Science

Registered reports model produces better outcomes on all 19 criteria covering novelty, rigour, and importance

Academics need to think far more carefully about how they define and police the boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate knowledge, argues Michael D. Gordin

Boris Johnson will head new expert panel, with Sir Patrick Vallance leading Downing Street science unit

Polish professor warns of increasing ‘tension’ between national research funding and global science

Recent cuts and scares have cast doubt on ministers’ commitment to harnessing science in pursuit of a levelled-up, post-Brexit innovation economy. Questions also remain about how funding should be distributed and directed. Jack Grove examines the lessons from history and from overseas

Shift towards studies using preregistered reports could inhibit scientific inquiry and harm researcher well-being, argue US scholars

Latest attempt to replicate Darpa brings bipartisan praise but also wariness of potential harm to basic health research

Those who understand how their advice is likely to be implemented are more able to make it constructive, professor says

A podcast constructed and targeted well can amplify faculty expertise and build public trust, says Paul M. Rand

Public confusion is one thing, but some subjects provoke quizzical and sometimes dismissive frowns even among colleagues from different departments. Here, nine academics set the record straight about what they do – and why it matters

Democrats accept nomination while extracting commitment on gender equity in science

Changes to funding mechanisms can feel like a threat, but Aria will be a blast of fresh air for science and technology, says Tom Stephenson

Scientific leaders and politicians have embraced calls to reduce the stress and precarity faced by researchers. Jack Grove examines some radical proposals

David A. Sanders enjoys a vivid account of the many crafty ways academics steal the words of others

Gender concerns leave MIT-Harvard star lone unconfirmed choice for presidential Cabinet

Those who blur the lines between academic and professional staff are the connective tissue in the research ecosystem, say Matthew Flinders and Sarah Chaytor

Women gain milestone at prestigious science body although racial divide remains wide

Winners describe how gossip and gaudy colours, as well as a desire to relieve suffering, spurred their research

‘The first Black woman on the tenure track in theoretical cosmology’ tells Matthew Reisz about her struggles to reconcile a pristine childhood image of science with the reality she confronts by using selective citation to marginalise racist or sexist scientists

UK’s overhaul of defence and foreign policy sees science as ‘arena of systemic competition’

Top scientists say Canada must provide more fulfilling careers for its science graduates

Beijing follows Shenzhen and other cities in seeking to attract laureates, but experts question whether initiative will have trickle-down effect on basic science

mRNA pioneers, Oxford vaccine scientists and Bill Gates are potential contenders for science’s top prize

Katalin Karikó’s struggle with mRNA gives universities mandate – if they want – to tackle persistent barriers

Researchers should campaign with the public to build back better, say Stephen Bradley, Jessica Butler and Chris Chambers

Incoming president names advisory team while pushing social sciences and battle against cancer

Researcher uses role-play techniques to demonstrate both the technical and interpersonal challenges of decision-making during a pandemic

UCLA astrophysicist also celebrates female mentorship at key moment

Harvard and MIT researchers and alumni see deadly mistake in long approval processes

Comparisons with big pharma distract from ‘amazing’ achievement that will lead to long-term dividends for science, say experts

As a Stanford professor attacks scientific petitions, co-creators of open letters on both sides of Covid debate explain why they matter

Vital lessons can be learned from beer, bread and even batter, scientists say

Public engagement expert concerned about communities that scientists are failing to reach

Scientists ask why major journal published findings that female mentors may be bad for your career, even after reviewers pointed out flaws in the paper’s methodology

Sexual orientation may have greater impact on academic choices than race, US data suggest

As debate intensifies on how to measure research excellence beyond publications, Jack Grove asks senior scientists how they assess intangible personal qualities when hiring researchers

Astrophysicists in Hong Kong and France say that public perceptions of gender should change and that more should be done to support women in science

Institutions get creative and find ingenious ways to adapt equipment and technological tools to replicate the experience of in-person courses

Ron Daniels told Times Higher Education summit that fears that elite universities remain inaccessible have hit trust in science

Team meetings arranged by algorithm and communal chocolate tasting sessions are being used to bond research teams, reports Jack Grove

White House coronavirus adviser focuses on antivirals rather than vaccine at University of Melbourne forum

Multi-source analysis of global open-access practices throws up surprises, with Europe and the US lagging behind

Medicine laureate Sir Peter Ratcliffe says science has to be ‘passion driven’

Virologist Michael Houghton explains why we should be ‘a bit more patient’ for a coronavirus vaccine and how a 2:2 degree did not deter his scientific ambitions

Biomedical research charity to focus efforts on infectious diseases, mental health and global heating

The profiles of this year’s Nobelists suggest scientists from newer, innovative institutions may soon overshadow those from more historic universities

Award for French researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier and US biochemist Jennifer Doudna is the first double win for female chemists

Michael Houghton calls for prize committees to allow six or seven winners, rather than Nobel’s limit of three

If governments commit extra funding and researchers accept the growing industrial emphasis, the European Research Area can fly, says Jan Palmowski

Oxford professor Roger Penrose shares top honour with German physicist Reinhard Genzel and US-born Andrea Ghez, only the fourth woman to win prize

British researcher Michael Houghton and US-born Harvey Alter and Charles Rice honoured for “seminal discoveries” connected to novel virus

Science communication experts reflect on how scholars can improve their public speaking skills

Publications must always permit debate on the quality and relevance of research – plus the efficacy and costs of derived policy, says Robert Dingwall

Overall trust in scientists higher than in governments, media and business, global survey finds

Chemical engineers at Imperial College London have developed an innovative way of teaching real-world experiments at a distance, and say it also improves learning outcomes

University scientists prove nimble, but still wish for government allies

But far-right voters view the failure to reproduce results as reason not to trust science as a whole, unique survey data from Germany show

Scholars say the pandemic has drawn attention to the uncertain and adaptive nature of research and called for a broader range of evidence to be valued

Advocates for virtual labs finding chance to show cost and equity benefits of online experimentation

Board offering religious, rather than medical, expertise discounts value of NIH projects