Theresa Cheng

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.

What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.

Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

Hackathon page screenshot

This July, we are holding a virtual hackathon to explore LEVANTE data!

If you're interested in data analysis, development, and cross-cultural variability, please join us!

First week is open, second week is by application with mentorship on group projects.

levante-hackathon-2026.github.io

We are pleased to announce that the first LEVANTE data release is now publicly available!

To access and download the pilot data, follow instructions on researcher.levante-network.org/data. This data release accompanies the preprint linked in the thread.

For more information about the LEVANTE project, see levante-network.org

We're planning a two-week virtual event designed to help researchers learn and use LEVANTE data on children’s learning across the globe. While the first week is open to all, the second week is for selected participants only — applications open in February.

Promotional flyer for LEVANTE Hackathon 2026, featuring a graphic of a person working on a computer. See https://researcher.levante-network.org/hackathon for more info.

Excited to share that I'm helping organize LEVANTE Hackathon 2026, taking place July 6-17!

Please save the date and bookmark our page for updates: researcher.levante-network.org/hackathon

Things I don't have: an event space lead
Things I do have: unbridled excitement that you're coming to LA! (discovered your work in the wild on a visit to philly)

Two scientists work together in a lab, one holding a test tube and the other observing. Overlaid bold yellow text reads: “Science for Public Good Fund.” Below in white text: “Apply at act.ucsusa.org/SFPG26.” Smaller italic text says: “Applications for science advocacy minigrants will be accepted through January 6th.” At the bottom is the Union of Concerned Scientists logo.

🔬✨Applications are open! The Science for Public Good Fund offers up to $1500 to support community-driven science advocacy projects. From workshops to local campaigns, you can help spark change.

🔗 Apply here now: act.ucsusa.org/4nCzPhl

Rümeysa Öztürk describes the library in the prison where she was held for 45 days for co-authoring an op-ed

These are really digestible – thanks!

I am not alarmist. I'm writing what needs to be said. Higher ed is on the brink of collapse and so much could be lost. College, alongside the military, is a second family for many adults. It is where people fall in love, pick sports teams, meet lifelong friends, and form a professional identity. A 🧵

🚨 A new rule would let career scientists like NSF/NIH program officers be replaced by political appointees

Already 14,000+ public comments, deadline is Friday

📣 Comments can be short. Courts consider them—and scientists with NSF/NIH experience are especially impactful

Speak up! shorturl.at/WKuBj

Update: My contract won't be cancelled due to an internal fund. This is a personal relief after weeks of uncertainty!

Still thinking about: how answering deep questions in basic science often takes years, and how much we are losing now in talent, infrastructure, and intellectual freedom

What a damn shame! Now more than ever do we need more research insight into understanding the mental health of kids! 😡 #academicSky

Thank you Dani.. hugs + solidarity right back at you!

(PS very unrelated but... I got a sewing machine!)

Oh, I'm sorry to have missed this! Does this group have a web presence/listserv I could follow?

Hi Scott! 👋 Yup, in the very same (sinking? 🙃) boat over here.

Thanks for your efforts on tracking grant cancellations!

It's SO frustrating to know that our team & efforts might come to a halt. And worse, that this is part of a broader agenda to dismantle science and higher ed in the US.

Welp. I'm a postdoc whose NIH funding source has just been cancelled in a mass grant termination targeting Harvard. We've been using these funds to study how puberty affects the brain and adolescent mental health.

Excited to share the DIMS Dashboard—a tool for displaying multimodal, extracted time series alongside the original video source! It’s designed to support and inspire a richer qualitative–quantitative research cycle.

Huge thanks to my amazing collaborators and mentors who made this possible! 🙌

Oh wow, thank you!

Delighted that my first post on Bluesky is this joyful announcement. Rümeysa is a fellow developmental scientist and her imprisonment for protected speech should never have happened.

I've been following this closely and appreciate folks who've been breaking down the legal proceedings — thank you!