🎀This is the final new newsletter content for 2025. Over four weeks in December, I will resend the series on optimizing your online presence for AI, originally published in August. Consider using December to make the recommended quick updates so that you will be all set for 2026.🎀

As we round out the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I would like to take a moment to reflect on gratitude, especially after what 2025 has been for the research community. A difficult year in many ways, which makes it more important than ever to focus on things that are going right.

Difficult times often reveal what a person is made of and what a community is made of. Throughout 2025 I have been deeply impressed by how resilient the research community has been in the face of hardship. I have advocated for putting one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time and one day at a time. It has been heartening to see that same message echoed by so many leaders across the research ecosystem.

I am grateful that we have remained united in moving forward. Grateful that, although we cannot avoid every setback, we have refused to let ourselves become more frustrated than we absolutely must. Grateful that we continue to stand strong together. The number one thing to be grateful for this year is, without question, our colleagues.

Research at its core transcends national or political boundaries. When a human mind is genuinely curious about something, it seeks out others who share that curiosity. This impulse to learn and to connect is not limited by superficial differences. It is a reflection of the humanity shared by all.

When surface differences are stripped away, we are far more similar than different. There are not many realms in life where we have the opportunity to experience that so clearly. The global research community is one of those places.

That is because when we conduct research we are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and helping to define what tomorrow will look like. Such work cannot belong to any one nation or group alone. It requires all of us to work together. Do we not all want a healthy and hopeful future for our children and the generations to follow?

In the political realm and in cultural conversations, people will continue to disagree about how to reach that future. That is unavoidable. But when we are doing the work of research and advancing knowledge, much of that falls away. We focus on what really matters. That is a beautiful, inspiring thing. And that mission, that sense of shared purpose, is not something that anyone can take away from us. It is too fundamental and too deeply human.

Personally, I am grateful that I have each day to get up and do the work I love. I am grateful for clients who have placed their trust in me and our company. I am grateful for my teammates at Wise Investigator who have taken what the firm offers to a new and higher level.

In 2025 that team grew significantly. We are now able to serve clients from more disciplines and we have built expertise across many different funders.

As this long weekend comes to a close, I am grateful, and I hope you are as well, to be part of something much bigger than our individual selves. Collectively, we have the privilege of working with professionals who truly care. Those willing to set aside differences in service of a common goal, a goal that we can all agree is meaningful and worth sacrificing for.

Thank you for the work you do, for the persistence you show, and for the humanity you bring to the research community.

🦃Thanksgiving greetings

This week I shared what I’m grateful for in a short Thanksgiving video message. 🍂

When you are ready, here’s how we can help

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 12-week program to get you there.

Check out our storefront where you can access our free Unlocking DOD Funding for University Researchers course and other resources, including for faculty applicants.

Ready to book a call to discuss how our program can support faculty at your institution? Let’s chat!