MaineHealth Institute for Research Community

  Academic bullying is too often ignored. Here are some targets’ stories  By  Katie Langin May. 25, 2021 , 2:45 PM “I frequently vomit before going to the lab.” “I wanted to become a professor, but after the treatment and behavior of my PI [principal investigator] and department, I do not want to ever be involved with academia again.” “It was ~ 1 year before I realized that being told by my PI that I had 45 seconds to go to the toilet was inappropriate and an invasion of my privacy.” These are just a few of the 1904 anonymous responses that poured in when Sherry Moss and Morteza Mahmoudi  invited scientists to describe their experiences with academic bullying . The vast majority—71%—of respondents who experienced bullying did not report the behavior to their institution, mostly for fear of retaliation. Of those who did report, only 8% found the process to be fair and unbiased, according to a preprint posted online this week. The findings lay bare the inadequacy of th...

  CAREER NEWS 06 May 2021 Swiss funder draws lots to make grant decisions Agency hopes to eliminate bias when choosing between applications of similar quality. Dalmeet Singh Chawla Credit: Peter Ekvall/Shutterstock The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) , Switzerland’s largest government research-funding agency, has started using a random-selection process as a tiebreaker to award grants, as a way to eliminate bias in the funding process. The agency says that the ‘physical lots’ scheme is a small step towards making the research-funding process more objective, and that it is unlikely to be used frequently. “In cases of grant applications of similar quality, bias often creeps in and influences the final call,” says Matthias Egger, president of the SNSF, which is based in Bern. “That is something we’d like to avoid.” The SNSF distributes around one billion Swiss francs (US$1.1 billion) in research funds annually. Between 2018 and 2020, it ran a pilot scheme to test the physical...

  CAREER NEWS 25 May 2021 ‘Keep your options open’: postdocs offer advice on academic-research careers Nearly 1,000 respondents to a US survey urge careful thought about future professional pathways. Chris Woolston In a survey, postdocs recommend remaining open to careers outside academia. Credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Junior scientists who are considering a career in academic research should keep an open mind about their options, urge respondents to a survey of postdoctoral researchers in the United States. A significant number of respondents went a step further by flatly advising against an academic career. A  report in  PLoS ONE  details the results of asking nearly 1,000 postdocs from more than 80 US universities a single question: “What advice would you give to someone considering an academic research career?” 1 .  The free-text responses, which were quantitatively analysed to identify common themes, expressed widespread concerns about life as a pos...

Thanks to Connor Murphy for this contribution! Listless   Monday ·         Empty garbage ·         Start painting the bathroom ·         Go grocery shopping ·         Run (5K)  20:17   Tuesday ·         Empty garbage ·         Finish painting the bathroom ·         Paint the living room? ·         Bake cupcakes* (Forgot eggs) ·         Run (5K)  20:20   Wednesday ·         Empty garbage ·         Paint the living room ·         Bake Cupcakes ·         Run (5K)  21:03   Thursd ·     ...

Make time for yourself this week. Tending to your body and mind can be as simple as setting aside 30 minutes in the morning to breathe and move, and commit to being there for yourself. **************************** All open community zoom sessions here: https://maine.zoom.us/j/4625543963 All are welcome, so bring a friend... **************************** Tuesday June 1st, 8:00am-8:30am 30 minute breath and movement with Lucy Bring blocks if you have them, and have a blanket or towel handy if you need padding for under your knees. We will work on twists today - great way to provide healthy compression to your organs and stimulate blood flow. Thursday June 3rd, 8:00am-8:30am 30 minute breath and movement with Lucy Gentle hands free class; suitable for recovering from wrist or shoulder sensitivity. This means no planks or downward facing dog movements. Saturday June 5th, 8-9am 60 minute yin yoga session Perfect balance to all of the yang in our lives. Bring blocks if you have them, pillows/...

  Maine Asks Restaurant To Stop Giving Lobsters Cannabis Before Boiling Them Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email September 25, 2018 3:53 PM ET SUSAN SHARON FROM The state of Maine has asked the owner of a lobster restaurant to stop giving cannabis to lobsters in order to get them high before they die. Charlotte Gill, owner of Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor, Maine, says she is convinced that a small dose of cannabis can help calm crustaceans before they're cooked in a traditional lobster pot. Gill has designed what could be considered the equivalent of a bong hit for lobsters in a small plastic box, without any residual effects for consumers, she says. "Basically, it's a device that allows smoke to go through a hosing system or tubing system. It saturates a low level of water in a container and then it fills the air space above it," Gill says. She calls this method "high-end lobster." She says the approach makes a monumental differen...