Trust. You can trust scientists, can’t you? They investigate the world, are curious, and always tell the truth, don’t they? In this editorial, you will find rather unscientific elements of trivia related to trust. It is designed to get our readers thinking about the true nature of trust, as part of our special issue on the topic. Read more […]
Half of all clinical trials never see the light of day. There are regulations in Europe and the US; they are often ignored. But public pressure has begun to push the pharmaceutical industries to make trial data available. However, in a world where industry, clinicians and medical publishers are complicit in not having clinical trials published in full, it may be necessary to give ownership of clinical data back to patients to gain greater transparency and accountability. Read more […]
Nanotechologies are the perfect case study to identify lobbying forces at work in the regulatory process in Brussels. Compulsory labelling or the implementation of a register for products containing nanotech components have been at the centre of the debate spreading over an inordinately long time. But such decisions will only come at the end of a protracted debate between the European Commission, industry, consumer representatives and environment protection organisations. In the end, evidence-base and the precautionary principle may not be the base for political decisions at the EU level. Read more […]
The positive perception of the public towards science is dictated by its altruistic pursuit of the common good—unlike politics and economics. However, to demonstrate its societal utility, science must point to compliance with expectations from economy and politics. Mastering the interplay between science, politics and economics is a delicate balancing act. And it is one of the major challenges in the way science portrays itself to the public. Particularly in the context where science has increasingly tied this self-representation to economic performance and made its complex processes appear trivial to garner public acceptance. Read more […]
Trust is one of those things that happen between people and between people and institutions that only gets noticed when it is in danger of being eroded. So what is the state of trust in science and scientists across Europe? There is little evidence of erosion of trust in science. One might even argue that the public’s relation to science and scientists is entering a new phase: no longer one of trust, but one of public confidence. Read more […]
Imagine that you have been sentenced to death by a self-righteous group because of your ideas. This could happen to any of you. As a researcher, imagine that you have been unveiling some fascinating counter-intuitive views on what has been the life of prophet Mohamed in ancient times. Or you could have been doing sociological studies of how well integrated and active second generation Muslim women are in Western society. Or any other scientific work that goes against the views of some ultra-minority of extremists. What happened yesterday, 7th January 2015, in Paris is only one step removed from such scenario. Read more […]
In an attempt to dispel any fear of the unknown surrounding ebola, EuroScientist analyse the many facets of the current outbreak based on the opinion of a broad range of experts. Above all, we look at whether European countries are sufficiently prepared to make adequate policy decisions that will help end this outbreak and prevent future ones. Read more […]
Science is more politicised than ever. And its communication, in an increasingly diverse media environment, has become highly complex, often relying on dozens of experts in a single institution alone. As a result, science communicators need new management qualifications such as governance and controlling, public affairs and crisis management, risk communication and public engagement. It is about time that science communication training programmes catch up with the new science context. This is why, in September 2014, the first students will attend the newly launched undergraduate course in Science Communication at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (RWU), in Kleve, Germany. Read more […]
The most popular Danish cultural export in recent times is arguably the TV series Borgen. Outlining the intricacies of the mechanisms of democracy, the series follows Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg in her rise and fallout from power. Scientific themes are pervading the series because science remains at the heart of many societal issues debated by politicians prior to translating decisions into policies that ultimately will affect citizens. Issues at stakes in the series range from the environment, with green power production, to agriculture, with intensive pigs farming. Read more […]
Uncertainty is ubiquitous, and an inherent feature of scientific research. Scientists are therefore used to dealing with uncertainty. Those making decisions in society are much less comfortable with uncertainty since they need to be accountable to a public, who is often averse to the unknown. Things become even more complex when uncertain is associated with risks faced by society. This leads to question how modern societies can come to reasonable decisions, norms, regulations and measures to deal with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk. Read more […]
History reveals a succession of many dawns and twilights, in different facets of human activity. Looking at the past, we can date and understand the reasons for the birth of science, specifically fundamental science. However, we do not know precisely when its twilight will take place. Nevertheless, clues of the advent of such twilight are already in the air. This article presents the underlying rationale suggesting that we are now past the golden age of pure science, and how we need to accommodate our research to this new era. Read more […]
A recent study analyses the views of secondary school pupils from 21 countries on their engagement with STEM subjects in and outside school, and includes their career choices. All countries represented are involved in the inGenious project, an EU-funded platform aiming to promote school-industry collaboration on STEM education. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
