This month’s news includes: Research software community news, including international policy pathways for supporting research software Funding opportunities, including UKRI Metascience research grants round 2 Schmidt Sciences’ support for ReSA: Shaping a community vision for research software engineering in the age of Generative AI OECD’s second workshop on Access to research software: Opportunities and challenges (6 March 2026) 2026

Appalachian History Series – Elk Horn Coal Corporation: Company Towns and the Making of the Elkhorn Coal Field In the early twentieth century, a cluster of new towns rose along the creeks of Floyd, Knott, Letcher, and Pike counties. They had names like Wayland, Fleming, Wheelwright, Garrett, and Jackhorn, and nearly all of them could be traced back to the same corporate address. On paper, their story begins in New York and Charleston boardrooms.

Appalachian Figures Series – The Story of John G. Newlee of Claiborne, Tennessee At the base of Cumberland Mountain, where Gap Creek cuts down toward the little town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, a square stone stack rises beside the water. Visitors today know it as the Newlee Iron Furnace.

Zum Wohle aller? Open Access in Bewegung von Daniel Beucke und Julian Schima Open Access ist weit mehr als ein Publikationsmodell - das zeigte die Veranstaltung „Open Access in Bewegung: Perspektiven, Praxis, Positionen“ an der UB Göttingen. Beiträge zu Leitlinien, gelebter Praxis und Infrastruktur machten deutlich, wie die Wissenschaft Openness, Verantwortung und Autonomie gemeinsam neu aushandeln muss.

Analysen zu Flucht richten oft den Blick auf erwerbsfähige Geflüchtete, z.B. Frauen mit Kindern. Weit weniger bekannt ist die Situation von (älteren) Ankommenden mit besonderen Gesundheitsbedarfen, etwa mit chronischen Erkrankungen, Behinderungen oder psycho-sozialen Unterstützungsbedarfen.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes How can we use the new physics of digital connections to save lives? What is the future of hybrid engagement? The ultimate test of any digital architecture is whether it can deliver results in the real world.

The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) celebrated its 3rd anniversary in December 2025. Since the launch of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA) in July 2022, over 800 organisations worldwide have signed the agreement, committing to enact changes in how they assess research and researchers. This makes CoARA arguably the foremost initiative that is seeking to inspire and coordinate change in this important area.

On 18 September 2025, we first announced our new Certificate peer learning programme for gender in emergencies. The first course, a primer on the topic, then launched on 6 October. As of 21 January 2026, the gender community of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) now reaches 6,592 practitioners.

Registration is officially open for the Canada Student Journal Forum (SJF) 2026, happening February 17 – 19. This national gathering brings together student journal teams, authors, faculty mentors, and academic leaders from across the country. Registration for this virtual event is free.

Appalachian Figures Series – The Story of Randy Napier of Perry, Kentucky For most travelers, the signs on Kentucky Route 15 are just green boards at the edge of Perry County. For people who grew up in the hills around Hazard, they tell a story.

Appalachian History Series – Highlander Folk School in Monteagle: Labor Education and Civil Rights Organizing on the Cumberland Plateau If you follow old U.S. 41 up Monteagle Mountain, you climb out of the Sequatchie Valley into a high, wooded plateau that feels apart from the rest of Tennessee. Near the community of Summerfield in Grundy County, a small campus once sat among the oaks and sandstone outcrops.