Sears Lab

Dear SDB Members, NIH is planning to cap APC (Article Processing Charges) from grant funds for publications, starting in January 2026. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-138.html Proposed Policy Options for Keeping Publication Costs Reasonable: Option 1: Disallow all publication costs. Option 2: Set a $2,000 limit on allowable costs per publication. Option 3: Set a $2,000 limit on allowable costs per publication and allow up to $3,000 when peer reviewers are compensated. Option 4: Set an 0.8% limit on the total amount of an award that can be spent on publication costs, up to $20,000. For example, $250,000 direct cost grant = $2,000 per year for publications. Option 5: Set a $6,000 limit on both the per publication cost and the total amount of an award (0.8% up to $20k) that can be spent on publications. The NIH is requesting comments by Sept 15. It is also possible to contribute comments that are not about any of the 5 options. Comments should be submitted electronically to the following webpage: https://osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form-maximizing-research-funds-by-limiting-allowable-publishing-costs/. Responses are voluntary and may be submitted anonymously. The SDB encourages you to submit your opinions on this important issue. Best, Richard Behringer President, SDB

NIH is considering changes in supporting publication costs--some ideas are quite radical and would endanger our ability to publish at all. I don't love the cots from the big for-profits but it does cost$ to run a journal. Please repost. Comment at:
osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form....

📣Call for Papers! Why are some individuals and taxa more resilient than others? Our latest Special Issue on Organismal Resilience aims to answers this question! Submit your research or register for our one-day symposium below 👇🌍🧪 academic.oup.com/biolinnean/p... @linneansociety.bsky.social

Pretty sure one of my current foster puppies is a mini-dire wolf. Think I can get a billion dollars now?

I am just now getting back into the country - do you have any events in the area coming up? We love your work :).

I Am the Servant in the Beast’s Castle Who Was Turned into a Chamberpot, and Nobody Ever Asks Me to Sing Hey, everyone, I couldn’t help overhearing in this giant, nigh-deserted, echoey castle that you were doing an elaborate musical number where everyo...

In @mcsweeneys.net with @madelinegoetz.bsky.social talking about the Disney canon

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-a...

We are looking for a new post-doc to join us. If anyone is interested, please contact me.

National Science Foundation Terminates Hundreds of Active Research Awards (Gift Article) The agency targeted grants focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as research on misinformation.

@katrinamillerphd.bsky.social & I took a look at over 400 active National Science Foundation grants that got killed in the past few days. Here's our story (gift link) nyti.ms/4jp4aOx

So great! Is there a link to the video specifically? Would like to include it in my class :). Thanks!

New Chief Scientific Adviser appointed Professor Anjali Goswami becomes Defra’s new Chief Scientist

Exciting times ahead!

www.gov.uk/government/n...

These two biologists found purpose—and love—trying to save Nigeria's bats Benneth Obitte and Inoro Tanshi’s efforts have documented a major hot spot of African bat diversity

Thrilled to see our work featured in Science, all thanks to the individuals and institutions that make the science and conservation possible.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Graphic reads "Crystal Palace Family Bat Walk April 22 7:30pm" and shows a dusk scene of a forest full of bats, with a sphinx statue hiding in the foliage.

Coming up this #MammalWeek we have the Great Linnean Bat Hunt at Crystal Palace! Armed with bat detectors, torches, and some bat poo for good measure, learn more about these fantastic creatures hiding in the dark and how to identify them.

Book your tickets now: www.eventbrite.co.uk...

NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office The reasons aren’t clear—and the agency’s director claims the president’s policies haven’t slowed grant awards

This hasn't gotten much attention—but new National Science Foundation grants have dropped by almost half since Trump took office, an analysis by @davidimiller.bsky.social shows. www.science.org/content/arti...

(Story by @policyhound.bsky.social)

An Artibeus jamaicensis covered with pollen at UWI in Trinidad. These bats are fruit bats but also add other components in their diets like insects or pollen. Except for a few species, while there are clear adaptations to certain diets, they are not necessarily strict.

New deadline for our special issue. Please share. Also happy to answer questions.

"L and S opsin cone distribution in 14 representative noctilionoid bat species. Density maps of L and S opsin cone topography in 14 noctilionoid bat species. For each species, a representative dissected flat-mounted retina is shown. Insets are representative IHC magnifications "

The Fig-eating Bat is nocturnal but has a functional OPN1SW color vision gene, unlike many of its close relatives among noctilionoid bats. It's not just gene loss in this lineage—changes in gene expession (usage) play a role as well #2025MMM elifesciences.org/articles/37412

New deadline May 15th - would love to see your contributions to this important special issue ...

Crystal Rogers Honored as Chancellor's Fellow Associate Professor Crystal Rogers is one of eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields.

Huge thank you to Chancellor May and our wonderful @ucdavis.bsky.social donors for choosing me as a Chancellor’s Fellow! The UC Davis SVM did a lovely write up if you are interested in learning more about me and this award! www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/crystal...

Just had this same conversation with the partner...

Truly a must-read…and holy hell is it bleak 👇🏻

Send us your manuscripts on “Mobilizing Natural History Collections in the Global South” 👇🏾

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

this website from the House Democrats on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee is surveying the impact of the Administration’s mass firings of federal employees from science agencies—share with friends you know have been affected

I have work to do but I'm distracted by watching US scientific progress & leadership being irreversibly undermined because a few unelected malcontents are penalizing researchers for following legal requirements set out by congressional orders to augment basic research with benefits to society.

NIH doesn’t just support infectious disease research—it drives breakthroughs in cancer, childhood diseases, heart disease, diabetes & more.

Thanks to NIH, we have:
💉 Cancer immunotherapy
❤️ Cholesterol-lowering statins
🩸 Insulin for diabetes

Investing in NIH = investing in life-saving discoveries.

EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders Grantee accounts remain frozen, while union accuses NSF of ignoring rules governing peer review

This is not business as usual.

It’s not just a change in funding priorities going forward; it is the reneging on funding agreements and is profoundly disruptive for even those grants that will be found to be compliant.

Meanwhile, trainees who often live paycheck to paycheck are going unpaid.

To our many American friends. The National Academies have assembled a package of resources for researchers facing threats or attacks in the US

www.nationalacademies.org/chr/resource...

How wildlife survives after wildfires The biggest danger for wildlife is the aftermath. But many species have evolved to rely on the opportunities created by others.

I gave an interview to the BBC at midnight while the #LAfires were raging outside and I couldn't sleep. Turned into one of the most thorough and well-researched articles on wildlife and wildfire I've had the pleasure of contributing to.

Calling vertebrate morphologists around the globe!
Call for 2025 online ICVM Symposia Proposals!
📋 Symposium proposal guidelines: isvm-icvm.org/proposal-gui...
🗓 Deadline: Dec 9, 2024, 5 PM CET
📧 Send proposals to Nadia Fröbisch: Nadia.froebisch@hu-berlin.de