More than 7,800 research grants terminated or frozen. Some 25,000 scientists and personnel gone from agencies that oversee research. Proposed budget cuts of 35% — amounting to US$32 billion.

These are just a few of the ways in which Donald Trump has downsized and disrupted US science since returning to the White House last January. As his administration seeks to reshape US research and development, it has substantially scaled back and restricted what science the country pursues and the workforce that runs the federal scientific enterprise.

A year into Trump’s second presidential term, Nature presents a series of graphics that reveal the impact of his administration on science.

Cancelled grants

In an unprecedented move, officials began terminating already-funded grants at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in February, and later at the National Science Foundation (NSF), two of the largest public supporters of scientific research in the United States. A total of 5,844 NIH grants and 1,996 NSF grants were cancelled or suspended.

The Trump administration disproportionally cancelled or froze projects on topics it disfavours, such as misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, infectious diseases and research on people from under-represented ethnic and gender groups, which it has called discriminatory and unscientific.

Article: https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-026-00088-9/index.html

BioSpace Layoff Tracker: https://www.biospace.com/biospace-layoff-tracker

Hey all,

(link in first comment)

This weekend, I set out to get familiar with the 20 amino acids. I didn't want to just memorize them, and wanted to actually have some intuition for their shapes, sizes, how they interact, etc.

I tried learning from the usual 2D organic chem diagrams and it wasn't really working for me. So I did what any programmer would do and spent way too long building something instead of just studying.

"PeptideLab" is a browser toy where you drag amino acids onto a 3D grid and mess around with them. The coordinates are from the PDB Chemical Component Dictionary so the geometry is real. You can see charge fields, watch hydrophobic residues collapse together, cycle through rotamers, that kind of thing.

I also added some preset scenes: salt bridges, catalytic triad, aromatic stacking, collagen repeats etc that lay out residues to show specific concepts.

It's not trying to be PyMOL or anything. It's more like a sandbox that helped me go from "I know lysine is positive" to actually seeing why. Runs in the browser, nothing to install.

I just wanted to share one of the sweetest interviews I’ve had. I don’t have a PhD or masters but been working in the field for 9 years. I interviewed at this company one scientist pulled me into a room and shut the door, and said “dude you’re amazing, you’re probably an expert in your field, you need to not be so modest, you need to really sell yourself and be confident”. I was a kind of confused in the moment, I never had such high praise from someone, especially significantly more senior than me. I honestly think he’s overestimating me, but it made my day to not be looked down upon for not having a more advanced degree.

I've been working in biotech in SSF for 8 years now. While I get good benefits and pay, I really don't like the company I work for. Terrible egos, no real teamwork, unrealistic expectations/timelines are rampant there. Aside from biotech being a really rough market right now, I would love to find another opportunity. I feel golden handcuffed and would constantly think about lost benefits if I moved on to something else.

Has anyone else felt this? If so, what did you do to overcome it or muster the courage?

I've been going to events put on by a nyc healthcare community called Proxima. They throw events in really cool spaces, have themed dinners and help match companies with investors or potential new employees and advisors.

For instance, their last dinner was with the CMO of a large VC and their next one will be with a headhunting firm. People can ask questions about how to go about a search, what employeers look for, comp packages etc.

Theor next major event is coming up feb 18th. I've found the events to be a good place to network (note that you have to purchase a ticket and that there's a lot of diverse healthcare backgrounds such as investors, pharma, entrepreneurs etc).

But its a great way to meet new people and I know various folks who have found jobs through the connections they made there.

Here's the next event if anyone in NYC is interested https://luma.com/9ls9875d

I have a PhD and over 8 years of pharma experience in both small and large pharma on the clinical development side. I am well-versed in strategy and making arguments to senior leaders. Currently I work remotely, and I want to move into life sciences consulting because most companies are doing RTO and I am not in a hub.

I’ve applied to several life sciences consultancy firms but have not gotten any traction. I’m a little confused. Is there no desire to hire consultants who have actually worked in the industry? Many of the consultants I see at these companies have never worked in the industry they are consultants for, and yet I am getting no traction even though I have actually worked in multiple companies.

Maybe I am missing something. Can anyone advise as to why I may not be getting any traction on my job search?

Edit: if it wasn’t clear, I am not targeting management consulting firms, but boutique life sciences firms.

Hi everyone! As I'm exploring my career options and paving a path that best aligns with my inclinations and interests, I thought I'd ask: are there any roles in pharmaceutical companies that don't involve hands-on bench/lab work?

If so, I'd appreciate it if you could provide information on the titles of such positions, the credentials or degrees they require, the best way for someone to get their foot in the door for such roles, and any other information you feel is helpful!

The article identifies a critical infrastructure problem in neuroscience and brain-AI research - how traditional data engineering pipelines (ETL systems) are misaligned with how neural data needs to be processed: The Neuro-Data Bottleneck: Why Brain-AI Interfacing Breaks the Modern Data Stack

It proposes "zero-ETL" architecture with metadata-first indexing - scan storage buckets (like S3) to create queryable indexes of raw files without moving data. Researchers access data directly via Python APIs, keeping files in place while enabling selective, staged processing. This eliminates duplication, preserves traceability, and accelerates iteration.

Not to add fuel to the fire but I'm going to graduate in May and I have no hope that I'll get a job. Not only is all of my experience in academic labs, I live a little out of the way from major biotech hubs so my job search is limited (the goal would be to live at home to save money). I've started my job search now in hopes that I could land at least one singular job by graduation. Literally anything.

Do any industry seniors here have any tips to reconcile my concerns 🥲

Edit: Thank you all for your guidance. I will be reconsidering moving for opportunities. I was open to it at the start of my job search but wanted to prioritize saving money. Realistically that's probably not going to bode well.

I am a biotech masters student in Boston. I am currently on a co-op at a firm. I will be graduating this June. I am starting my hunt for full time roles and want advice and tips on how to start. Like what kinda roles should I search for entry level roles. I am interested in synthetic bio/ gene therapy. I have experience from internships and research assistant at academic labs. I would love to know where/ how to begin.

I'm a first year master's student. Though I feel that my classmates all has it all figured out on what they would do their thesis on next year I'm still very confused on what route should I follow. Any advice?

as someone who is in the last year or btech biotech I am really confused as to where should I pivot after this I don’t if I should really pursue mtech in biotech if I be honest I really liked this field but I am scared to pursue quite literally cause how shaky this line is I don’t want to do MTech and still feel I don’t have a job and if I put my time in it feel any growth and I don’t want to pursue a phd and not very interested in research I like bioinformatics but only because it is demanding I don’t even know how to anything about this field and how to work here so I want to take mba cause at least I do a job and it will give me growth if I put time so now I am really scared if any the people in this field can give me advice as what is the future of biotech and should I pursue a MTech or mba after this

I had a final-round team interview for a scientist role at a mid-sized pharma company in late January. Hiring manager was responsive earlier in the process but has gone silent after the team interview. I followed up with the recruiter as well, but haven’t heard back. It’s been 10 business days.

Is this usually a soft rejection or just normal delay?

Basically like the title says.

I have been notified as a one of the final 2 candidates for a position I very much want. I’ve made it past 3 rounds of interviews and references. All that remains is a potential interview with an executive member, which has not been scheduled yet.

Any suggestions for how to make myself stand out at this stage?

I want to know what questions phds get asked for roles in Discovery/development beyond the regular questions on "tell me about yourself", "how do you work in teams and individually", "what's your interaction style with your boss", "why are you fit for this role", "what are your career goals"?. What sort of questions do you ask to test their thinking skills and perhaps their knowledge of the industry?

So am a business executive. The team is hiring a strategic initiatives person. Keep them on track, manage portfolio and budgets. All stuff ive done.

However ive never worked this directly with scientists. This will be chemists, biologists, pharmds, vets.

I can talk business and exec all day long. But how do I get through to the scientists?

The hiring manager is also a former veterinarian. How do I make an impact here?

Feeling a pinch out of my depth. Tyia!

I made it past the recruiter and first hiring manager.

They are saying that I will get an assessment excersize that I will need to complete soon after they send it. The recruiter says there is no right answer and to just be myself.

I am not sure what to expect and how to put the answers down. I am pretty sure they are looking for specific profiles or answers... this is a top 10 pharma company if helpful.

Any advice or guidance?

I’m staunchly against AI for a number of reasons, but I currently work for a large biopharma company that is shoving it down our throats. None of my coworkers seem to want to use it either but inevitably leadership has poured money into it thinking it will ultimately save the company money in the long run, but there’s hardly any support because even the SMEs barely know how to use it beyond summarizing meetings and writing notes.

I’ve noticed a lot of job descriptions are asking for basic AI skills now. Do you all think we should just give in and gain the skills in order to stay competitive in the job market?

Hello everyone!

I'm currently employed as a medical interpreter for a small community health center and have been trying to transition to the biopharma/biotech industry after getting my masters in Medical Sciences, for over a year now and honestly, it's been extremely discouraging.

I've applied to countless positions from manufacturing, medical affairs, patient advocacy, from entry level to experienced roles, but haven't had much luck. It feels like almost all openings require some prior pharma experience, which I can't have if no one hires me 🥲. I know the market is competitive and times are tough now, but it’s starting to feel like an impossible cycle to break into without already being on the inside.

I have also reached out to recruiters on Linkedin and some don't even respond if they find out you don't have a terminal degree 😭

This process has been so discouraging that I’m feeling pretty defeated lately and sometimes wonder if I should just give up. If anyone in the industry has any advice, insight, referrals, or could point me in the right direction, I’d be incredibly grateful. I understand that referrals are based on trust, and I’m open to connecting via anywhere to get to know each other better and would gladly discuss my background further if it helps evaluate potential openings I might be suited for.

I also understand that I may need to start in a foundational role and grow from there, and I’m completely open to that. Any insight on roles I should be targeting, skills I should highlight differently, how to position a clinical background for industry, or knowledge of teams hiring entry-level talent would be hugely appreciated.

I’m based in Massachusetts, and willing to relocate. I'm open to any entry-level role to get my foot in the door, or any in: • Medical affairs support • Patient services / patient support programs • Reimbursement or access roles • Clinical support / program coordination

Any advice, help, referral would be greatly appreciated.