The Transmitter Launch

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This monthly newsletter offers guidance and insights for early-career neuroscientists.

Illustration of an open book with the pages creating a brain shape, and with a tassel resembling a DNA sequence.

Open-access neuroscience comes to the classroom: Q&A with Liz Kirby

Neuroscience textbooks can be prohibitively expensive for some undergraduate students. A new open-access alternative seeks to change that.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
13 December 2024 | 6 min read
Illustration of overlapping silhouettes of two faces in profile facing a matrix of dots of various colors and sizes.

How to be a multidisciplinary neuroscientist

Neuroscience subfields are often siloed. Embracing an integrative approach during training can help change that.

By Austin Coley
15 November 2024 | 5 min read
Stock photograph of several groups of people in business attire standing and having conversations.

Tips to navigate SfN as a trainee

As the mammoth annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience kicks off, here is some guidance to get the most out of it—plus a request for principal investigators to train students in “soft skills.”

By Nancy Padilla-Coreano
30 September 2024 | 5 min read
Illustration with panels depicting two people working together at a computer and a high-five, and a lone researcher in the foreground, looking up.

Should I work with these people? A guide to collaboration

Kevin Bender offers advice for early-career neuroscientists on how to choose the right collaborations and avoid the bad ones.

By Kevin Bender
10 September 2024 | 7 min read
Photograph of Ciona Kelly.

Building a global community: Q&A with Black In Neuro co-founder Clíona Kelly

As Black In Neuro Week 2024 continues through Sunday, Kelly explains how the organization expanded from its humble beginnings as a Slack channel to connect Black neuroscientists across the diaspora.

By Alaina G. Levine
2 August 2024 | 6 min read
Photograph of Kaitlyn Casimo posing with a skull.

The Transmitter Launch: Q&A with Kaitlyn Casimo

A self-proclaimed “neuroscientist, engagement manager and theater nerd,” Casimo taps her broad training to engage the public and deliver “elevator pitch” workshops for Allen Institute scientists.

By Alaina G. Levine
7 June 2024 | 5 min read
A hand holds a compass against a light orange background.

The Transmitter Launch: Industry internships, ‘Next Generation Leaders,’ and more

Working at a biotechnology or artificial-intelligence company is no longer an “alternative career” for researchers with a doctorate in neuroscience—plus jobs, training and funding updates for May.

By Elissa Welle
10 May 2024 | 4 min read

The Transmitter Launch: Networking in neuroscience—five ways to find people

These tips spell out how to reach new people for conversation and collaboration.

By Alaina G. Levine
12 April 2024 | 6 min read
A car drives on a mountainous highway.

The Transmitter Launch: How neuroscience outreach builds key soft skills

Getting involved in public-education programs can help trained scientists develop careers both in and out of the lab.

By Angie Voyles Askham
9 February 2024 | 4 min read
A hand holds a compass against a light orange background.

The Transmitter Launch: Postdoc pay, emerging scholars and more

This month’s newsletter for early-career neuroscientists delves deep into the discussion around postdoctoral salaries and benefits.

By Angie Voyles Askham
10 January 2024 | 7 min read

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Explore more from The Transmitter

Trading places: What happens when neuroscience turns into machine learning, and machine learning turns into neuroscience?

Neuroscience has become increasingly concerned with prediction, and machine learning with causal explanation, with each field adopting methods from the other. I asked eight experts to weigh in on what we stand to learn from this exchange.

By Samuel Gershman
23 March 2026 | 22 min read
DNA strand

Exon-skipping approach boosts levels of key Rett syndrome protein

Deleting a small region of the MECP2 gene partially restored function in neurons derived from people with Rett-associated variants.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
20 March 2026 | 5 min read
Collage with a portrait of Caitlin Vander Weele in the foreground.

Frameshift: How Caitlin Vander Weele made science communication her business

Her favorite part of research was talking about it. So she left academia and turned that passion into a successful company.

By Katie Moisse
19 March 2026 | 6 min read