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Deion Sanders’ $25.5 million buyout could complicate Colorado’s decision on his future
Deion Sanders’ future at Colorado could become a costly decision for the Buffaloes, with his contract containing a $25. 5 million buyout if the university chooses to part ways with its head coach before the end of 2026.
Brendan Zurbrugg powers Walsh football team to second straight win
The Walsh University football team rolled to a second straight win in the final home game of the season.
Scientists finally see hydrogen hiding between metal atoms
University of Sydney researchers have directly observed hydrogen dissolved between metal atoms in alloys for the first time, using cryogenic atom probe tomography with deuterium substitution.
UK HealthCare’s SMART Clinic offers support for addiction recovery, psychiatric treatment
By Dr. Danielle Anderson and Dr. Gopalkumar Rakesh University of Kentucky Asking for help with substance use can be difficult but figuring out where to turn for that help shouldn’t be.
UTEP study links duck releases to lower genetic health
A study led by researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso has documented for the first time in North America how more than a century of releasing domesticated ducks has altered the genetic m…
UNH football rallies in final minute to beat Rhode Island
The University of New Hampshire football team rallied in the final seconds to beat Rhode Island, 24-21.
Scientists Finally Crack a 1,600-Year-Old Roman Glass Mystery
More than 1,600 years after the Romans created the famous Lycurgus Cup, a University of Sheffield technician has found a way to reliably reproduce its extraordinary color-changing glass. A glass cup made more than 1,600 years ago has puzzled historians and glassmakers for centuries. When light reflects off its surface, the cup appears jade green.
Bluffton University introduces high school students to health sciences, STEM
High school students explored potential college majors through hands-on activities at Bluffton University’s second annual Health Sciences and STEM Day.
Bluffton University introduces high school students to health sciences, STEM
High school students explored potential college majors through hands-on activities at Bluffton University’s second annual Health Sciences and STEM Day.
Scientists identify a completely new type of rock in a Martian meteorite and find garnet on Mars for the first time, but its planetary origin remains unconfirmed
An international team of scientists has identified a completely new type of rock on Mars and, for the first time, found the mineral garnet in a Martian sample. The discovery came from a fragment of the Martian meteorite NWA 8171, held in the Royal Ontario Museum’s collections, and was led by Tanya Kizovski of Brock University.
Face the State: Political Science Professor Rick Trachok, University of Nevada (segment 1)
Professor Rick Trachok breaks down the election results locally, statewide and nationally, including the biggest surprises, the issues that shaped the races and what the outcomes mean for voters moving
Bluffton University introduces high school students to health sciences, STEM
High school students explored health sciences and STEM majors through hands-on activities at Bluffton University’s second annual event.
Bluffton University introduces high school students to health sciences, STEM
High school students explored health sciences and STEM majors through hands-on activities at Bluffton University’s second annual event.
George Washington University awarded $1.5M to support Native tourism
George Washington University’s International Institute of Tourism Studies has been selected for a $1.5 million federal cooperative agreement to help tribal nations, tribal organizations and Native Hawaiian organizations develop cultural heritage tourism. The funding will pay for technical assistance, assessments of communities’ needs and coordination with federal agencies. The agreement provides $1.5 million annually and […]
FBI Honolulu to present free cybersecurity webinar for Hawaiʻi businesses Nov. 18
The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College will host a free Zoom webinar on Nov. 18 in which an FBI agent explains how the bureau’s Honolulu office handles digital forensics. The session, “FBI Honolulu Computer Analysis Response Team Overview,” runs from noon to 1 p.m. It is open to sole proprietors and registered businesses in Hawaiʻi, […]
Navajo Tech, Chippewa win $9.5M to expand manufacturing training
Navajo Technical University and Chippewa Sustainable Solutions Inc. secured $9.5 million in Small Business Administration awards to train manufacturing workers and help small businesses compete for government contracts. The funding will support free in-person courses, workshops and individual advising for manufacturers eligible for the SBA’s 8(a) and HUBZone programs, according to an agency announcement. Training […]
South Texas Health System (@stxhealthsystem)
Investing in Tomorrow’s Healthcare Workforce: With healthcare occupations projected to generate approximately 1.9 million job openings annually through 2035, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals has never been more important. Recognizing the critical role education plays in workforce development, South Texas Health System continues to invest in local colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations that help cultivate future healthcare professionals, including the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen (@tamumcallen). As part of its longstanding partnership with Texas A&M University, STHS has once again contributed $5,000 to the university's McAllen campus. The donation will support the campus' Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which launched in January 2026, while helping students pursue careers in healthcare. This marks the third consecutive year STHS has provided financial support to the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen. The contribution will help offset educational expenses through scholarship opportunities while supporting efforts to expand allied health programs and enhance workforce training initiatives designed to meet the growing healthcare needs of the region - @stxhealthsystem on November 7, 2026
Farmer receives $100 million donation, Crawford announces in State of the University address
Miami University President Gregory Crawford delivered his 11th State of the University address on Thursday, Nov. 5. Crawford touted the university’s accomplishments and announced the Farmer School of Business received the largest donation in Miami’s history.
Tennessee second in inagural swim league
Tennessee closed out the inaugural College Swimming League with a second place finish on Friday at the Indiana University Natatorium.
Scientists discover new jellyfish species in waters off Alicante in Spain
The Mediterranean Sea still holds species unknown to science. One of them is Copula lucentia, a tiny jellyfish measuring just a few millimeters. Discovered off El Campello, in Alicante, it was formally ...
Iowa Regents to choose new leader for UI center after rocky start
The Iowa Board of Regents will interview two new candidates for the University of Iowa's Center for Intellectual Freedom after first choice declines.
America at 250 through Gen Z's eyes as midterms reshape politics
As America's 250th anniversary year ends, a lingering student exhibit on Oakland University's campus offers lessons that the professor behind the project had hoped for - and one he didn't plan at all.
‘Stop playing games’: SEC reportedly considering luxury tax for schools that overspend on players
The SEC might be borrowing an idea from professional sports. The conference is reportedly considering a luxury tax on schools that spend more on their players than the revenue-sharing cap allows. A working group of SEC athletic directors, university presidents, and general counsels has been discussing the idea for the past few weeks. The league…
Quincy University students to complete in business pitch contest
QUINCY, Ill.— Quincy University students are preparing to put their entrepreneurial skills to the test as they compete for thousands of dollars in prize money.
Fredrick Chite Asirwa։ ICI and Kabarak University Establish Master of Science in Oncology Pharmacy Programme
Fredrick Chite Asirwa։ ICI and Kabarak University Establish Master of Science in Oncology Pharmacy Programme / cancer, Fredrick Chite Asirwa, Henry Kiptiony
NMSU’s Physical Science Laboratory marks 80 years of innovation
Eighty years ago, a partnership between New Mexico State University and what was then known as the U.S. Army’s White Sands Proving Ground helped launch what would become one of the university’s...
Kentucky jail survey highlights overcrowding, mental health screening gaps
The Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health presented the survey to the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary with researchers from the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. Of the 76 county jails invited to participate, 58 submitted complete responses.
University of Illinois scientists investigating changes in 165-year-old soil
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Scientists with the University of Illinois are experimenting with what they believe is the oldest wild soil sample in the world. On October 20, researchers conducted a ...
Catherine K. Ettman Receives the IAPHS Milbank Quarterly Early Career Award in Population Health
News article: The Milbank Quarterly was pleased to present its Early Career Award in Population Health to Catherine K. Ettman, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, at the 2026 Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) Conference in September.
Campbell hosts Harnett business leaders for economic update
Photo by Campbell University Harnett County has grown more than 27% over the last 15 years and is on the cusp of significant growth in the business sector as well. Campbell University recently hosted the 2026 Harnett County Economic Development Update; this was the university's third year in a row hosting the event. The annual event invites elected officials, business leaders and stakeholders from Harnett and its neighboring counties to share updates on new projects, economic trends and announcements from the previous year. Campbell’s continued involvement is part of its five-year Strategic Plan, launched earlier this year, which lists “community impact” as one of its four main objectives. “Every place I have ever worked, the university has been viewed by its surrounding community and region as an asset to economic development, as an inducement to business and industry and as a driver of innovation. It has been seen as the indispensable partner for growth,” Campbell President Dr. William M. Downs told the group of about 200 in attendance. “We ask that you save us a seat at your table when you are dreaming big about the future of this county and beyond. Campbell University is open for business, and we’d like to do business with you.”In addition to Campbell, Harnett is home to Harnett County Schools and its Career & Technical Education programs and a satellite campus of Central Carolina Community College, home of the Eugene Moore Manufacturing & Biotech Solutions Center (the largest training facility in the state). Stephen Barrington, Harnett County Economic Development director, shared the county’s latest initiatives, focus areas and opportunities in economic development. He lauded Campbell and the county’s strong educational and training infrastructure for training the area’s current and future workforce.“Workforce is at the top of the list when we talk about economic development,” Barrington said in a press release. “Work and skill-ready talent remains at the top of the list [of assets in Harnett County]. We’re extremely grateful for the education and training of our students for the next generation.”One big project landed in September when Harnett County was awarded a $500,000 Build Ready Sites grant from the North Carolina Railroad Company to advance a rail-served industrial site. The investment will help prepare the property for future development and strengthen Harnett County’s ability to compete for rail-served projects. The funding will support Byrd Industrial Site B, an 83-acre site with 58 developable acres within the Byrd Industrial Sites in Lillington.Harnett County is also actively working with Samet Corp. is actively working with Samet Corp. on the development of a 175,500-square-foot speculative industrial building to stimulate economic development.Featured speaker was Ted Abernathy, founding and managing partner of Economic Leadership, a small group of data, strategy and best-practice policy experts that work with companies, foundations and business organizations to analyze competitiveness, develop strategy, support leadership, tune communications and reimagine the future.Abernathy lauded Harnett County’s proximity to one of the fastest-growing and most business-friendly regions in the country — the Research Triangle and Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area — and said Harnett needs to attract more businesses that offer higher-paying jobs to compete. “The quality of the jobs you attract is one of the challenges for you as you go forward,” Abernathy said in a press release. “You need more high-paying jobs. A big chunk of the population here is making $25 to $50 an hour, which is good. But where you’re really weak is this high end. If you looked at Raleigh or Durham or Mecklenburg, that number would be a third of their jobs.”Learn more about Harnett County Economic Development and current projects happening at harnettedc.org.
10 students receive Markvan Bellamy Brooks Endowed Scholarship for excellence in sports sciences for 2026-2027 academic year
By Aubrey Tarbox In the spring, Clemson University’s Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI) selected 10 undergraduate students from different
New partnership gives ISU health science students streamlined path to medical school at Midwestern University
A new admissions and articulation agreement between Illinois State University and Midwestern University will create opportunities for health science students.
New partnership gives ISU health science students streamlined path to medical school at Midwestern University
A new admissions and articulation agreement between Illinois State University and Midwestern University will create opportunities for health science students.
FSU meteorologist honored with American Geophysical Union award for advancing knowledge of hurricane development
A Florida State University scientist has been recognized for the role her research has played in uncovering the fundamental mechanisms influencing the
Political Economy Forecasts: The 2026 Midterms -
Forecasting the 2026 US Midterm Elections Political Economy Forecasts: The 2026 Midterms By Charles P. Tien, Hunter College & The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Michael S. Lewis-Beck, University of Iowa We employ a political economy [...]
Users feel forced to trust online health sites despite misgivings
People accessing health advice online can feel they have no choice but to put their trust in websites they visit despite having misgivings, suggests a University of Southampton study.
Campbell hosts Harnett business leaders for economic update
Campbell University should be and must be an “indispensable partner” with Harnett County, which has grown more than 27 percent… More on this post
URI students join others from around Rhode Island to exhibit dynamic research projects at RI-NEST annual meeting
KINGSTON, R.I. — Nov. 6, 2026 — Several University of Rhode Island students joined their counterparts from several partner institutions around the state last week to display their dynamic research projects during the annual meeting of the Rhode Island Network for Excellence in Science and Technology. Representatives of URI, Brown University, Rhode Island College, Rhode […]
In brief: Putting the squeeze on gene-editing techniques
Xiaojun “Lance” Lian, associate professor of biomedical engineering and of biology at Penn State, alongside biomedical engineering doctoral candidate Tahir Haideri contributed to a paper recently published in Matter. The research, led by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), introduced a physical system that squeezes cells, temporarily loosening the DNA inside and making space for gene-editing tools to reach the target genes. The team said this is an improvement upon previous approaches because it enables a better yield of cell reprogramming, when researchers can coax one cell type to turn into another cell type. Lian and Haideri supported the research by guiding the molecular engineering of reprogramming cells from one type to another, building on their prior work improving how gene-editing tools are delivered to the cell’s genetic material. Editor’s note: The full article describing this work can be found on the UCLA news site.
Introductory videos tailored to student interests boost data science test scores
A University of Tsukuba study of 8,509 students found that introductory videos matched to their colleges raised objective data science test scores by about 16 percent.
Building a stronger behavioral health system for Ohio
The Ohio Education Research Center (OERC) in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University have partnered with the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health to support the state’s behavioral health professionals in selecting and delivering prevention and early intervention strategies that are b...
Building an LLM-Powered Content Moderation Bot in the Classroom -
Building an LLM-Powered Content Moderation Bot in the Classroom By Shelby Grossman, Arizona State University, Anthony Mensah, Stanford University, Alex Stamos, Stanford University and Jeffrey Hancock, Stanford University As online platforms seek to improve content-moderation [...]
Building an LLM-Powered Content Moderation Bot in the Classroom -
Building an LLM-Powered Content Moderation Bot in the Classroom By Shelby Grossman, Arizona State University, Anthony Mensah, Stanford University, Alex Stamos, Stanford University and Jeffrey Hancock, Stanford University As online platforms seek to improve content-moderation [...]
The Princeton Review names SRU to its 2027 Mental Health Services Honor Roll
Slippery Rock University is one of 76 undergraduate institutions nationwide that the education services company The Princeton Review has named to its Mental Health Services Honor Roll for 2027. The Honor Roll recognition is part of an annual project—now in its third year—that The Princeton Review conducts in partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, an internationally recognized organization that works…
ULM computer science students place in top five at competition
Two ULM Computer Science students, Jeevan Parajuli and Pankaj Bhatta, recently participated in HackRice 16 (2026) at Rice University in Houston, Texas on Sept. 11-13, 2026.
Miami University Symphony Orchestra, student-athletes present ‘Playing Together: Music + Sports at Miami” Nov. 20
The concert explores the shared demands of music and athletics: preparation, precision, timing, leadership, trust, and teamwork
Obituary: Jonathan 'Jon' Hurwitz, longtime Pitt political science professor, dies at 71
Jon Hurwitz and Mark Peffley could have been competitors when they met as graduate students at the University of Minnesota. Instead, they became collaborators,...
CFAES Students Put Animal Science into Practice at MALC
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gemma Dotts came to The Ohio State University to study animal sciences. Instead of traveling outside the city for hands-on livestock experience, the...
In lecture, physicist connects dots between space-time and politics
At a Thursday talk on her new book, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a University of New Hampshire physicist explored a wide range of subjects, including space-time, dark matter, storytelling and why the night sky matters.
CU faculty to use award to study rural student success in science
CLEMSON — A Clemson University faculty member with a background in rural education outreach and research will use an award from the National Science Foundation to better understand how rural
One local college campus ‘rocks’ with special music performance
Students at University of Memphis-Lambuth Campus hold rock concert
UH undergraduate student research featured at national STEM conference | University of Hawaiʻi System News
UH undergraduate scholars presented innovative research at a national STEM gathering.
Carmelo and La La Anthony reach divorce settlement 9 years after split
La La Anthony first filed for divorce from Carmelo Anthony back in 2021, citing irreconcilable differences. The two have a son, 19-year-old Kiyan Anthony, who is a sophomore at Syracuse University.
How Purdue sports became important part of search landing on President Jay Silveria
Purdue University announced Jay Silveria as next president, and he comes from the SEC while tasked with athletics responsibilities he'll have to wrap up.
Hugging Face launches ProtoStar open science and AI initiative | ETIH EdTech News
Hugging Face and university partners launch Project ProtoStar to make publicly funded research easier to reuse with AI. ETIH EdTech News explores the open science initiative and Carnegie Mellon’s November 2–13 climate challenge using weather records from 210 US cities.
How a political race can be called with just 2% of precincts reporting
Elon University Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Jason Husser, explains how the Associated Press can make projections long before all the votes are counted.
UA System president leaving for Purdue University
Almost two years after being hired to lead the University of Arkansas System, Jay Silveria will step down as system president to be the next president of Purdue University in...
New AI tool speeds up food science research and development
A food scientist at Penn State University is using artificial intelligence to make food engineering research more accessible and easier to apply. Xu Zhou in the Department of Food Science tells Brownfield, “What’s really exciting to me for the future application is people do not need to read thousands or hundreds of scientific papers or […]
Buffalo Academy of Science celebrates new middle school on former Medaille campus
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School celebrated a milestone on Thursday at the former Medaille University campus. Years after the college has closed, the Buffa…
UWL hosts small business summit
LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse hosted the Wisconsin Small Business Summit today at the Student Union, giving new and established businesses a chance to explore topics
Melissa L. Gruys named dean of Nistler College of Business & Public Administration
Gruys, currently serving as professor of management at Cleveland State University, will assume Nistler College deanship on Jan. 2, 2027.
New study warns of dangers behind AI chatbots and 'concerning' health advice from private clinics
AI chatbots are directing users to potentially misleading health information pushed by private medical providers, according to a new Simon Fraser University study published in BMJ Connections Digital ...
Miami University to receive $100M investment in its business school
The Farmer Family Foundation plans to give up to $100 million to the Farmer School of Business (FSB) at Miami University over the next decade.
What a 1958 onion law reveals about modern politics
University of Chicago students recently held an onion-themed protest, of all things. Social media was flooded with more onion puns than any reasonable person should have to endure, but it soon became apparent that people were using onions to talk about much bigger issues. Beneath the signs and slogans lay a debate that had waited […]
UW-Stevens Point Soil Judging Team takes 3rd at Regionals
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) Soil Judging Team earned a third-place overall finish at the 2026 Regional 3 Soil Judging Contest, hosted by The Ohio State University in Ohio, Oct.
Miami University’s business school gets largest-ever gift of $100M
The largest donation in Miami University’s history will also push the school over its years-long fundraising goal of $1 billion, officials announced Thursday.
Introduction to Forecasting the 2026 US Midterm Elections Special Issue at PS: Political Science & Politics -
Forecasting the 2026 US Midterm Elections Introduction to Forecasting the 2026 US Midterm Elections Special Issue at PS: Political Science & Politics By John Kenny, University of Mannheim and Debra Lynn Leiter, University of Missouri-Kansas [...]
Eilers Family Sports and Human Performance Institute marks first-of-its-kind Notre Dame partnership across athletics and academics
Pat and Jana Eilers of Winnetka, Illinois, have made an additional $25 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to create the new Eilers Family Sports and Human Performance Institute, increasing their total investment in this area to $50 million. A first-of-its-kind partnership between Notre Dame Athletics and the University’s academic units, the institute will support cutting-edge research on physiology, neuroscience, data science, and athletic performance—integrating scholarship with one of the premier athletics programs in American higher education.
UI Health providers authorize strike amid dispute over pay raises
Two hundred of UI Health's advanced practice nurses, physician assistants and midwives voted to strike last week after they say the university denied the providers a 2% wage increase in August that was given to other hospital staff. UI Health says the strike would be illegal.
A sweeter future? AI helps scientists discover new sugar substitutes
Researchers Dr. Shayma El-Atawneh and professor Amiram Goldblum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new computational framework that identified 92 promising candidates for future sugar ...
Can science fix NYC’s everyday problems? Mamdani is betting $2M on it
Mamdani's program pairs city workers with university researchers to solve everyday problems facing New Yorkers.
Four Florida State University faculty members named Rising Stars by the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida
Four Florida State University faculty members have been named to the newest class of Rising Stars by the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of
How do octopuses remember? Scientists uncover a surprising secret
How does an octopus remember what it has learned? A new study led by Dr. Ana Luiza Turchetti-Maia, Dr. Tal Shomrat and professor Binyamin (Benny) Hochner—researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ...
Abdul El-Sayed’s commencement speech in 2007 was so good it led Bill Clinton to tell him to go into politics at just 22 years old
Abdul El-Sayed’s University of Michigan speech impressed Bill Clinton so much that he encouraged the future senator-elect to go into politics.
Rhode Island voters approve higher education bond, providing funds for new URI integrated health building
KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 5, 2026 – Rhode Island voters overwhelmingly approved Question 1 on Election Day, Nov. 3, authorizing a $275 million bond investment in the state’s public colleges and universities, including $165 million for a new integrated health building at the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston Campus. The bond approval represents a significant […]
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
Clemson University alumnus, business school namesake dies
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
To better predict destructive hail, these scientists are turning to AI
Current forecasts often give warnings about hailstorms 30 minutes in advance. Researchers at Colorado State University say their models may be able to lead to alerts hours or days ahead of time.
UConn Gathering Connects the Science of Reading with Classrooms Worldwide
A student exchange with Hebrew University builds on Haskins’ history of discovery and its work with educators close to home and around the world
Interview: SU political science professor Grant Reeher talks Election Day aftermath
SYRACUSE., N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — After speaking with NewsChannel 9 just before the 2026 election, Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reeher talked about the impact of the results. Watch ...
When papers become currency: a Chinese debate about trust in science
Last Saturday, 31 October, I went to the University of Hong Kong’s Beijing Centre for its Talent Forum. It was the fourth stop in the series this year, following events in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang, Shenzhen’s Qianhai, and on HKU’s main campus. The programme covered a remarkable distance in one afternoon. HKU’s Xiao-Jing Wang discussed computational neuroscience, intelligence, and the prefrontal cortex—before even delivering his inaugural public lecture to students back in Hong Kong. His colleague Bing Zhang took us from the Big Bang to artificial intelligence. Tsinghua’s Xue Lan asked how AI might reshape the institutional infrastructure underpinning higher education. There were lively panels featuring industry leaders from JD.com, Xiaomi, Haier—and Kaiser Y Kuo on the closing panel discussing innovation and international connections. I cannot pretend to have followed every detail of the brain models or the astrophysics. The talk that stayed with me was closer to something we have covered before: Zhou Zhonghe 周忠和 on papers, evaluation, and scientific trust. Zhou is a palaeontologist, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He is also editor-in-chief of The Intellectual (知识分子), China’s leading science commentary platform. His subject was uncomfortable enough for a room full of successful academics: what happens when the system for recognising good science starts rewarding something else? Part of my interest came from our sister newsletter, The East is Read, which covered the controversy around “Geng Tongxue” in May. A PhD dropout from Beihang University, Geng has publicly challenged papers by prominent researchers through detailed online allegations of manipulated images and fabricated data. At Tongji University, an investigation into a challenged Nature paper found academic misconduct, and the dean of its life sciences school was removed. The affair brought doubts about academic integrity well beyond laboratories and university committees. How could someone outside the established hierarchy spot problems in papers that had passed through prestigious journals and institutions? And what, exactly, had all that prestige guaranteed? Zhou approached these questions through two essays published in July by The Intellectual: one by Wang Xiaodong, director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, and a response by Wang Liming, of Shanghai’s Shangsi Institute of Natural Sciences. Both began with the controversy over Geng. Their arguments deserve a wider audience, so I want to put parts of them alongside what Zhou said on Saturday. Wang Xiaodong’s starting point is evolution. A research system selects for the behaviour it rewards. Grants, jobs, journals, talent programmes, and prizes collectively determine which scientists prosper and which practices get passed down from advisors to students. “Whatever the system rewards is what it will evolve to produce,” he writes, citing the ancient Chinese saying: The King of Chu loved slender waists, and many in the palace starved to death. That is a more demanding diagnosis than saying there are dishonest people in science. Punishing a fraudster does not change the selective environment that made a particular kind of research profitable. His account also gives scientific success an awkward role in the story. As Zhou put it on Saturday, science became a victim of its own success. Once research became central to industry, national power, and economic growth, universities and laboratories expanded, and public money followed. That created an administrative need for rapid decisions: who should get the next grant, the next laboratory, the next appointment? The difficulty is that the true value of a discovery may take years or decades of testing and building to become clear. Resource allocation cannot wait that long. Publication counts, journal prestige, impact factors, and citations therefore become convenient ways to make an instant judgement. “The real problem is not that these indicators have no value,” Wang Xiaodong writes, “but that they are trying to answer a question that only time can answer.” Telling administrators simply to stop counting papers will never be enough. They still have budgets to distribute and appointments to make. Something has to replace the shortcut. Zhou described the consequences inside publishing. Papers acquire ever more requirements: a complete story, polished presentation, extensive datasets, and accessibility to readers beyond the immediate field. Individually, those demands sound reasonable. Together, he warned, they produce formulaic “eight-legged” papers 八股文 and rigid reviewing, while genuinely original or non-consensus work struggles to get past journal editors—some of whom wield immense gatekeeping power despite having limited laboratory experience themselves. Meanwhile, the demands for sprawling, “complete” narratives have fuelled a wider replication crisis. Wang Xiaodong uses a mahjong metaphor to describe the result: put the complex papers published by the exact same lab over several years side by side, and they often look like “Thirteen Orphans” (十三不靠)—every tile completely unrelated to the next, and none of them reproducible by outsiders. Zhou also spoke frankly as an editor who has trouble finding reviewers. Everyone wants someone else to review their work; qualified senior researchers have little time to return the favour. The labour is anonymous, unpaid, and brings almost no institutional recognition, so it increasingly gets passed down to postdocs and graduate students. And while anonymity protects reviewers from rank and personal favours, hyper-specialisation means an author’s most qualified reviewer is often a direct competitor, shielded from accountability. The protection and the problem coexist. Wang Liming takes the argument a step further. The decisive change, in his essay, is the instant conversion of academic honour into material resources. Once a paper can be cashed in for funding, a job, students, commercial investment, or even a company valuation, scientists are alienated from their work: they must keep minting this “research currency” to keep their teams alive. He is careful not to romanticise the past. The old world of gentleman scientists—financially independent figures like Boyle and Darwin who needed nothing from external funders—was also a closed club that excluded people without inherited wealth, women, and much of humanity outside the West. Professional science allowed ordinary people, himself included, to become researchers. Nobody should want to undo that. The problem, in his account, is an exchange system that becomes too uniform and too difficult to correct. His most pointed Chinese example is the “hat” (帽子): the prestigious talent designation that brings continuing access to money, laboratory space, students, and institutional influence. “If papers are the circulating currency of the research system, then a ‘hat’ is a bond that pays interest over the long term,” he writes. A paper at least requires another round of peer review. A title in the Chinese context can lock in a judgement made years ago and turn it into permanent status rent, regardless of whether its holder is still doing good science. Here, official institutions hire, organise, and evaluate scientists. Unlike honours awarded by autonomous academic communities in the West, a Chinese “hat” blends non-scientist administrative power with state authority. Once granted, it turns a past judgement into permanent status rent that is nearly impossible to revoke—because taking a hat off would imply that official authority erred in putting it on. Both Wangs see China as experiencing, at compressed speed, pressures present across global science. Research expansion, rising investment, publication growth, and elaborate evaluation metrics arrived in China within two or three decades rather than two or three centuries. Zhou agreed with that international framing—noting that recent US White House science policy documents and the new president of the US National Academy of Sciences, a fellow palaeontologist who recently visited Zhou’s institute in Beijing, have raised strikingly similar warnings about consensus-bound peer review, short-term project grants, and the replication crisis. Still, Zhou emphasised that China’s traditional hierarchy, personal networks (guanxi), and the ethos that “a good scholar becomes an official” (学而优则仕) amplify those pressures at home. So what would change things? Here Zhou’s tone differed from the call for a revolution in scientific trust in Wang Xiaodong’s essay. As an evolutionary biologist, Zhou favoured patchwork repair (修修补补). Living systems survive through accumulated adjustments; dramatic mutations are usually fatal. Science cannot return to a small, slow-moving pastoral era, especially after the successive accelerations of professionalisation after the Second World War, the internet, and now artificial intelligence. But it can alter the local environment in which researchers work. He pointed to domestic experiments designed to support unconventional research and diversify funding, including Tencent’s New Cornerstone Investigator Program, the Xplorer Prize, and the Future Science Prize. He also mentioned participating in reviews for “major non-consensus projects” under the National Natural Science Foundation of China. One guiding principle he recalled was wonderfully direct: “Failure is allowed; corruption is not” (允许失败，不允许腐败). That distinction would mean quite a lot if taken seriously. An honest attempt that fails should not have to disguise itself as a success to survive an assessment. Wang Liming’s essay adds a sharp caveat to the optimism about new domestic funders. Multiple organisations do not automatically produce multiple ways of judging science. If the same pool of senior domestic scientists makes the decisions through the same two-round review procedures, it is still “fake diversity.” He argues for three distinct kinds of money: broad baseline funding governed by fair procedures; patient funding for questions that take ten years; and non-consensus funding based on individual taste, deliberately empowering a few genuine experts to make biased, contrarian bets on eccentric ideas that would inevitably be averaged out by a committee. Replacing one monopoly with another achieves little; a healthy ecosystem needs variance. Zhou’s proposals for publishing were similarly concrete: strip papers of their resource-allocation burden and return them to recording discoveries and establishing priority; separate dissemination from evaluation, as eLife and Peer Community In do; adopt more modular “micro-publications” and real-name endorsements; recognize the labour of editors and reviewers; and give replication work proper credit rather than treating it as an unpublishable dead end. AI makes every part of this debate more urgent—and Zhou wove it throughout his talk. In his own preparation, he used AI to survey the declining influence of academic monographs, noting how tools are already changing how scholars gather information. More fundamentally, he placed AI as the latest great acceleration in scientific history: just as the internet sped up the pace of research and tightened external resource pressures, AI is compressing the cycle again. In the essays Zhou cited, AI cuts both ways. Wang Xiaodong expects large language models to erase much of the English-writing disadvantage long faced by Chinese scientists, further swelling the flood of papers coming out of Chinese labs. Wang Liming sees AI accelerating both ends of the trust crisis: it lowers the cost of paper mills and fabricated images just as quickly as it lowers the cost of automated image forensics, data auditing, and code reproduction. “Whoever builds the verification layer wins,” Wang Liming writes. His proposed alternative to the static, packaged “story paper” is a continuously versioned “unit of discovery” containing a falsifiable claim, raw data, analysis code, experimental parameters, and an ongoing log of independent checks—where negative results and failed replications are recorded rather than buried. Zhou ended his keynote by bringing AI back to the question of scientific honour and credit. Citing a recent Intellectual discussion on “What AI Means for Mathematics” featuring Fields Medalist Deng Yu 邓煜—at a moment when AI is already batch-solving mathematical conjectures, as HKU Vice-President Lin Chen noted in his opening remarks—Zhou agreed that human researchers must remain the principal agents: AI is a tool that frees scientists from tedious calculation to think about deeper, messier real-world problems. Yet that partnership creates a thorny new evaluation problem. When a breakthrough is made with AI, what is the human contribution and what is the machine’s? And since AI models distil centuries of accumulated human scholarship, is it right that the credit and value flow so heavily to the private AI companies building the tools? The old struggle over how to assign scientific honour is acquiring a whole new layer. What I took away was a serious discussion of how science can remain trustworthy as its scale, incentives, and tools change. These were scientists with real standing inside China’s system questioning how that standing is produced, and proposing changes that would affect their own institutions and peers. That made the afternoon at HKU’s Beijing Centre worthwhile. At the close, Wang Feng, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at HKU, said the value of the forum series—which heads to Hangzhou in December and cities like Chengdu early next year—would lie in the real cooperation it helped bring about. The university has plenty to celebrate: this week it topped the QS Asia rankings for a second consecutive year, alongside its 11th-place position in the QS World University Rankings 2027. For me, bringing this debate to an audience beyond the people who review papers and allocate grants was a useful contribution. 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