AZ Faust
@azfaust.bsky.social
Mostly about grants. Some about education.
*nodding head*
This happens in US schools way too often because the focus on "skills" and abandonment of knowledge means that knowledge has to come from outside the school.
This happens in US schools way too often because the focus on "skills" and abandonment of knowledge means that knowledge has to come from outside the school.
even worse, the term "methyl group" was introduced solely for this question, it's not like he had any other instruction about DNA methylation. it's such a backwards way to teach!
December 15, 2025 at 4:19 PM
*nodding head*
This happens in US schools way too often because the focus on "skills" and abandonment of knowledge means that knowledge has to come from outside the school.
This happens in US schools way too often because the focus on "skills" and abandonment of knowledge means that knowledge has to come from outside the school.
I am not even going to bore you with the number of times I have had to have a similar conversation with my children's teachers...
Yes, I am that parent. And no my kids are not happy about it.
Yes, I am that parent. And no my kids are not happy about it.
the thing that really bothers me is my kid saying that he doesn't want to know the real answer because if he puts information down that wasn't what he was taught, it will be graded as incorrect.
December 15, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I am not even going to bore you with the number of times I have had to have a similar conversation with my children's teachers...
Yes, I am that parent. And no my kids are not happy about it.
Yes, I am that parent. And no my kids are not happy about it.
Reposted by AZ Faust
The ACS Catalyst Award for early-stage investigators with high-scoring but unfunded research projects. (Applied to NCI for an NIH R01 in & scored at or below the 15th percentile, or applied for ACS Research Scholar Grant & scored Outstanding). Deadline & details ⬇️
www.cancer.org/research/we-...
www.cancer.org/research/we-...
RFA: American Cancer Society Catalyst Awards
The American Cancer Society (ACS) announces the ACS Catalyst Award to catalyze the research of early-stage investigators with high-scoring, but unfunded research projects recently submitted to either ...
www.cancer.org
December 14, 2025 at 10:29 PM
The ACS Catalyst Award for early-stage investigators with high-scoring but unfunded research projects. (Applied to NCI for an NIH R01 in & scored at or below the 15th percentile, or applied for ACS Research Scholar Grant & scored Outstanding). Deadline & details ⬇️
www.cancer.org/research/we-...
www.cancer.org/research/we-...
Reposted by AZ Faust
Brown University says there's an active shooter on campus. Emergency scanner says multiple victims, but unclear how many.
Video footage viewed by the Brown Daily Herald "depicted several individuals lying on the ground near the Sciences Library appearing to be assisted by police."
Video footage viewed by the Brown Daily Herald "depicted several individuals lying on the ground near the Sciences Library appearing to be assisted by police."
Active shooter on campus, Department of Public Safety reports
The alert and call was sent to students immediately by DPS following the incident, urging students to hide, run or evacuate until further notice.
www.browndailyherald.com
December 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Brown University says there's an active shooter on campus. Emergency scanner says multiple victims, but unclear how many.
Video footage viewed by the Brown Daily Herald "depicted several individuals lying on the ground near the Sciences Library appearing to be assisted by police."
Video footage viewed by the Brown Daily Herald "depicted several individuals lying on the ground near the Sciences Library appearing to be assisted by police."
Reposted by AZ Faust
Download our large database of postdoc fellowships in all fields of research.
Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships.
Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships.
Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
December 13, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Download our large database of postdoc fellowships in all fields of research.
Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships.
Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships.
Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
Reposted by AZ Faust
The NYT wants you to think universities became dependent on government. This is false.
The government invested in the national research infrastructure by competitive grants to universities. The taxpayers built this. It got us to the moon. Won the Cold War. Created Silicon Valley. Made the McRib.
The government invested in the national research infrastructure by competitive grants to universities. The taxpayers built this. It got us to the moon. Won the Cold War. Created Silicon Valley. Made the McRib.
April 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The NYT wants you to think universities became dependent on government. This is false.
The government invested in the national research infrastructure by competitive grants to universities. The taxpayers built this. It got us to the moon. Won the Cold War. Created Silicon Valley. Made the McRib.
The government invested in the national research infrastructure by competitive grants to universities. The taxpayers built this. It got us to the moon. Won the Cold War. Created Silicon Valley. Made the McRib.
Reposted by AZ Faust
The post- World War II US investment in R&D is one of the greatest economic and national security engines in history. As I said to @revkin.bsky.social a decade ago, “the budget is policy”. We should expand R&D, not shrink it. Broaden participation not restrict it. archive.nytimes.com/dotearth.blo...
Panel's Latest Warming Warning Misses Global Slumber Party on Energy Research
The latest global warming report from the U.N. climate panel helpfully clarifies risks but largely misses a key factor in driving an energy transformation — research.
archive.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 10:52 PM
The post- World War II US investment in R&D is one of the greatest economic and national security engines in history. As I said to @revkin.bsky.social a decade ago, “the budget is policy”. We should expand R&D, not shrink it. Broaden participation not restrict it. archive.nytimes.com/dotearth.blo...
Just a reminder that for these people, only people who have ever earned anything in life are white, cis, straight men.
Everybody else is a DEI hire.
Including Jay.
Everybody else is a DEI hire.
Including Jay.
December 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Just a reminder that for these people, only people who have ever earned anything in life are white, cis, straight men.
Everybody else is a DEI hire.
Including Jay.
Everybody else is a DEI hire.
Including Jay.
Reposted by AZ Faust
Oh I have a comment: “Loss of promising talent supported by these [DEI] programmes will substantially weaken our research capacity, limit innovation and substantially reduce discoveries important for driving scientific advancements.”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131402/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131402/
December 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Oh I have a comment: “Loss of promising talent supported by these [DEI] programmes will substantially weaken our research capacity, limit innovation and substantially reduce discoveries important for driving scientific advancements.”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131402/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131402/
I keep thinking about how American educational system keeps failing kids who don't come from highly educated households because so much of knowledge is expected to come from home. You can't overcome disparities unless schools become the main source of knowledge.
I abhor "learning styles" - it's the awful, zombie idea in education that just refuses to die. Also, don't get me started on "productive struggle." I have to keep telling my kids' teachers that is NOT how scientists learn new things, regardless of what they were told.
December 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I keep thinking about how American educational system keeps failing kids who don't come from highly educated households because so much of knowledge is expected to come from home. You can't overcome disparities unless schools become the main source of knowledge.
Your semi-annual reminder that math instruction in American elementary schools continues to suck.
December 12, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Your semi-annual reminder that math instruction in American elementary schools continues to suck.
Reposted by AZ Faust
My current NIH situation
- FY25 R01 scored 10% at DK, dropped in July because of MYF
- Resubmitted as A1 immediately, study section cancelled due to shutdown.
- January council now....delayed presumably?
- Paylines gone. PO has zero idea what grants will/won't be funded
- FY26 CR = more chaos
- FY25 R01 scored 10% at DK, dropped in July because of MYF
- Resubmitted as A1 immediately, study section cancelled due to shutdown.
- January council now....delayed presumably?
- Paylines gone. PO has zero idea what grants will/won't be funded
- FY26 CR = more chaos
December 12, 2025 at 1:53 PM
My current NIH situation
- FY25 R01 scored 10% at DK, dropped in July because of MYF
- Resubmitted as A1 immediately, study section cancelled due to shutdown.
- January council now....delayed presumably?
- Paylines gone. PO has zero idea what grants will/won't be funded
- FY26 CR = more chaos
- FY25 R01 scored 10% at DK, dropped in July because of MYF
- Resubmitted as A1 immediately, study section cancelled due to shutdown.
- January council now....delayed presumably?
- Paylines gone. PO has zero idea what grants will/won't be funded
- FY26 CR = more chaos
Reposted by AZ Faust
I think some folks might be happy to see this. NIGMS MIRA R35 for EI/NI has been published. PAR-26-121 files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...
PAR-26-121: Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional)
files.simpler.grants.gov
December 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I think some folks might be happy to see this. NIGMS MIRA R35 for EI/NI has been published. PAR-26-121 files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...
Reposted by AZ Faust
Here's a comparison I mocked up between the new and old organization schemes. Gray rows are old, white rows are new.
December 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Here's a comparison I mocked up between the new and old organization schemes. Gray rows are old, white rows are new.
Reposted by AZ Faust
Note that reorganization should not affect grants—for now: "Budgets would still be allocated to legacy Division organization codes and Division organization codes would be used for grant awards."
December 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Note that reorganization should not affect grants—for now: "Budgets would still be allocated to legacy Division organization codes and Division organization codes would be used for grant awards."
Reposted by AZ Faust
NSF reorganization is, frankly, a bit odd, and we haven't run a story on it partly because it's hard to know what to make of it. The impetus for reorg, as I understood it, was to limit the siloing that occurs because NSF has so many (35ish) divisions. Now there will be 50+ sections.
December 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
NSF reorganization is, frankly, a bit odd, and we haven't run a story on it partly because it's hard to know what to make of it. The impetus for reorg, as I understood it, was to limit the siloing that occurs because NSF has so many (35ish) divisions. Now there will be 50+ sections.
Reposted by AZ Faust
NSF
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
December 11, 2025 at 11:16 AM
NSF
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
Reposted by AZ Faust
Fun with Word Clouds
I made this word cloud based on the titles of NIH R01 grants from fiscal year 2025.
1/2
I made this word cloud based on the titles of NIH R01 grants from fiscal year 2025.
1/2
December 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Fun with Word Clouds
I made this word cloud based on the titles of NIH R01 grants from fiscal year 2025.
1/2
I made this word cloud based on the titles of NIH R01 grants from fiscal year 2025.
1/2
Grant writing has definitely been feeling futile for the last few months (ever since NCI's 4% payline was announced). But like Dr. Cat, for me, the act of writing and the underlying science offer solace in these bleak times.
Trying to write an NIH grant in this dystopia? My first R01??
Still doing it though, because I love this idea, it was born out of personal experience (not a pleasant one), and it's the one thing getting me through the holiday season
Still doing it though, because I love this idea, it was born out of personal experience (not a pleasant one), and it's the one thing getting me through the holiday season
December 9, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Grant writing has definitely been feeling futile for the last few months (ever since NCI's 4% payline was announced). But like Dr. Cat, for me, the act of writing and the underlying science offer solace in these bleak times.
Reposted by AZ Faust
NSF has updated the PAPPG, including this bit on misconduct. If your LLM use results in "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism", it's on you.
December 9, 2025 at 6:31 PM
NSF has updated the PAPPG, including this bit on misconduct. If your LLM use results in "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism", it's on you.
Reposted by AZ Faust
The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Enabling Discovery Through Genomics (EDGE)
www.nsf.gov
December 8, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
I don’t know man, as a naturalized citizen myself, something about leopards and faces comes to mind…
There’s a case to be made, albeit with plenty of caveats, that naturalized Americans delivered Trump’s re-election. This is how he repays them. lnk.thebulwark.com/4pkjMWj
Trump Bites the Hand That Voted for Him
He couldn’t have won in 2024 without naturalized Americans—yet now he’s threatening their citizenship status.
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I don’t know man, as a naturalized citizen myself, something about leopards and faces comes to mind…
Reposted by AZ Faust
I took care of numerous kids with fulminant hepatitis B in the 90s before the switch to getting the first vaccine at birth. I don’t recall having one since. I do not miss caring for that disease.
December 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I took care of numerous kids with fulminant hepatitis B in the 90s before the switch to getting the first vaccine at birth. I don’t recall having one since. I do not miss caring for that disease.
Reposted by AZ Faust
Just so people understand, Lysenkoism devastated science in the USSR for decades and set them far behind in scientific advancement.
We will be facing similar devastation if this propaganda-based policy is allowed to continue unaddressed.
We will be facing similar devastation if this propaganda-based policy is allowed to continue unaddressed.
this is raw Lysenkoism — using one’s status as a government official to create a false equivalence between scientific facts and nonscientific feelings pushed by grifters
Wow. Tracy Beth Høeg, the FDA's new acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) just put this slide up during her presentation to ACIP.
We have left reality.
We have left reality.
December 5, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Just so people understand, Lysenkoism devastated science in the USSR for decades and set them far behind in scientific advancement.
We will be facing similar devastation if this propaganda-based policy is allowed to continue unaddressed.
We will be facing similar devastation if this propaganda-based policy is allowed to continue unaddressed.
In 1925, 185 out of every 1,000 children died before the age 5 (that's 2 out of every 10)
In 2020, that number was 7 out of 1,000.
Those steep declines over time? Improved water infrastructure, antibiotics, and vaccines.
www.statista.com/statistics/1...
In 2020, that number was 7 out of 1,000.
Those steep declines over time? Improved water infrastructure, antibiotics, and vaccines.
www.statista.com/statistics/1...
Child mortality rate in the U.S 1800-2020| Statista
The child mortality rate in the United States, for children under the age of five, was 462.9 deaths per thousand births in 1800.
www.statista.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:56 PM
In 1925, 185 out of every 1,000 children died before the age 5 (that's 2 out of every 10)
In 2020, that number was 7 out of 1,000.
Those steep declines over time? Improved water infrastructure, antibiotics, and vaccines.
www.statista.com/statistics/1...
In 2020, that number was 7 out of 1,000.
Those steep declines over time? Improved water infrastructure, antibiotics, and vaccines.
www.statista.com/statistics/1...