Grad students petition Congress for more research $

Yesterday, MIT students presented Congress with a petition asking for more "indispensable investments in science and engineering research". The petition currently has more than 10,300 signatures; you can add yours here.

More information about the petition, and the Stand with Science project:

How to Write Like a Scientist

Some not at all helpful tips for writing your scientific articles can be found here (but they are funny!).

NIDA weighs in on tobacco industry funding

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has published "Points to Consider Regarding Tobacco Industry Funding of NIDA Applicants" on its website. This document cautions NIDA grantees from accepting research funding from the tobacco industry because it could: "compromise the perceived objectivity of their research results and affect the overall credibility of their research findings; be viewed as contributing to tobacco industry interests; and negatively impact NIDA’s credibility and the public trust in NIDA-funded research."

The full document can be found at this link.

What does a scientist look like?

Check out this collection of scientists' photos, you might be surprised.

One scientist speaks out against NIH financial cuts

Kerri Mowen of the Scripps Research Institute has submitted seven proposals to the NIH in the past year and so far has not gotten funding for any of them. She spoke to the San Diego Union-Tribune about her belief that the NIH should be immune to budget cuts.

NIH will not fund any new research using chimps

On December 21st the National Institutes of Health announced it will fund no new research projects using chimpanzees as test subjects while it reviews and considers the Institute of Medicine's report on chimpanzee research.

The United States and Gabon are the only countries that still test on chimpanzees.

The #SciFund Challenge on RocketHub

RocketHub is a website that provides a place for creative people with ideas, but without money, to get their projects funded. Website visitors, dubbed "fuelers", can view available projects and donate to the ones that they'd like to see completed. This is called crowdfunding.

Now RocketHub is helping to get science done too, with their #SciFund Challenge project.