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  • CAREER COLUMN

Dear US researchers: break the outrage addiction. I survived the besieging of science. So can you

As I watch US researchers respond to threats against science, I’m reminded of when scientists in Brazil navigated a similar storm.
By
  1. João Vieira

    1. João Vieira is a postdoc at the University of Cologne, Germany.

From 2019 to 2023, I studied for a PhD in the evolutionary developmental genetics of the beetle Tribolium castaneum at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. My laboratory, based in the coastal region of Macaé, became collateral damage in a war on science declared by Jair Bolsonaro, our president from 2019 to 2022 — a war that might feel familiar to many US researchers now that their own president seems determined to cut funding for scientific research.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00943-1

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.

Competing Interests

The author received funding from CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher EducationPersonnel) and FAPERJ (Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State ofRio de Janeiro) during their PhD to support research in evolutionary developmental genetics.The author currently does not receive funding from these agencies.

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