Meredith Schmehl, PhD

DORA has launched an introductory course on responsible research assessment! 🤩
🤓 What is it? A free online self-paced course
❓ Who is it for? Anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of research assessment, regardless of career level or discipline
🌐 Explore the course 👉 bit.ly/DORA-Intro-C...

SciShow Field Trips with HHMI Investigator Beth Stevens

What if the answers to Alzheimer’s & schizophrenia lie in glia, not neurons? Join “SciShow Field Trips” & our own Tangled Bank Studios inside #HHMIInvestigator Beth Stevens' lab to see how these long-ignored brain cells may help us better understand neurological diseases: bit.ly/4kjqU3R.

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.

My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/

academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

SciShow Field Trips featuring HHMI Investigator Feng Zhang

"SciShow Field Trips" & our own Tangled Bank Studios take you inside the lab of HHMI Investigator Feng Zhang. Known for engineering CRISPR-Cas9 for use in human cells, his next breakthrough could reach hard-to-access cells associated with conditions like ALS & Huntington's: bit.ly/49JomIt

Luke Lavis, a Senior Group Leader at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus, in his lab

CLOSING SOON: Applications for Group Leader roles at our Janelia Research Campus close Feb. 3! Have original, transformative ideas for experimental approaches in imaging, molecular engineering, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry, & beyond? Learn more: janelia.org/groupleader 🧪

📚 On this International Day of Education, we’re excited to share that DORA is launching an introductory course on Responsible Research Assessment in February 2026!
An online, self-paced course on the basics of RRA, open to all career stages. Watch this space! 🧐

Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers.

I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.

Preprints of pandemic potential - new historical piece from me on the history of bioRxiv/medRxiv, their role in the pandemic, and the way forward. 1/n journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Department Chair, Duke Neurobiology - Duke University, Durham job with Duke University - School of Medicine | 12852576 The Duke University School of Medicine (SOM) seeks a distinguished neuroscientist to serve as the next Chair of the Department of Neurobiology.

My department, Duke Neurobiology, is searching for a new chair. Ad below. Come work with me, @jmgrohneuro.bsky.social @ennatsew.bsky.social @jorggrandl.bsky.social @jnklab.bsky.social @sbilbo.bsky.social @neurocircuits.bsky.social and many other amazing folks! @dukemedschool.bsky.social

Economics of Ideas, Science, and Innovation Online PhD Short Course | Institute for Progress

Are you a PhD student interested in the economics of innovation? The Economics of Ideas, Science, and Innovation Online short course, hosted by IFP, is back for the third time! ifp.org/economics-of...

I don't think you non-science people realize what it takes to get a grant funded by NIH. Started experiments in Sept 2021 to generate 3 new mouse mutants to model human disease. Prelim dara shows they have relevant disease phenotypes worthy of study. Need a small grant first to characterize /1

Lead a lab at Janelia Pioneer next-generation tools for biological discovery Apply by Feb. 3, 2026 janelia.org/groupleader

Apply by Feb. 3 to join HHMI's Janelia Research Campus as a Group Leader!

Group Leaders drive breakthroughs & experimental approaches in imaging, molecular engineering, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry, & methods that don't yet exist. Learn more: janelia.org/groupleader 🧪

Applications are still open! The Science for Public Good Fund offers up to $1500 to support community-driven science advocacy projects. From workshops to local campaigns, you can help spark change. Apply here now: act.ucsusa.org/3KVR9Qo

Join us for the second half of #CMUOSS25 beginning now! We'll be talking new and evolving forms of evaluation for all kinds of open scholarly outputs with Rachel Kurchin, @cplong.org, and @meredithschmehl.com! #openscience

Two scientists wearing lab coats and gloves work together in a laboratory setting. Overlaid yellow and white text reads: “Science for Public Good Fund. Apply at act.ucsusa.org/SFPG26. Applications for science advocacy minigrants will be accepted through January 6th.” The Union of Concerned Scientists logo appears at the bottom.

The Science for Public Good Fund is back! Apply today for up to $1500 to support your science advocacy efforts.

📌 Apply here: act.ucsusa.org/4nCzPhl

Congratulations Election to the National Academy of Medicine Sun Hur, Joshua T. Mendell, Duojia Pan, Jay Shendure HHMI Investigators

4 HHMI Investigators have been elected to the @nam.edu!

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Learn how these investigators are advancing our understanding of biology and human health: hhmi.news/4oxodfS #NAMmtg

📢We're #hiring Group Leaders!

Apply to lead a lab at Janelia & advance biology using theory, computational modeling & machine learning.

🔹5-year renewable appointment
🔹Pioneer new tools & approaches
🔹Collaborate across disciplines

Apply by Nov. 4👉 https://janelia.link/groupleader

Also agreed! If authors are deciding when to publish, as they are in the case of preprints, there is likely also room to decide that certain papers/outputs don’t need formal peer review. Ideally there would be room for both transparent peer review and standalone outputs that don’t need that process.

Whether those peer review coordinators should be journals, preprint review services, or something else...is a question that can only be answered with broader conversations. But the conversation starts with the question of how we ensure we aren't only seeing peer reviews of pre-curated content.

4/4

A more transparent model might make all outputs accessible (i.e., open access articles, preprints) while also having service providers that coordinate peer review and ensure the outputs of peer review (i.e., reviews, author responses) are made accessible. More science discourse out in the open.

3/4

eLife is a good step, but they still only publish what they review.

There's an opportunity to consider whether peer review and curation for publishing must be linked. Preprints open doors to transparent review without curation, but this means thinking differently about how review occurs.

2/4

Agreed! No intent to diminish the role of journals as a coordinator of peer review.

But when the coordinators of peer review are also the deciders of which papers (and, therefore, which peer reviews) get seen, we end up with biased curation - no insight into what is reviewed but not published.

1/4

Plus services like @prereview.bsky.social which decouple the peer review process from journals altogether! HHMI has supported this model for many years (doi.org/10.1371/jour...), and we have some new ideas - can’t say more just yet 🙂

Image of a person using a laptop to scroll the eLife twitter page

Want to try your hand at science communication but don’t know where to start?

We’ve put together seven tried and tested tips for communicating preprinted research with suggestions and resources that can help you on social media and beyond! #SciComm buff.ly/DLuopWU

🚨 Attention early-career scientists! 🚨

Become a Theory Fellow at Janelia and use computation & theory to tackle biological problems.

✅ Three-year appointment
✅ Collaboration across scientific disciplines
✅ Dynamic research environment

HHMI Chief of Strategic Initiatives Bodo Stern writes in the LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog about Nature's recent decision to publish peer review reports. "True transparency in peer review must begin at the outset," he writes, "not as an afterthought to editorial gatekeeping."

"Open peer review of preprints is not just a tool for transparency – it is a way to accelerate scientific progress."

Proud to be a part of the HHMI Open Science Strategy team, where creating a more transparent & equitable science ecosystem is our mission every day!

blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

Congratulations 2025 Gilliam Fellows and Advisors! 🎉

The Gilliam Fellows Program launches promising PhD students into impactful scientific research careers while fostering inclusive training environments.
Through this program, HHMI supports both graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.

Ons thing that's really bugging me about the "PhD level intelligence" is that a PhD isn't a measure of intelligence, it's a measure of commitment to study and specialisation in a narrow field (and opportunity to do so).

"PhD level intelligence" isn't really a meaningful phrase

Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.