News & Comment

For a postdoctoral fellowship, it’s advisable to be selective about lab choice and to be clear about expectations.

After having been largely neglected for more than a century, the tiny marine animal Trichoplax adhaerens is enjoying a revival and is now poised to become a mainstream model organism for the study of epithelial evolution, diversification and specialization.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. —George Orwell

To select the best postdoctoral fellows for their labs, principal investigators assess scientific qualifications and more.

Brown seaweeds are multicellular eukaryotes that have been evolving independently of animals and plants for more than a billion years. The filamentous brown alga Ectocarpus has been used as a model to understand the biology of these enigmatic organisms and to shed light on a range of major questions, from the molecular basis of complex developmental patterns to the evolution of sex.

In a group interview, early-career researchers in proteomics share how they plan for the future and navigate divides over methods.

The grant deadline approaches but budget details are still missing. Experienced budget-makers share how they manage budgets and the ‘boom–bust’ cycle.

Scientists have successes to celebrate but must also cope with the sting of failures. In the way she handles both, Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó inspires others.

It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision that the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible. —Aristotle