Category: science policy

Large scientific collaborations are permeating biological research

February 9, 2024

Research is commonly thought to be performed in individual laboratories by small groups of researchers. However, the trend in physics research has been the forging of large collaborations that number in the thousands of researchers. More importantly, the trend is permeating the biological realm, where many large biological scientific collaborations tackling large complex challenges in … More Large scientific collaborations are permeating biological research

Theoretical groundwork paves the way for the design and construction of large particle colliders

February 12, 2021

Simulation, theory and experiments are the three pillars of modern science and each is important in its own in guiding scientific research forward in illuminating hitherto unknowns, or designing a path towards it. For example, large particle colliders utilized significant monetary resources and intellectual capacity over many years for its conceptualization, design, building, commissioning and … More Theoretical groundwork paves the way for the design and construction of large particle colliders

Staff scientists’ role in research institutes

June 2, 2019

Research institutes typically comprise group leaders, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, research officers and laboratory officers. But, is there room for staff scientists to be part of a research institute? And, what is the role of a staff scientist?   Staff scientists are permanent staff of a research group or institute irrespective of the research focus … More Staff scientists’ role in research institutes

Small research grants for citizen scientists

January 3, 2019

Scientific research grants are sums of money dedicated for equipping scientists with the equipment and manpower for investigating a particular scientific topic. They are typically disbursed to researchers whose ideas and areas of investigations are deemed to be of importance to the progress of society, acquisition of knowledge and powering economic growth. Competitive in nature, … More Small research grants for citizen scientists

Article level metrics serve as alternative yardsticks of a journal article’s influence

December 17, 2018

Journal impact factor and citations are common metrics for assessing the quality and influence of a published journal article. Specifically, the higher the impact factor of a journal in which an article is published, the better the perceived quality of the article. On the other hand, citations refer to the instances in which a journal … More Article level metrics serve as alternative yardsticks of a journal article’s influence

Absorption of carbon dioxide and heat by the oceans, but would that be enough?

February 5, 2017

Oceans absorb some of the carbon dioxide and heat released by human activities, such as fossil fuel combustion for energy production and derivation of petrochemical products useful in many aspects of daily life. Specifically, carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, a weak acid that increases the acidity of ocean water. Increase in … More Absorption of carbon dioxide and heat by the oceans, but would that be enough?

Importance of theory and simulation in laying the case for building large colliders for multinational particle physics experiments

December 11, 2016

Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider located at the border between Switzerland and France, which delivered the most important theoretical validation underlying the basis for the funding and construction of the collider itself. Fitting in at the 125 GeV (eV: electronvolt) void in the Standard Model for Particle Physics, the search for … More Importance of theory and simulation in laying the case for building large colliders for multinational particle physics experiments