Mike Lacy

People like it as much or better than conventional review, it takes less cost/effort of reviewers, is more equitable, reduced burden on applicants/institutions, easier process for funder to manage, etc. etc.

"On one hand, reviewers’ assessments can be unreliable and biased... On the other hand, the costs of preparing and reviewing applications in a conventional system are substantial... the lottery-first approach was more popular among applicants and reviewers than anticipated" (lightly paraphrased)

👀

Lottery before peer review is associated with increased female representation and reduced estimated economic cost in a German funding line - Nature Communications The authors show evidence from a German funding line that a lottery-first approach followed by peer review is accompanied by increased female representation both at the submission stage and among fund...

Leaders at @ukri.org should be seriously looking at the lottery first idea. 68% lower economic costs, increase in diversity of award holders and well received.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

HELP! Please suggest a cool paper/preprint in your field in the last year or so.

For a course I teach, I am collecting papers on: cell/dev bio, microbio, neuro, maths/stats/CS/chem/phys applied to biology.

1/2

Microscopy Bat signal!

I want to compile a list of biological samples that demonstrate microscope capabilities, including the reagents to generate them. Please send me anything you know of!! Beads are great for QC, but there's a different teaching benefit with biology. 1/n

a woman in a blue sweater and glasses is sitting in a chair and talking to herself . ALT: a woman in a blue sweater and glasses is sitting in a chair and talking to herself .

🧠 Neurofriends:
How do you decide which papers you will review?

* Do you decide based on the journal? (previously published there, open science policies, impact factor, APCs?)

* Are you more likely to review papers that look higher quality vs lower quality?

* How many do you accept per month?

A three-column infographic showing that simple arrows are ambiguous because people interpret them in many different ways. The left column displays nine identical right-pointing arrows. The middle column lists possible interpretations: “First this, then that,” “Zooming in,” “Zooming out,” “This is the range,” “This element’s name is,” “The trajectory,” “All of this,” “Things come together,” and “Things split apart.” The right column offers visual alternatives for each meaning: numbered steps for sequence, magnification insets for zooming, a 0–100% bar for range, a label pointing to an element for naming, a dotted path for trajectory, a bracket for grouping “all of this,” a merging fork for things coming together, and a branching fork for things splitting apart.

Arrows are tricky. For us, as the designer of the visual, it will be super clear what it means. But for someone looking at our visual for the first time, it can be highly ambiguous. Depending on the reader, the same arrow can mean sequence, zoom, range, label, movement,...

1/2

Development's Pathway to Independence Programme Our grants support and encourage the sharing of knowledge throughout the community by facilitating international collaboration, event attendance and the organisation of scientific meetings, conference...

Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions:

Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building

Spread the word...

www.biologists.com/grants/devel...

Screenshot of webpage for MinION sequencer that shows the palm sized device open (where the flow cell goes, I think)

Science question: does your lab have a MinION sequencer and does it work well? Worth the money? (thanks for any opinions!)

Hey, what are you gonna get for the office secret Santa?
For your mother in law who loves her bird feeder?
For your niece who loves whales?
For your dad who literally has no hobbies and you’re like “shit wtf do I get this guy”?

Get a love notes from nature calendar!
squidfacts.net

Healthcare, research, and supporting families are more important than ever. Running a marathon doesn't fix it all, but I was proud to run with this team last year - we raised over $3.5 million - and can't wait to do it again 💪

MFM - Boston Marathon 2026: Support me fundraising for Boston Children's Hospital I've joined the Miles for Miracles team because I am passionate about helping kids at Boston Children’s Hospital find lifesaving care, and give families hope. Will you help me reach my fundraising goal with a donation today?

Let's gooo! 📣 I'm running the 2026 Boston Marathon as a fundraiser for Boston Children's Hospital! If you're looking for causes to support on #GivingTuesday, I'd be grateful for any contribution: secure.childrenshospital.org/goto/mikelac...

Ok, this one may be controversial

4) Initially, I focus on understanding what the authors are saying, not trying to critique the science, that comes later.

**Often I don't even look at the figures unless the point is not clear from the text.**

5/🧵

I'm teaching a literature based class next semester and plan to share a method for reading a paper focused on note taking.

I think many graduate students don't take notes when reading research articles and consequently don't retain information well.

I'd love to hear what people think. 1/🧵

Reminder: now's a good time to clear out stuff you don't use anymore. Everybody's broke & buying stuff for the holidays. Drop good stuff to thrift stores/ buy nothing/fb marketplace BEFORE the holidays hit.

It's good for climate & just being nice to each other.

I'm clearing out old cameras today.

4 brain watercolors with black text about brains

Four new algorithm watercolors! Perfect for neuroscientists, deep thinkers, and zombies #sciart www.etsy.com/shop/artolog...

layered ink painting with neuron image in blue and purple

layered ink painting with neuron image in blue and purple

Layered ink paintings with neuron images and half-legible quotes from Hildegard of Bingen artologica.etsy.com
You're not gonna find this at Macy's #sciart

New at Addgene!

New at Addgene! MitoTRACER, a cre-lox based reporter of cell-to-cell mitochondrial transfer. Used to study transfer from nerve to cancer cells and its impact on metabolism and metastasis.
By @greletlab.bsky.social

🔗 https://twp.ai/4itAyW

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows

HAK-actin, U-ExM-compatible probe to image the actin cytoskeleton - preLights HAK-actin is a new probe that may help researchers see the actin cytoskeleton in sharper detail using expansion microscopy.

Reliable actin labelling in expansion #microscopy 🔬

Beautiful #preprint from Olivier Mercey, @lreymond.bsky.social & team @dudinlab.bsky.social @centriolelab.bsky.social

Read the latest #preLight from @kanishka03.bsky.social ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/h...

A venn diagram comparing Libraries and Pooled Libraries. The Libraries circle reads "made of paper" and shows an illustration of books. The Pooled Libraries circle reads "made of DNA (and sometimes lentivirus)" and shows an illustration of plasmids. In the overlap of the two circles, three entries read: "incredible community driven resource; source of new discoveries; barcodes."

Who doesn't love a library? A pooled library, that is! Grab a hot drink and your reading glasses and enjoy browsing the libraries Addgene has to offer:
https://twp.ai/4it3AO

After I burned out, physics helped me understand what had happened to me – and to move on | Zahaan Bharmal I thought hard work equalled success. I had to realise that’s not always how it works, in science or in life, says Google employee Zahaan Bharmal

Until we recognise that resilience requires inefficiency – that robust systems must have slack – we’re just optimising our way towards collapse. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Need a better way to purify your favorite plant proteins? 🎣 Check out the Catch & Release toolbox! Find plasmids here: www.addgene.org/browse/artic...
Thanks @kunzlab.bsky.social for sharing!

Cool work from our neighbors at @cultivarium.bsky.social using components from the POSSUM Toolkit! What will they (or you!) find next?
Check out the toolkit here: www.addgene.org/kits/cultiva...

Dark blue banner with science illustrations and text: “Join our Addgene Ambassador Program for Neuroscience 2025.”

We’re looking forward to #SfN25! 🧠

Tell us about your research using materials available through Addgene, so we can celebrate your science!

Learn more: https://twp.ai/4it0di

Thanks for sharing @piatkevich.bsky.social! 💡 These red calcium indicators and more are featured in our Fluorescent Protein Biosensors Collection: www.addgene.org/fluorescent-...

Does anyone know of good antibodies to tdTomato and GFP that they are happy with for ultrastructure or glut fixed tissues?

#SciSky 🧪

small SOS:

My lab is struggling to use Napari to visualize and work with MERFISH images. Can one of you kind experts give my student a few pointers?

@mads100tist.bsky.social