Simon Fischer-Baum

The first big public event is March 12-14, a Rice De Lange conference on the future of neuroscience as it starts to impact society. The De Lange awarded by the Scientia Institute for it to be free and open to the public. Join us in Houston in March! More information to come!

Brain and Society includes fantastic cognitive and affective neuroscientists, and amazing scholars who know the kinds of things we need to know to build the path to impact. We will partner with the World Economic Forum and the Center for Houston’s Future and others to accomplish our broad vision

Our biggest and most exciting swing is the Brain economy. My co-director Harris Eyre has been leading an international effort that starts with the (obvious to me) statement that our brains are our greatest asset and then thinks about how we should invest/change policy to center this asset.

We have to understand the different paths to impact - pharma and neurotech for sure, but also policy, the built environment, and other approaches that could be more scaleable and equitable. Neuroscience has been hyper focused on only a few paths to impact - let’s try more different things!

The idea behind Brain and Society is that neuroscience discovery should lead to improvement in human lives. We have to study human brains, doing tasks that are real-world relevant to humans, while understanding the contexts in which humans live, and the variability (and its sources) across humans.

There are three main research pillars - one builds on Rice’s strength in neuroengineering, a second focuses on cellular/molecular neuroscience. But I am most excited about the third pillar - which I am going co-direct - called Brain and Society.

Big news out of Rice this morning! Our new Brain Institute is launching - with the goal of having a concrete impact on the brain health of our local Houston community.

news.rice.edu/news/2025/ri...

Posting on behalf of Tamar Gollan, who is not on Bluesky:

A postdoc position is open and available immediately in Dr. Tamar Gollan’s Laboratory of Aging Bilingualism at the University of California, San Diego, funded by NIH & NSF. See link for details!

psychiatry.ucsd.edu/about/LAB_Go...

Sinclair Lab The Learning & Behavior Change Lab at Rice University, directed by Dr. Sinclair

🌟 Excited to share that I'm recruiting PhD students in Psychology for my new lab at Rice University this cycle (Signal boost appreciated!)

To learn more, check out the Learning & Behavior Change Lab website:
www.sinclairlab-rice.com

Applications are due Dec 1st: psychology.rice.edu/graduate/pro...

Starting a new chapter, and proud to see the continued impact of programs I helped build — like the first-ever Congressional Hill Day at APS.

Designing & leading this initiative was one of the most meaningful parts of my role. When science meets policy with clarity and purpose, change is possible.

Applications accepted on rolling basis: 4 postdocs, neuroscience of language, Georgetown University (US citizens/permanent residents only) neurolang.georgetown.edu/admission

Super stoked for our Minds in the Making workshop at @cogscisociety.bsky.social 2025! If you are at all interested in the intersection between cognitive science and design, you won’t want to miss it!! 🧠🛠️

Very last minute - but check out this workshop happening this Thursday and Friday on how we might build theories that account for variability and universality in human minds and brains. Remote attendence is an option! cps-vo.org/group/cise-s...

This morning at #APS25DC, we dug into how foundations can fuel psychological science beyond federal grants.

From U.S.-based work (Russell Sage) to global proposals (APF), both secondary data and new studies are eligible.

@psychscience.bsky.social

#ResearchFunding #PsychScience #BehavioralScience

If you know @ozgegurcanli.bsky.social , you know she’s a force of nature. With growing uncertainty in science, she brought psychological scientists from seven states to advocate on Capitol Hill. Proud to watch her lead this historic Hill Day at @psychscience.bsky.social with vision, grit, and heart.

Psychological scientists from seven states (AZ, GA, MA, PA, TN, TX,VA) are headed to the Capitol this morning to advocate for #NSF and #NIH funding. Very excited to lead this effort at the @psychscience.bsky.social under the supervision of Robert Gropp. With special thanks to @fabbs.org

So excited for you to join us! We are going to have a blast

Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.

"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."

Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.

I wrote about my decision in TIME.

time.com/7285045/resi...

Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduc...

You can comment on this proposed policy change by May 23rd.

The proposed policy defines science agency grant making program officers, among other positions, as “policy-making” and removes civil service protections.

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

What am I supposed to say to this generation of young scientists? Undermining the future of American science is not a path to accountability — it’s a path to decline.

"Let’s be clear: It isn’t institutions that are being punished. It’s the researchers who are the future of science in this country — the ones who spend long hours at lab benches, running experiments, analyzing data." #SpeakOut
#BrainDrain
www.statnews.com/2025/05/07/u...

Request for Information on the Development of a 2025 National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development (R&D) Strategic Plan On behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO) welcomes input from all i...

Cogsci has been a historical partner in AI R&D. Please reply to the request for information if you have opinions, about the role that Cognitive science continues to have in AI or anything else,
for the development of national strategic priorities for AI

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

The Language Science Fair is a free, family-friendly event where visitors can explore the world of language through activities, puzzles, crafts, + public talks. It brings together scientists + curious minds to celebrate language!

📆 Saturday, May 10 | Planet Word
🔗 Link in bio to register

It will be critical in the coming months and years to support junior scholars impacted by politically-motivated cuts to science funding. One potential pathway for philanthropic funders (after the lawsuits are resolved) is to prioritize funding cancelled NSF postdoctoral fellowships & CAREER grants.

Hundreds more NSF grants terminated after agency director resigns Sethuraman Panchanathan abruptly leaves helm of US funding agency after Elon Musk’s DOGE arrives.

The NSF is in a crisis. its director is out, hundreds more grants have been cut, and it is staring down catastrophic budget cuts and layoffs. Our reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Unfortunately, the NSF grant that supports our work has been terminated. This is a setback, but our mission has not changed. We will continue to work hard on making cognitive science a more inclusive field. Stay tuned for upcoming events.

Hey academics, wondering about changes for evaluating job applicants and T&P decisions.

Downgrade importance of grants if getting grants is no longer based on scientific evaluation.

Increase the value of communication with the general public. We need to speak clearly about the value of our work.

Language Science Fair. May 10th 2025. 10am-2pm. Planet Word Museum. Free

Click the link to secure your spot at the Language Science Fair! No reservation? No problem! Walk-ups welcome 🎟️ planetwordmuseum.org/events/langu...

Writing for Local Impact - a new webinar on April 14

@spiantado.bsky.social will introduce participants to the @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social movement and explore how researchers can write effective opinion pieces for local newspapers.

member.psychologicalscience.org/events/event...

Glad to help! The previously funded ones are findable too if you play around with the advanced search feature

This might be too indirect of an answer (sorry!) but all currently funded DDRI abstracts are available online. Find a familiar name or similar feeling project and email the named PI for materials. Many people helpfully share (though it is their choice of course). www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/...