Weekly Advocacy News Roundup
News
House GOP Appropriators Prepare for Sequester Showdown
July 22, 2015 | Roll Call
House Republican leaders have begun to discuss next steps in the appropriations process, including the possibility of negotiating a bipartisan deal that would provide some relief from sequestration spending caps.
- Visit the sequestration action page to earn what sequestration is and how it may return at SfN.org.
Russian Scientists Squeezed by Sanctions, Kremlin Policies
July 20, 2015 | The New York Times
Russian scientists are having difficulty obtaining equipment and publishing, and they believe this is due to a combination of sanctions against Russian and rising hostility to Russia.
- Read about global science advocacy programs at SfN.org.
Science Minister Signals Shift Towards ‘One Nation Science’
July 17, 2015 | BBC
New UK Science Minister Jo Johnson gave his first major policy speech in which he indicated that future research funds could be distributed more widely across the UK. Funds are currently concentrated in Oxford, Cambridge, and London.
- Read about science funding in the UK at SfN.org.
Articles of Interest
Scientists Say They Can Read Your Mind, and Prove It With Pictures
July 20, 2015 | National Public Radio
Scientists say they can now download signals from your brain and translate them back into a picture that you saw.
- Learn more about brain scan technologies and their importance in neuroscience research at BrainFacts.org.
Researchers Discovered a Way to Deliver Drugs to the Brain Using a Remote Control
July 17, 2015 | Business Insider
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a wireless device that can be implanted in the brain and controlled with a remote to deliver drugs.
- Read about the goals of the U.S. BRAIN Initiative at BrainFacts.org.
Opinion
Why Science Needs Female Mice
July 18, 2015 | The New York Times
Much research done in male animals may not hold up in women, and many studies do not use female animals. The NYT Editorial Board discusses the new NIH policy that researchers must justify if they plan to only use one sex in their studies.
- Read more about sex differences in the brain at BrainFacts.org.
Rethinking Graduate Education
July 24, 2015 | Science Magazine
Alan Leshner, Emeritus CEO of AAAS, writes about the potential need for “a major reconfiguration” of science graduate education in light of the fact that over 60% of new PhDs will not have careers in academic research.
- View resources and join discussions about professional development on NeurOnline.
