Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers.
I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
Jan 17, 2026 18:47I’m not an academic, I’m a federal scientist, but I work with a bunch of graduate students. We’ve held each other up this past year, to be honest. I think finding passion in doing science that will inform land management, and finding joy and peace in our field work has been everything.
All we can do is be extra supportive. Had a long talk recently about this, trying to calm worries about visas, job prospects, etc. Just focus on science and what you can control, the rest will (hopefully) fall into place, and I'll do everything in my power (funding wise) to make sure they're ok 🤷♂️
Will the best opportunities for young scientists soon lie outside of US?
you guys musn't stop doing/propagating science; that would be his victory; we stand with you
After my main grant was suspended, my message to my lab was: don’t let the bastards get you down (tbh also a message to myself). There are people who don’t want us to do science or have a seat at the table. So we have to keep going and doing what we love and think is right.
I also am honest with them. I don’t lie or try to sugarcoat things. It’s tough out here. Everything is changing. But I think keeping lab normal and going as best I can is also something that helps when everything else is chaos helps. We celebrate when we have wins, big or small.
Sadly, here in Europe, one advise to ECRs is to, whatever action you decide to take, think very hard before posting about it on social media, because, you know, you may want to go to a GRC at some point. Is this hypocritical or just survival mode?
I am definitely suffering from cognitive dissonance as I try to keep everything going in the face of the assault on science AND all the damage being done to things and people I care about. Protests, using what influence I have to push institutions, setting an example, not despairing. ITS NOT ENOUGH
My advice to trainees is focus on the science and let those of us in more priveledged positions fight for their ability to have the careers we've had. My advice for colleagues is to STOP BEING SILENT AND DOING NOTHING - FIGHT BACK IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. Sadly most are just keeping thir heads down.
An excellent thread. In the graduate students (life sci) I interact with or teach I see, very roughly, two groups. The first has caught, or has always had, the research bug. The philosophical viewpoint of science seems pretty baked in, hard to substitute with anything else maybe.
They have grown up with non-functional government and the general strain of American anti-intellectualism. And they have the optimism of youth. For them, I just try to get across that when you do science with like minded researchers it is the most fun you will ever have. Everything else be damned
Mine are seeing me protest things on campus and nationally --actions speak loudly. I tell folks to take things one day at a time, that we're still doing great science. But I'm not going to pretend things are not hard for all of us and perhaps hardest for young folks. 1/2
I can’t just do science. I have to organize, protest, volunteer beyond science, so that we can keep having science. Even in better times, science benefits when scientists participate in society broadly and deeply. I encourage my students to find where they can make a difference beyond our lab.
