Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · 21d

This is the best.

But... trebuchets are ok right?

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · Jun 5

"You’re punching a generation-size hole, maybe a multigenerational hole, in the scientific and technical workforce. You don’t just Cryovac these people and pull them out when the money comes back. People are going to move on.”

www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...

This Budget Plan Would Devastate U.S. Space Science

Scientists are rallying to reverse ruinous proposed cuts to both NASA and the National Science Foundation

www.scientificamerican.com

7 150 430

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Jen MacKinnon @jenmackinnon.bsky.social · May 28

Hi friends - In the face of unprecedented cuts to the basic research science funding, climate scientists are staging an 100-hour live stream of why science matters. There will be many talks on all sorts of things (I'm Saturday at 12:30 PT). Please share widely! wcstreamathon.netlify.app. 🌊🧪

The Weather & Climate Livestream

Join us starting May 28th, as meteorologists and climate scientists from across the US share their research and answer your questions.

wcstreamathon.netlify.app

130 200

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · May 22

All the details on all the foreign funding opportunities for US researchers that have been announced to date

jmlilly.net/blog/2025/05...

Foreign opportunities for US researchers

As the Trump administration continues to slash funding for research, many of us are considering our options elsewhere. A number of initiatives have been announced by other countries to attract researc...

jmlilly.net

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · May 22

Here’s how Trump’s war on science is going. NSF funding is at the lowest level in decades. We’ll lose knowledge, generations of scientists, and US competitiveness.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A line graph depicting cumulative grant funding by the National Science Foundation from 1990 to 2025, with funding amounts on the vertical axis and timeline indicators on the horizontal axis. The graph highlights funding trends over the years, with a specific emphasis on Biden’s term and this year (which is the lowest).

13 150 320

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · May 20

Hi everyone,

As you know, there are now many initiatives being offered by other countries to support US researchers whose funding has been pulled or threatened.

Here is my attempt to gather the relevant information about all of these efforts in one place. Please share.

jmlilly.net/blog/2025/05...

Foreign opportunities for US researchers

As the Trump administration continues to slash funding for research, many of us are considering our options elsewhere. A number of initiatives have been announced by other countries to attract researc...

jmlilly.net

1 5 10

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Apr 23

Anybody want to go to Norway? (The answer is yes, you do, it's a wonderful country.)

By my count this makes three countries—France, Australia, and Norway—all investing in programs to attract to researchers that the US doesn't want. That's brain drain y'all.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Norway launches scheme to lure top researchers away from US universities

Research council launches 100m kroner fund as Norwegian government calls for the protection of academic freedom

www.theguardian.com

2 5

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Apr 17

Please do so

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Apr 4

A big thanks to @eleanorfrajka.bsky.social at the University of Hamburg for the invitation to teach time analysis.

I had a great time spending two weeks working with these ~40 participants from all over Europe and beyond. The resources are open and can be found here: jmlilly.net/course/index....

3 12

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute @ucdmarinescience.bsky.social · Mar 25

🚨 Job Alert! 🚨 The Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute at @ucdavis.bsky.social is searching for a Professor and Director to join us in advancing the mission of CMSI.

View the position description and apply by the next review date, April 27th, here: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07044

The sun rising over the sea, seen from a rocky coastal bluff.

2 31 41

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 25

Not a great look for our national security team

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

www.theatlantic.com

1

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Carlos Moffat @carlosmoffat.com · Mar 22

So, speaking of Universities caving to government demands and people bringing up loyalty oaths, here's a story that involves a well known oceanographer.

In 1935 Massachusetts enacted a law that required teachers in public and private schools to take a loyalty oath to teach in the state 1/n

🌊

1 19 31

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 22

Shameful for Columbia. Who will want to go there now?

AAUP @aaup.org · Mar 22

Columbia University has failed to defend academic freedom & freedom of speech & allowed a great institution to be bullied & extorted into submission by an administration hellbent on contorting higher education to their will.

The AAUP condemns this capitulation. We can & must fight back.

Columbia Concedes to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped

The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.

www.nytimes.com

2

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 20

Rare opportunity.... a permanent observational oceanography position on offer at GEOMAR, one of the world's leading oceanographic centers

www.geomar.de/en/karriere/...

Scientist (m/f/d) in Observational Physical Oceanography

www.geomar.de

1 18 17

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · Mar 17

Leadership from UC Berkeley.

"...we see recent actions going beyond those purposes in ways that threaten core values: academic freedom, freedom of inquiry, & freedom of expression.... we will be steadfast and unrelenting in our efforts to defend those core values."

Like many of you, we are gravely concerned about recent Federal government actions in regard to higher education. While we recognize that the government plays an important role in addressing discrimination and ensuring good stewardship of public resources, we see recent actions going beyond those purposes in ways that threaten core values: academic freedom, freedom of inquiry, and freedom of expression. We do not know what demands the Federal government may make of Berkeley, but do know that we will be steadfast and unrelenting in our efforts to defend those core values. A Berkeley without academic freedom, without freedom of inquiry, without freedom of expression is simply not Berkeley.

We recognize that some of you may find our statement too timid or too bold or deficient in some other way. That’s okay—a key to Berkeley’s excellence is our diversity of opinion and perspective. Robust debate is essential to scholarly advance. The purpose of a university is not to present us with ideas with which we are comfortable. To borrow from Clark Kerr, it is to make us safe for ideas.

We don’t know what will happen. In part because we don’t know what may be demanded of us and in part because we won’t be the only decision makers. But what we do know is that we will stand up for Berkeley’s values and defend them to the very best of our ability. For 157 years, through the education it provides and the research it produces, Berkeley has produced immense economic and societal benefit to its students, California, the nation, and the world; this societal jewel needs to be preserved and defended, and we will toil tirelessly to see that it is.

Fiat Lux.

Rich Lyons

Chancellor

Ben Hermalin

Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost

22 340 1.3K

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · Mar 16

Exclusive: NIH officials have advised scientists to remove reference to mRNA vaccines from their grant applications, in expectation the Trump administration intends to abandon most research in the field.

By @arthurallen202.bsky.social

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants - KFF Health News

Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promis...

kffhealthnews.org

160 1K 2.1K

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Ilaria Stendardo @ilariastendardo.bsky.social · Mar 16

🌊🛰️

Robert G. Björk @robertgbjork.bsky.social · Mar 15

🚨We are hiring🚨ECR with a PhD within 7 years? Tenure track position (akin to Assistant Prof) in Earth and Env Data Science at U of Gothenburg, Sweden. Expertise in remote sensing and machine learning. Work on climate change, Earth systems, biodiversity, #EO, #UAV Deadline May 10 tinyurl.com/58ft38du

Associate Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Data Science

Associate Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Data Science At the Department of Earth Sciences, we

tinyurl.com

1

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

AAUP @aaup.org · Mar 14

Columbia University’s immediate submission & betrayal of the core mission of higher education reflects cowardice and capitulation to a government that appears intent on destroying US higher education.

Full statement from AAUP President Todd Wolfson:

www.aaup.org/news/cowardi...

Cowardice and Capitulation: Columbia Has Sacrificed Its Own Students to Authoritarianism

The AAUP condemns in the strongest possible terms any university that would sacrifice its own students to the demands of an authoritarian government. Columbia University’s decision to punish students ...

www.aaup.org

6 340 720

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Rachael Sirianni, PhD @docsirianni.bsky.social · Mar 15

This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH

730 11K 27K

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 12

You have successfullly reached one!!!

1 1

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

James Allan @jamesallanatmos.bsky.social · Mar 11

Post opening in Stockholm.

su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Assistant Professor in Atmospheric Science with focus on Numerical Modeling of Atmospheric Aerosol Processes

Department of Environmental Science is one of the larger departments in the Faculty of Science. The department is divided into four units with about 190 researchers, teachers, doctoral students and

su.varbi.com

1 11 24

Reposted by Jonathan Lilly

Eleanor Frajka-Williams @eleanorfrajka.bsky.social · Mar 8

🚨**Job advert** 🚨 We are hiring a seagoing technician in Hamburg! Interested in going to sea, handling instrumentation (ship-based, moored, glider) and logistics of research-travel to remote places? See the advert - contact me with any questions. Deadline 4 April.
eleanorfrajka.com/post/2025-03...

View of the back deck of the research vessel Maria S. Merian, showing the A-frame and flotation for moorings.

32 25

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 6

You're kidding, right Nature?

Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · Mar 5

"What if there were a more efficient way to review a paper — without jeopardizing the quality and integrity of the process?"

THERE ISN'T.

AI-written peer reviews are totally unacceptable. If this became the norm, I'd give up on publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

#academicsky #psychscisky

Three AI-powered steps to faster, smarter peer review

Tired of spending countless hours on peer reviews? An AI-assisted workflow could help.

www.nature.com

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Mar 6

Anybody want to go to France?

A new program called "safe place for science" will fund 15 researchers for 3 years. If only they had room for 150,000!

And yes of course it's tragic that we are seeing the end of America's long scientific—and, eventually, techinical—dominance, all for no good reason.

Jonathan Lilly @jmlilly.bsky.social · Feb 28

Oh and France has a program to bring young reseachers over called "Make Our Planet Great Again". It was inspired by the desired to support those displaced by America's cuts to science.

www.campusfrance.org/en/mopga-2025

MOPGA 2025: Visiting Fellowship Program for early career researchers | Campus France

www.campusfrance.org

2 8