With all the excitement of the blogs, it is sometimes easy to miss the discussion going on elsewhere on Nature Network. A last count there were over 1500 forums, on topics ranging from policy to protocols via poetry. Here we highlight some of the most active forums.

NPG run forums

NPG staff run dozens of forums, for advice, feedback and discussion. To find them all, search for “Nature”. Some highlights:

Careers advice from Nature Jobs: Discussion and advice for all stages of your career

Nature Opinion: Run by the Nature Opinion team, topics for discussion currently include enhancing your brain power, data sharing and predicting science’s future

Ask the Nature Editor: Got a burning question for an editor? Ask it here

Nature Publishing Group news: No list would be complete without a little self-publicity. The latest NPG news sees Kerri Smith win a journalism award for the NeuroPod podcasts

Nature Network Bloggers: For all talk about science blogging here and elsewhere

Hard-core science

NN features literally hundreds of highly specialist forums. The Population and Carrying Capacity and Theoretical Population Dynamics forums cover everything from theory through to policy. Space is a specialist subject of several NN members and the Space Exploration forum is currently showcasing pictures of the recent Endeavour mission. In the Neuroscience forum, ESP goes under the microscope and Kyrill Potapov seeks ideas for educational neuroscience activities for children. Meanwhile, in Nature Protocols discussion, competent cell preparations are just one of the protocols NN-ers are helping each other refine.

The Geographical

These forums do what they say on the tin. If you’re in, or interested in, London, Toronto, Canada, Cambridge, India (the most popular forum on the Network), Berlin, Boston, New York, San Francisco or Colorado, join your local forum for news, events and meet-ups.

Policy, Publishing and People

A very loose title for a very broad array of forums. The Women in Science forum is always busy, discussing issues of equality, policy and even Barbies. PhD Students can find others to share the pain, while if you’re a Mum in Science, Shara Cohen wants to study your baby. One of the biggest groups on the network, the Science Writers forum includes freelancers, authors, journalists, bloggers and more.

Science Policy in the UK is just one of many forums discussing scientific policy; Scientific Researchers and Web 2.0: Social Notworking? was set up to support the 2008 British Library event of the same name and continues to generate interesting discussion on all aspects of scientists and the internet, while members of the Nature Biotechnology’s Bioentrepreneur forum want to know who owns our genes and whether New York is the next major biotech hub.

Scientific Culture

For a little fun, light relief or inspiration, try the SciArtCulture forum, currently seeking examples of scientists inspired by art, Fight the Future!, for all elves, Balrogs and more from Nature’s Futures section and last but not least, Nature Network’s most enduring topic of conversation, Science in Science Fiction.

These are only a selection of highlights of the forums. Do you run one we’ve missed? Think a good one’s fallen by the wayside which should be started up again? Want to start your own? Let us know below.

Next week: Nature Network groups.

HANDY HINT: Did you know that you can sign up to receive email alerts of activity in any forum that you’re a member of? Simply click the “receive email updates” link at the top of the forum’s main page and specify what you’d like to be kept in touch about and how often.