Funding and policy

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Stories about research grants, funding models and the business of science

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Redefining underrepresentation in global neuroscience

Shifting the focus of equity initiatives from identity categories to structural barriers can reveal overlooked challenges and increase support and participation worldwide.

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Scientific talent is global. Access to the world’s scientific stage is not.

Neuroscience in Chile, and across Latin America, does not lack talent or ideas, but the systems that make science visible—prestigious journals, conferences and networks—increasingly price its researchers out.

By Vicente Medel
27 August 2026 | 8 min read
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Future remains uncertain for U.S. federal funding of behavioral, cognitive science

The National Science Foundation did not include any solicitations for its social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate in its latest round of funding opportunities, nor replace any outgoing program officers—which poses an existential threat for the program, says nonprofit executive Wendy Naus.

By Calli McMurray
26 August 2026 | 5 min read
Illustration of scientists climbing over a barrier to reach publications.

O talento científico é global. O acesso ao cenário científico mundial, não.

A neurociência no Chile e em toda a América Latina não enfrenta falta de talento nem de ideias, mas os sistemas que dão visibilidade à ciência—periódicos de prestígio, conferências e redes—estão cada vez mais fora do alcance financeiro dos pesquisadores.

By Vicente Medel
3 August 2026 | 11 min read
Illustration of scientists climbing over a barrier to reach publications.

El talento científico es global. El acceso al escenario científico mundial, no.

La neurociencia en Chile y a través de Latinoamérica no carece de talento ni ideas, pero los sistemas que hacen la ciencia visible —revistas, conferencias y redes prestigiosas— dejan cada vez más a sus investigadores fuera debido a los costos.

By Vicente Medel
3 August 2026 | 11 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

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The genome offers a recipe, not a blueprint, for the brain

During brain development, genes set the rules and turn the knobs; self-organization does much of the rest.

By Ila Fiete
2 November 2026 | 8 min read
Illustration of four faces of a rhesus macaque transitioning from opaque to transparent.

Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle

Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.

By Diana Kwon
2 November 2026 | 8 min read
A measuring cup with a whirlpool in it.

When is self-organization a mechanism in brain development?

Retinal waves offer a powerful example of a self-organizing system that can build structure without external guidance. The field would do well to embrace such phenomena more broadly as a type of mechanistic explanation.

By P. Robin Hiesinger
2 November 2026 | 6 min read