Sensitive Periods: A Flux Society Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We are excited for a special episode this month, as guest host Dr. Arielle Keller (@ArielleKeller) interviews Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (@sjblakemore.bsky.social), the 2024 Flux Huttenlocher Award Winner.

Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group. Her group's research focuses on the development of social cognition and decision making in the human adolescent brain, and adolescent mental health.

Dr. Blakemore is incredibly deserving of this award and graciously provided her time to discuss her career development, research, advice to trainees, and much more. Many thanks as well to Dr. Keller for hosting this episode! 

Full transcript can be found here: https://bit.ly/S4E3_Huttenlocher2025 

In this episode, we take a closer look at the devastating impacts of federal funding cuts across the United States on developmental science and its trainees. We discuss how cuts are destabilizing training for early-career scientists and halting the vital research that they conduct. We further emphasize how scientists are organizing to fight back, and how we can take care of ourselves and each other along the way. For this crucial discussion, we are joined by Gabriel Leon, Shiba Esfand, and Dr. Scott Delaney — scientists who have each been impacted in different ways.

Visit our Buzzsprout for other episodes. 

For a full transcript of this episode, visit: bit.ly/49aZxoU

Learn more about Grant Witness: https://grant-witness.us/

Connect with our guests:

• Dr. Scott Delaney (@scott-delaney.bsky.social‬, LinkedIn)
• Shiba Esfand (@shibaesfand.bsky.social‬, LinkedIn)
• Gabriel Leon (LinkedIn, Website)

Connect with us on social media! We are always looking for ideas for episode topics, co-hosts, or guests. We're @FluxSociety on bsky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Open science is becoming increasingly important in our field, yet the nuances of it can be intimidating for trainees. To think about how trainees in developmental cognitive neuroscience can best engage in preregistrations, we're joined by a renowned expert Dr. Russell Poldrack. We discuss general purposes of preregistrations, do's and don'ts, how to address common mistakes, and more!

Relevant resources and discussed papers:
Open Science Framewwork: osf.io
The Preregistration Revolution: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1708274114
OSF registration guide: https://help.osf.io/article/330-welcome-to-registrations
Secondary data preregistration template: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/hvfmr
Simmons et al:  https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611417632
Kaplan et al: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132382
Scheel et al: https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459211007467


Connect with us on social media! We are always looking for ideas for episode topics, co-hosts, or guests. 

X: @FluxSociety
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Reach out to your host, Matt Mattoni (matt.mattoni@temple.edu)

Thank you to Gavhkar Abdurokhmonova for assistance with episode production. 

Graduate school interviews are  exciting and stressful! We're joined by Dr. Jennifer Silvers, a faculty member at UCLA and Felicia Hardi, a graduate student at the University of Michigan. We discuss how to prepare for interviews, what questions to ask, how to evaluate a program, and much more!

For a full transcript, visit: https://bit.ly/FluxSensitivePeriods_S2E5

Connect with us on social media! We are always looking for ideas for episode topics, co-hosts, or guests. 

X: @FluxSociety
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Reach out to your host, Andrew Lynn (andrewlynnphd@gmail.com)

Join us for a chat with the president of Flux, Dr. Eveline Crone! In this episode, we discuss her plans for the future of Flux Society, thoughts on societal impact via science communication and public engagement, advice for trainees, and her favorite memories from past Flux conferences.

For a full episode transcript, see https://bit.ly/FluxSensitivePeriodsS2E4

Connect with us on social media! We are always looking for ideas for episode topics, co-hosts, or guests.

Twitter/X: @FluxSociety
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Reach out to your hosts, Theresa Cheng (tcheng@uoregon.edu) and Matt Mattoni (matt.mattoni@temple.edu)

Applying to Ph.D. programs is one of the most important, exciting, and stressful periods of the scientific journey. To provide perspectives and tips for graduate school applications, we're joined by Dr. Laurel Gabard-Durnam, a faculty member at Northeastern University and Ellie Taylor, a lab manager at the University of Maryland and current graduate school applicant. We touch on numerous topics along our way, including when to apply, tips for building the best application, and the importance of self care. We hope this episode is useful for any trainee currently applying or considering applying to graduate school in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, or related fields.

For a full transcript, visit: https://bit.ly/SensitivePeriodsS2E3

Helpful Resources for Graduate School Applications

• Laurel's website has many resources
• Application Statement Feedback Program (ASFP)
• Project SHORT
• Next Gen Psych Scholars
• Cientifico Latino

Connect with us on social media! We are always looking for ideas for episode topics, co-hosts, or guests. 

Twitter/X: @FluxSociety
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Reach out to your host, Matt Mattoni (matt.mattoni@temple.edu)

Many of us in developmental cognitive neuroscience aim to make a positive impact on the world through our science. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Natalie Brito and Dr. Katie Insel about their experiences translating their science for different audiences to support developmental opportunities for newborns and adolescents. Along the way, we touch on topics like facing your fears, science communication, the myth of objectivity, and the importance of community and collaboration.

For a full transcript, visit: http://bit.ly/FluxSensitivePeriodsS2E2

Episode links:

• Center for Law Brain and Behavior 
• Growing Up Together in Society 
• Frontiers for Young Minds 
• SCAAN 
• AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships 
• SRCD US Policy Fellowship Program 
• CIFAR Global Scholars Program 

Follow us on social media!
Twitter: @FluxSociety
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Reach out to your host, Theresa (tcheng5@gmail.com)

We discuss where the idea of Flux Society originate, what it took to get it off the ground, and where it may be going!

For a full transcript: https://bit.ly/FluxSensitivePeriodsS2E1

Follow us on Social Media!
Twitter: @FluxSociety 
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Our emails:
Andrew.Lynn.2@Louisville.edu

For our 9th episode of Season 1 we take a clinical perspective to developmental cognitive neuroscience! We discuss what we have learned from cognitive neuroscience that benefits clinical practice, the mutually informative backgrounds that clinical and neuroscience training each offer,  collaboration, and more. We're joined by great guests Dr. Dylan Gee (Twitter @dylanggee), Dr. Christian Tamnes (cktamnes), and Teresa Vargas (tersvar), that each have extensive clinical and neuroscientific backgrounds. Apologies for some of the audio issues this episode!

For a full transcript (please excuse typos and errors) visit: https://bit.ly/S1E9Transcript

Follow us on Social Media!
Twitter: @FluxSociety 
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Our emails:
matt.mattoni@temple.edu
andrew.lynn.1@vanderbilt.edu
tcheng5@gmail.com

We discuss getting the most out of conferences (large and small) while maintaining a work-life balance with Drs. Maya Rosen (Twitter @mayalrosen), Julia Moser (@_JuliaMoser)  and Niamh MacSweeney (@Niamh MacSweeney). 
 
For a full transcript visit: https://bit.ly/FluxSensitivePeriodsS1E8

Follow us on Social Media!
Twitter: @FluxSociety 
Facebook: facebook.com/FluxSociety/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fluxsociety/

Our emails:
andrew.lynn.1@vanderbilt.edu
tcheng5@gmail.com