Science

European researchers call for a ‘radical reorganisation’ to help undergraduates and PhD students access grants

A new book by Bruno Lemaitre considers whether science is suffering from being led by the self-obsessed

Further 50 per cent of EU-backed schemes result in ‘major scientific advance’

Book of the week: Meet the human computers in heels who juggled science and family, says Margaret A. Weitekamp

Janet Sayers on what inner speech can tell us about our brain processes

The grouping of subjects such as neuroscience and psychiatry with cheaper disciplines will lead to what critics say is a failure to fairly fund mental health research

Idea is mooted at EuroScience Open Forum but event is also warned that privileging researchers could be seen as ‘elitist’

Debate about research on animals fails to tackle all the issues, says Gail Davies

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on a revealing study focusing on the evolution of unleashed canines

The ‘relatively modest’ research reputations of some senior US university leaders make their pay ‘grotesquely unmerited’, claims author of report

Research league calls for funding decision makers to see UK partners as desirable

Lack of progression may help to explain BME under-representation in academic workforce

Tyneside-educated scientist to lead institution from next year

Marcus Chown on the individuals and theories that expanded our view of the universe

Book of the week: There’s a strong political current running through a bold study skewering myths, says Louise Whiteley

Hundreds of students at Europe’s largest postgraduate dental school may have been awarded the wrong marks thanks to form-filling blunders

Knowledge of our genetic code has been used for good as well as ill, Charalambos Kyriacou says

Scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust will be able to publish their findings ahead of peer review on a new digital platform from this autumn

What are the downsides to being able to monitor so many physical activities? asks Marcus Chown

Jisc/RLUK study charts sector’s shift towards making research freely available online

The government needs to act fast to maintain British excellence in the sciences and humanities in an era of Brexit, they say

Book of the week: In between what we know is good or bad for us is the rest of medical science, says Jennifer Rohn

The ability to exercise some authority over others can be a force for good, but there is more to it than that, says Manuela Barreto

Optimism and realism vie in a study telling us where we are, where we’re going and how best to get there, says Jon Turney

John Gilbey on the USSR’s failed attempts to develop ‘Electronic Socialism’

Paper predicts that the number of funded researchers at small institutions will decline by two-thirds in the next decade if ‘skews are left uncorrected’

Committee of MPs comes to no firm conclusion on whether common framework for research and commercialisation is good for the UK

It is focused and deliberate practice that leads to expertise, not natural ability, says Philip Roscoe

Richard Joyner on the Austrian scientist Karl von Frisch, who discovered and deciphered bees’ communicative choreography

A punchy whodunnit is backed with plain talk of misogyny, says Helen Bynum

The UK’s leading role in shaping the future of science would be lost if voters choose to leave research ‘superpower’, pro-Remain voices warn

New technology has changed how we approach the act of writing, finds John Gilbey

Misty Bentz is the inventor of ‘Phynd the Physicist’, a game designed to open dialogue among students about inclusion

Academics and policy advisers have given their verdict in a study exploring how the REF affects the day-to-day lives of scholars

Universities should take responsibility for the betterment of society, says Michael Crow

Research from the University of Warwick reveals a mismatch between the aspirations and final destinations of Chinese students at UK universities

Valuable nuggets await in a master-apprentice Q&A but be ready to dig, says Andrew Robinson

Universities in two countries will co-host three research chairs

Joanna Bourke on a memoir focusing on secrets, grief and desire following a life-changing accident

Richard Joyner on a biography seeking to reveal the chemist’s talent for reinvention

Book of the week: A spirited palaeobotanist’s memoir splices flora with friendship and family, says Cait MacPhee

Barcelona’s own version of the Crick Institute has helped the city’s academic ecosystem to thrive in spite of Spanish bureaucracy, reports Jack Grove from the Catalan capital

Research Integrity and Peer Review will look at every stage of the scientific process, and could even change its own review system depending on what it finds

Gearing research too far towards industry goals can lead to short-termist approach, warns Brian MacCraith

Marcus Chown heaps praise on a fascinating study full of charm and infectious enthusiasm

Durham, Edinburgh and Queen’s University Belfast pick up inaugural awards for arts, humanities and social science departments

Those judging creative scientific ideas fail to fully understand them, potentially hampering breakthroughs, research indicates

Universities are beginning to explore using a new set of social media apps as students give up on Facebook and Twitter

James Delbourgo on a study of how scientists shared information and how through it they constructed the nation as an object of study

Book of the week: The Chinese government’s persecution of Fang Lizhi remains baffling, says Jonathan Mirsky

Negative stories including collapse of Kids Company appear to be making the public more wary of major research funders

Although the UK does well in competitive grant funding, it loses out on EU structural funds

Money is designed to help institutions ‘attract and retain the best and brightest researchers from around the world’

Tim Softley, Peter Schiffer and Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela explain the benefits of a transatlantic partnership

Soon-to-be-released review into employability has identified the importance of work experience, students’ attitude and accreditation

Like Gollum’s ring, gadgets are irresistible. Learn to turn off, tune out and log off, says John Gilbey

Book of the week: Marcus Chown on a portrait of those who drove the Ligo project and helped to find gravitational waves

Wellcome Trust Monitor Report finds more certainty about the benefits of breakthroughs, but a mixed picture of general scientific knowledge

Technically-trained graduates vital for development, says thinktank chief

Take it as a compliment if other people are doing similar studies to you, says Sam Schwarzkopf