Scientific community and society articles within Nature Materials

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  • Editorial |

    As with the ongoing debate on the degree of wetting transparency of supported graphene, transparency in both pre- and post-publication peer review is a contentious concept.

  • Editorial |

    The discovery of catalysts that dictated polymer sterochemistry, which earned a Nobel prize for Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta 50 years ago, initiated the modern age of controlled polymer synthesis.

  • Editorial |

    Underfunding, chronic structural deficiencies and lack of proper evaluation are acutely harming Greek science. The only way forward is to increase investment in human capital and infrastructure, coupled with organizational reforms and a change of government attitude towards research.

  • Editorial |

    The decision by the European Council to lower the expenditure ceiling for the next seven-year framework programme comes during a time of great debate on the distribution of research funding. The selection of two flagship projects that will each receive €500 million over the next decade raises further questions.

  • Editorial |

    The United States Materials Genome Initiative aims at accelerating the discovery, development and deployment of materials. Yet, finding data standards and sharing practices that can be leveraged by the disparate communities in materials science and technology may prove difficult.

  • Editorial |

    The journal impact factor is a good predictor of the quality of journals as measured by citations to primary research articles. It is, however, a poor indicator of citations to specific papers or of the future performance of individual researchers.

  • Editorial |

    President Obama's re-election was welcome news to many scientists — but it won't release the fiscal vice that's taking a grip of US research spending.

  • Editorial |

    As the old 'publish or perish' adage is brought into question, additional research-impact indices, known as altmetrics, are offering new evaluation alternatives. But such metrics may need to adjust to the evolution of science publishing.

  • Interview |

    Tom Waller of swimwear manufacturer Speedo's global research and development facility, Aqualab, talked to Nature Materials about the competitive sporting goods industry and the technology behind their new racing system that will be put to the test at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

    • Christian Martin

  • Commentary |

    An evolution from natural to highly engineered materials has drastically changed the way in which athletes train and compete. Thanks to challenging technological problems and unconventional commercialization pathways, universities can make a direct impact on the development of sporting goods.

    • Mike Caine
    • , Kim Blair
    •  & Mike Vasquez

  • Editorial |

    François Hollande, the new French president, has an opportunity to correct and consolidate five years of frantic research reforms under Nicolas Sarkozy.

  • Editorial |

    The next European Union funding scheme, which is pending European Council and Parliament approval by summer 2013, will be dedicated to both research and innovation.

  • Editorial |

    Open-access journals are publishing at a pace that is not much faster than some recently launched subscription-based journals. The swiftest and surest route to full open-access publishing is then for funders, institutions and publishers to agree on the conditions for self-archiving in publicly accessible repositories.

  • Editorial |

    To ensure that their work gets the funding and the attention it deserves, scientists need to engage with different stakeholders. Concepts from marketing could help them increase the impact of their efforts.

  • Commentary |

    Strong competition and funding squeezes require scientists to look for ways to increase their profile and impact within and beyond the scientific community. Online tools and services can help them communicate and publicize their research more effectively.

    • Martin Fenner

  • Interview |

    Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and author of a blog and a recent book titled Marketing for Scientists, talked to Nature Materials about his views on the progress of scientific business from Versailles in the 1700s to modern days.

    • Christian Martin

  • Editorial |

    Technology-transfer activities have surged since the 1980s, but only few inventions are bound to become a commercial success. Academic patenting requires professional strategies and should be motivated by goals beyond licensing revenue.

  • Interview |

    Tony Hickson, Managing Director of Technology Transfer at Imperial Innovations, talked to Nature Materials about their efforts in stimulating academics at Imperial College London to disclose their inventions, and about trends in the patent system and the challenges of patenting early-stage technology.

    • Christian Martin

  • Commentary |

    Seven years after isolation of the first graphene sheets, an analysis of the densely populated patent landscape around the two-dimensional material reveals striking differences between universities' patenting activities and illustrates the challenges of a fast-moving technology space.

    • Quentin Tannock

  • Editorial |

    Facing budget cuts, the UK's research councils are forced to make unpopular choices. Effective consultations should guide decisions.

  • Editorial |

    The papers we published in 2008 and 2009 received on average 29.9 citations each in 2010. However, nearly 30% of them were cited more than 30 times, contributing to roughly two-thirds of the impact factor.

  • Editorial |

    Citation analyses can condense scholarly output into numbers, but they do not live up to peer review in the evaluation of scientists. Online usage statistics and commenting could soon enable a more refined assessment of scientific impact.

  • Interview |

    Pavel Exner, the newly elected Vice President of the European Research Council and Scientific Director of the Doppler Institute for Mathematical Physics and Applied Mathematics in Prague, talked to Nature Materials about his role in the European funding institution, the value of peer review in identifying the best scientists, the rise of science metrics and the challenges of running an efficient evaluation system.

    • Christian Martin

  • Editorial |

    As the United States Congress confronts budgeting challenges, whether federal funding of scientific research is perceived as an investment or a discretionary expense will have long-term consequences.

  • Interview |

    The critical shortage of rare-earth elements is a concern for a number of important technologies, but also an opportunity to research alternative materials and technologies, says Alexander King, director of the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Editorial |

    Would the publication of anonymous referee reports and editorial decision letters of published papers benefit the scientific debate? Results from a trial seem to suggest this.

  • Interview |

    Jim Heath tells Nature Materials about the discovery of C60 and how the findings catalysed our way of thinking about size and shape on the nanoscale.

    • Alison Stoddart

  • Editorial |

    Mexico is a country rich with natural resources and an educated workforce. Yet its scientific output remains below its potential. In this focus issue we try to highlight some of Mexico's structural problems.

  • Commentary |

    Mexico's economy is doing relatively well, but its science is chronically under-supported and the country's technological dependence is increasing rapidly. Without a strong science and technology base, the nation's future is at risk.

    • Arturo Menchaca-Rocha

  • Interview |

    Despite the good education of its scientists, science and technology in Mexico faces multiple challenges, says Juan Ramón de la Fuente, a former Minister of Health and former Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

    • Joerg Heber
    •  & Jesús Rogel-Salazar

  • News & Views |

    As the First International Nanotechnology Congress hosted in Quito clearly corroborated, Ecuador is betting on nanotechnology as one of its proposed key investment areas. It is now up to decision-makers to make it happen.

    • Mauricio Terrones

  • Interview |

    Roberto Car tells Nature Materials how the Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics method originated and how his research career has evolved since then.

    • Fabio Pulizzi

  • Interview |

    Nature Materials asked Michele Parrinello about his research and the way in which his work with Roberto Car 25 years ago has influenced the materials science and quantum chemistry communities.

    • Fabio Pulizzi

  • Editorial |

    The United Kingdom's tough budget for science may force researchers to pick winners and losers. But can it work?

  • Editorial |

    The large investments in research and education made in recent years have provided Brazilian scientists with the conditions to achieve scientific excellence.

  • Interview |

    Sergio Machado Rezende has served for 5 years as the Minister for Science and Technology of Brazil. Nature Materials has asked him about the past and future of science in his country.

    • Fabio Pulizzi

  • Commentary |

    The historical trajectory of materials science in Brazil shows the fast establishment of a high-quality, sizeable and productive scientific community. It is now time for a change in attitude towards real innovation and excellence.

    • Ado Jorio
    • , Francisco César de Sá Barreto
    •  & Hélio Chacham

  • Editorial |

    If Europe wants to be at the forefront of scientific research it is essential for governments to find the means to improve collaboration and the distribution of innovation across Europe.

  • Interview |

    Alain Fuchs is the director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris and in January was appointed the new president of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS. Nature Materials asked him about his research and his new role.

    • Hilary Crichton

  • Editorial |

    The first demonstration of the laser has not only led to a myriad of commercial applications, but fifty years on basic research continues to rejuvenate the fundamental physics of the laser.

  • Interview |

    Charles Townes played a crucial role in the invention and realization of the first masers and lasers, for which he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics. Nature Materials speaks to him about his historic contributions.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Interview |

    Coherent synchrotron radiation has revolutionized the study of molecules and materials. Talking to Nature Materials, Gerhard Materlik, CEO of the Diamond Light Source, discusses the many uses of synchrotron sources and free electron lasers.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Interview |

    The quantum cascade laser has liberated laser properties from materials limitations, enabling light emission to be tailored over a broad spectral range. Nature Materials talks to Federico Capasso about the development of these lasers in his laboratory.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Interview |

    It was the realization of semiconductor lasers that led to the commercial success of lasers. Herbert Kroemer explains to Nature Materials his contributions to the design principle of these lasers, for which he shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Editorial |

    Japan's new frugal political leadership serves as a threat and an opportunity for Japanese scientists.

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