Tania Rabesandratana

Science | AAAS • 13th July 2022

France will require Ph.D.s to take a research ethics oath

Whether they’re studying bioinformatics, history, or astrophysics, Ph.D. recipients in France will soon have to take an integrity oath on the day they successfully defend their thesis, in what seems to be the first national initiative of its kind. Few...

Science | AAAS • 10th June 2021

Research on ocean plastic surging, U.N. report finds

Plastic winds up everywhere—from the top of Mount Everest to remote corners of Antarctica. Every year, millions of tons of discarded plastic also wash into the ocean. Some of it floats in giant garbage patches, whereas other bits drop to the sea...

Science | AAAS • 21st April 2021

After coronavirus vaccine failures, France laments the state of its biomedical R&D

On 25 January, as France’s third pandemic wave gathered force, Christophe d’Enfert, scientific director of the Pasteur Institute, appeared on national TV with a grim duty: explaining how the venerable institute, named after vaccine pioneer Louis...

Science | AAAS • 20th November 2019

European data law is impeding studies on diabetes and Alzheimer's, researchers warn

For many people, the most apparent effect of the European privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been a flourishing of website pop-ups, demanding your consent to store browsing behavior as cookies. An annoyance, perhaps,...

Science | AAAS • 2nd October 2019

‘There’s no taboo, no bad ideas’: Anyone can help shape European Union’s new €94bn research program

BRUSSELS—"We need to learn the art of listening." "There's no taboo, no bad ideas." "I can assure you your contribution will be considered." These sound like the messages you hear at a small-team brainstorming session—not a 3-day science policy...

Science | AAAS • 19th June 2019

France most skeptical about science and vaccines, global survey finds

Quelle surprise. France, cradle of the Concorde, the face transplant, and the first isolation of HIV, is more wary of vaccines and the economic value of science than more than 140 other countries, according to a global survey of public attitudes...

Science | AAAS • 28th May 2019

Here’s why the outcomes of this week’s European elections are good news for science

Although populist and euroskeptic parties grew in last week’s elections for the European Parliament, the tsunami that EU supporters feared didn’t happen. That comes as a relief to many scientists, because several of the populist movements now on the...

Science | AAAS • 24th May 2019

Scientists want to help restore Notre Dame, hoping to make new discoveries in the process

A month after the fire that ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, scientists and research bodies are getting organized to help restore the building—and advance scientific knowledge. At a public hearing held yesterday by France’s Parliamentary Office...

Science | AAAS • 3rd January 2019

[PODCAST] Will a radical open-access proposal catch on?

Plan S, an initiative that requires participating research funders to immediately publish research in an open-access journal or repository, was announced in September 2018 by Science Europe with 11 participating agencies. Several others have signed on...

Science | AAAS • 3rd January 2019

[OPEN ACCESS] Will the world embrace Plan S?

How far will Plan S spread? Since the September 2018 launch of the Europe-backed program to mandate immediate open access (OA) to scientific literature, 16 funders in 13 countries have signed on. That's still far shy of Plan S's ambition: to convince...

BBC Science Focus Magazine • 15th November 2018

How will Brexit affect scientific research?

The United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union at 11pm on Friday 29 March. Like most areas of British society, science and tech will be affected by the divorce. Chief among the concerns of UK researchers is, well, money. Scientists in...

Science | AAAS • 1st November 2018

‘Poop vault’ of human feces could preserve gut’s microbial biodiversity--and help treat disease

Whether in villages on the coast of Ghana or in the mountains of Rwanda, asking for people's poop is a good icebreaker, Mathieu Groussin says. "Everybody laughs," says Groussin, a microbiologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in...

Science | AAAS • 14th February 2018

U.K. moms are turning parenting into an experiment

On 21 February, about 160 lactating mothers will head to Charing Cross Hospital in London to donate 25 milliliters of milk each for an unusual scientific study. The freshly pumped samples will be analyzed to determine how the composition of human milk...

The Guardian • 27th May 2016

Promoting abstinence to prevent HIV doesn't stop risky sex, study says

Promoting abstinence as part of HIV prevention programmes in sub-Saharan Africa has failed to reduce risky sexual behaviour, a study has found. Some US-funded programmes, including the US president’s emergency plan for Aids relief (Pepfar), promote...

SciDev.Net • 6th May 2016

Tobacco firms pushed AIDS agenda to protect profits

Tobacco firms used the fight against HIV/AIDS as a smokescreen to hinder tobacco control efforts in developing countries, researchers have revealed.Big tobacco companies lobbied for funding and initiatives to combat AIDS to distract from the health...

SciDev.Net • 14th December 2015

Paris climate deal paves way for further science

[PARIS] A deal to reduce global emissions and help the world adapt to climate change was signed in Paris on 12 December — with earlier concerns that science would be ignored allayed by new promises. The agreement , signed by 195 countries, states the...