxpayer dollars, when they should be going towards scientific innovation.

Max Kozlov@maxkozlov.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

I sat down with Dr. Jenna Norton, an NIH employee & my guest at the People’s State of the Union. She was put on leave by the Trump Admin after speaking truth to power. Dr. Norton told me Trump’s actions risked creating a super-bug that would endanger us all.

If you're at #bps2026 and like single-molecule methods, topoisomerases, or DNA topology, check out some of the cool talks and posters from the Neuman Lab today and tomorrow linktr.ee/neuman.lab.