Bernd Pulverer
@berndpulverer.bsky.social
Molecular Biologist
Chief Editor @emboreports.org
Head @embopress.org
Chief Editor @emboreports.org
Head @embopress.org
Thrilled to debate the future of scientific publishing with Alex Freeman, founder of Octopus.ac, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social & hosted @einsteinberlin.bsky.social in a suitably vibrant Berlin setting. Votes elegantly split half way before & after arguments - strikingly, many changed sides : )
November 10, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Thrilled to debate the future of scientific publishing with Alex Freeman, founder of Octopus.ac, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social & hosted @einsteinberlin.bsky.social in a suitably vibrant Berlin setting. Votes elegantly split half way before & after arguments - strikingly, many changed sides : )
Reposted by Bernd Pulverer
📚 Oxford-style Debate on academic publishing! @berndpulverer.bsky.social @embopress.org vs. Alexandra Freeman. Nov 7, 4:30pm, Holzmarkt Berlin, @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social, co-organized with @berlinualliance.bsky.social, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social
berlinscienceweek.com/programme/ox...
berlinscienceweek.com/programme/ox...
October 16, 2025 at 8:56 AM
📚 Oxford-style Debate on academic publishing! @berndpulverer.bsky.social @embopress.org vs. Alexandra Freeman. Nov 7, 4:30pm, Holzmarkt Berlin, @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social, co-organized with @berlinualliance.bsky.social, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social
berlinscienceweek.com/programme/ox...
berlinscienceweek.com/programme/ox...
Epic setting in historic Brussels theater for research career-last talks by two towering chromatin figures: Tony Kouzarides and Thomas Jenuwein at #xcellsconference
September 26, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Epic setting in historic Brussels theater for research career-last talks by two towering chromatin figures: Tony Kouzarides and Thomas Jenuwein at #xcellsconference
Wei Zhang (Zhejiang University, previous head of NSFC, UNESCO OS) declares 4 hurdles to #OpenAccess adoption #OASPA2025: 1) JIF (cf. @DORAassessment.bsky.social); 2) publisher double dipping; 3) non-transparent pricing; 4) one size fits all models/ignoring global south
September 24, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Wei Zhang (Zhejiang University, previous head of NSFC, UNESCO OS) declares 4 hurdles to #OpenAccess adoption #OASPA2025: 1) JIF (cf. @DORAassessment.bsky.social); 2) publisher double dipping; 3) non-transparent pricing; 4) one size fits all models/ignoring global south
Good discussion #OASPA2025 how to make OA scaleable -more Qs than As. Cameron Neylon ‘there are real costs in publishing that the system has to bear’ Can publ. agreements work for full OA? Can APCs be equitable? How to encourage/pay for Open Science & non-paper research artefacts? Now for solutions!
September 22, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Good discussion #OASPA2025 how to make OA scaleable -more Qs than As. Cameron Neylon ‘there are real costs in publishing that the system has to bear’ Can publ. agreements work for full OA? Can APCs be equitable? How to encourage/pay for Open Science & non-paper research artefacts? Now for solutions!
catching up with my old stomping ground molecular & preclinical cancer research. 2 wonderful @embo.org Global Investigator talks from EMBO associate Singapore by Dennis Kappei, CSI & Wee Wei Tee of IMCB. Spot the Singapore inspired @embojournal.org cover.
September 6, 2025 at 5:21 PM
catching up with my old stomping ground molecular & preclinical cancer research. 2 wonderful @embo.org Global Investigator talks from EMBO associate Singapore by Dennis Kappei, CSI & Wee Wei Tee of IMCB. Spot the Singapore inspired @embojournal.org cover.
So glad I could attend #OsakaMito2025, one of the most interactive meetings. ltr: Mashun Onishi (Organizer,Osaka) Hijiri Oshio (EMBOJ prize,Tokyo), Keisuke Takeda (Org,Osaka),
Yibing Wang (EMBOMolMed prize, Beijing), Saori Shinoda (Org,Tokyo), Yuta Konishi (EMBOR pr,Kyoto), camera: Koji Okamoto Org.
Yibing Wang (EMBOMolMed prize, Beijing), Saori Shinoda (Org,Tokyo), Yuta Konishi (EMBOR pr,Kyoto), camera: Koji Okamoto Org.
September 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
So glad I could attend #OsakaMito2025, one of the most interactive meetings. ltr: Mashun Onishi (Organizer,Osaka) Hijiri Oshio (EMBOJ prize,Tokyo), Keisuke Takeda (Org,Osaka),
Yibing Wang (EMBOMolMed prize, Beijing), Saori Shinoda (Org,Tokyo), Yuta Konishi (EMBOR pr,Kyoto), camera: Koji Okamoto Org.
Yibing Wang (EMBOMolMed prize, Beijing), Saori Shinoda (Org,Tokyo), Yuta Konishi (EMBOR pr,Kyoto), camera: Koji Okamoto Org.
Thanks Koji Okamoto for hosting me in Osaka University - great questions from a young engaged audience from JIFs over referee credit to publishing costs
September 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Thanks Koji Okamoto for hosting me in Osaka University - great questions from a young engaged audience from JIFs over referee credit to publishing costs
Reposted by Bernd Pulverer
Congratulations to Yuta Konishi of Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan on winning the @emboreports.org poster prize #OsakaMito2025, an astonishingly dynamic and exciting conference with full throttle engagement of ECRs
September 2, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Congratulations to Yuta Konishi of Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan on winning the @emboreports.org poster prize #OsakaMito2025, an astonishingly dynamic and exciting conference with full throttle engagement of ECRs
here I was in Osaka, enjoying the superb science & exciting discourse #OsakaMito2025 when a certain RFKJn decided to make mitochondria his own. Big words for a parasite compromised CNS. Back to sci: so many exciting findings by the next gen of mitologists here! Watch out for mitos @EMBOReports.org
August 30, 2025 at 5:14 AM
here I was in Osaka, enjoying the superb science & exciting discourse #OsakaMito2025 when a certain RFKJn decided to make mitochondria his own. Big words for a parasite compromised CNS. Back to sci: so many exciting findings by the next gen of mitologists here! Watch out for mitos @EMBOReports.org
@lynnkamerlin.bsky.social & I argue @emboreports.org: students/postdocs must not be victims of immigration clampdowns. This is ethically indefensible & will undermine the knowledge-based economies of countries following this path. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.... www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Student hostages in culture war | EMBO reports
EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.
www.embopress.org
August 4, 2025 at 2:28 AM
@lynnkamerlin.bsky.social & I argue @emboreports.org: students/postdocs must not be victims of immigration clampdowns. This is ethically indefensible & will undermine the knowledge-based economies of countries following this path. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.... www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Arsenic life: completely agree with @science.org & @cope that papers with flawed core claims should be retracted or -much better- ‚withdrawn‘ by the authors (a tool dev @embopress.org). Self-correction must be de-stigmatized & become a +ve indicator in res. assessment www.science.org/content/arti...
Fifteen years later, Science retracts ‘arsenic life’ paper despite study authors’ protests
Belated decision on widely disputed 2010 study pleases some critics but puzzles and dismays others
www.science.org
July 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Arsenic life: completely agree with @science.org & @cope that papers with flawed core claims should be retracted or -much better- ‚withdrawn‘ by the authors (a tool dev @embopress.org). Self-correction must be de-stigmatized & become a +ve indicator in res. assessment www.science.org/content/arti...
We reached the phase of the playbook where critical reporting is proxy banned by unsubscribing. At least they could have had the grace to invoke the OSTP Open Research policy, in force from today: they mandate #OpenScience, yet block dissemination & undermine research. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump team axes contracts with publishing giant Springer Nature
The action comes as high-ranking US officials criticize top journals as ‘woke’ and ‘corrupt’.
www.nature.com
July 1, 2025 at 7:14 AM
We reached the phase of the playbook where critical reporting is proxy banned by unsubscribing. At least they could have had the grace to invoke the OSTP Open Research policy, in force from today: they mandate #OpenScience, yet block dissemination & undermine research. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Assuming for a moment US gvt subcrptions to SN really were cut is it because: 1) Start of OSTP directive; 2) cost saving; 3) Kennedy alleged biases; 4) critical news reporting. Tick ONE for fact and ONE for proxy reason. www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump cuts subscriptions to Springer Nature journals
Other publishers appear unscathed in recent actions
www.science.org
June 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Assuming for a moment US gvt subcrptions to SN really were cut is it because: 1) Start of OSTP directive; 2) cost saving; 3) Kennedy alleged biases; 4) critical news reporting. Tick ONE for fact and ONE for proxy reason. www.science.org/content/arti...
Finally - ‘Publications’ offers itself up for publishing…anything. MDPI outdoes itself in publishing creativity.
May 27, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Finally - ‘Publications’ offers itself up for publishing…anything. MDPI outdoes itself in publishing creativity.
Weaponizing foreign students in the US culture war against academic institutions is abhorrent & a major own goal. Lets hope the UK sees where all this leads & is curageous enough to reverse damaging Brexit policies on academic exchange. Only countries with international academia produce excellence.
May 23, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Weaponizing foreign students in the US culture war against academic institutions is abhorrent & a major own goal. Lets hope the UK sees where all this leads & is curageous enough to reverse damaging Brexit policies on academic exchange. Only countries with international academia produce excellence.
OSTP head Kratsios conflates DEI & research to justify US federal cuts ‘Political biases have displaced the vital search for truth [sci are] trying to score political points rather than doing goldstandard science’uff! +ve: he supports #researchintegrity & #openscience www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump’s science adviser defends funding cuts as a chance to ‘revitalize’ U.S. science
Michael Kratsios says DEI has led to a loss of public trust in universities
www.science.org
May 20, 2025 at 10:56 AM
OSTP head Kratsios conflates DEI & research to justify US federal cuts ‘Political biases have displaced the vital search for truth [sci are] trying to score political points rather than doing goldstandard science’uff! +ve: he supports #researchintegrity & #openscience www.science.org/content/arti...
@ascbiology.bsky.social , @asm.org, @faseborg.bsky.social filed an amicus brief in support of the cancelled MOSAIC NIH grant program with the support of other community organizations www.ascb.org/society-news...
Leading Life Science Organizations: Unlawful Grant Terminations Pose Grave Threat to America’s Innovation Pipeline - ASCB
Amicus Brief Filed in Support of Suit Calling for Immediate Funding Restoration WASHINGTON, DC – Four leading life science organizations, including the ASCB, filed an amicus brief today asking the cou...
www.ascb.org
May 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
@ascbiology.bsky.social , @asm.org, @faseborg.bsky.social filed an amicus brief in support of the cancelled MOSAIC NIH grant program with the support of other community organizations www.ascb.org/society-news...
J. Bhattacharya on reported ‘suspension’ of NIH subawards for foreign collab: “No, that’s false. There’s going to be a policy on tracking subawards”’Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted subawards to foreign scientists [who will] need to apply directly’ www.science.org/content/arti...
‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science
Jay Bhattacharya discusses staff morale, grant cuts, and “rumors”
www.science.org
May 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
J. Bhattacharya on reported ‘suspension’ of NIH subawards for foreign collab: “No, that’s false. There’s going to be a policy on tracking subawards”’Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted subawards to foreign scientists [who will] need to apply directly’ www.science.org/content/arti...
new #NIH #OA policy from July1st: @EMBOPress.org is #goldOA and thus fully compliant. The ‘Nelson memorandum’ is one of the few matters of science policy the new administration carried over. The principle is great - the rush will cause yet more mayhem. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-25-101: Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy NOT-OD-25-101. NIH
grants.nih.gov
May 6, 2025 at 11:22 AM
new #NIH #OA policy from July1st: @EMBOPress.org is #goldOA and thus fully compliant. The ‘Nelson memorandum’ is one of the few matters of science policy the new administration carried over. The principle is great - the rush will cause yet more mayhem. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
We’d all like to have a definitive answer on the origin of SARSCoV2 and careful regulation of ALL GOF research is warranted, but for the US administration to transmute an unproven hypothesis to claimed fact in order to make politics is utterly irresponsible x.com/RapidRespons...
Rapid Response 47 on X: "🚨 BREAKING: @POTUS just signed an executive order protecting Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research. The order: — Ends any present and all future Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran and in foreign https://t.co/4Cn7iQ4i3L" / X
🚨 BREAKING: @POTUS just signed an executive order protecting Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research. The order: — Ends any present and all future Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran and in foreign https://t.co/4Cn7iQ4i3L
x.com
May 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
We’d all like to have a definitive answer on the origin of SARSCoV2 and careful regulation of ALL GOF research is warranted, but for the US administration to transmute an unproven hypothesis to claimed fact in order to make politics is utterly irresponsible x.com/RapidRespons...
this is probably only the beginning of systematic challenges to scientific journals. A response could be to ask how the health secretary vetted his claim to find ‘the’ cause of autims by September, now a (the?) key NIH priority www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...
U.S. attorney demands scientific journal explain how it ensures 'viewpoint diversity'
The unusual letter caught the attention of First Amendment groups and some scientists, who raised concerns it was designed to suppress academic and scientific freedom.
www.nbcnews.com
April 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
this is probably only the beginning of systematic challenges to scientific journals. A response could be to ask how the health secretary vetted his claim to find ‘the’ cause of autims by September, now a (the?) key NIH priority www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...
Someone wants to have their cake & eat it: fear not, Harvard: ‘Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status [which] is contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!’ YET ‘About 22k I.R.S. employees have signed their resignation offer…could weaken the agency’s ability to collect taxes.’
April 15, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Someone wants to have their cake & eat it: fear not, Harvard: ‘Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status [which] is contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!’ YET ‘About 22k I.R.S. employees have signed their resignation offer…could weaken the agency’s ability to collect taxes.’
Even the FT is suggesting to beef up European science funding to encourage reverse brain drain (NB: a UK editorial pins its hopes on EU funding): ‚expand the EU’s seven-year €95bn Horizon Europe initiative… in its next phase from 2028 to woo displaced US-based scientists‘
www.ft.com/content/7ec9...
www.ft.com/content/7ec9...
A dark hour for American science
Other countries have a chance to attract US talent driven out by Trump’s policies
www.ft.com
April 7, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Even the FT is suggesting to beef up European science funding to encourage reverse brain drain (NB: a UK editorial pins its hopes on EU funding): ‚expand the EU’s seven-year €95bn Horizon Europe initiative… in its next phase from 2028 to woo displaced US-based scientists‘
www.ft.com/content/7ec9...
www.ft.com/content/7ec9...
Time to wake up from the political mess to refocus on the real disruptor: ‚there’s only one path-prevent further increases in atmospheric energy..this isn’t about saving the planet but about saving markets & civilization‘ says Allianz insurance boardmember Thallinger www.linkedin.com/pulse/climat...
Climate, Risk, Insurance: The Future of Capitalism
CO₂ emissions directly increase the amount of energy trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. This is not a vague or future issue—it is physical reality.
www.linkedin.com
April 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Time to wake up from the political mess to refocus on the real disruptor: ‚there’s only one path-prevent further increases in atmospheric energy..this isn’t about saving the planet but about saving markets & civilization‘ says Allianz insurance boardmember Thallinger www.linkedin.com/pulse/climat...