RRI originates from European policy in the 2000s. It is part of on-going reflection on changing governance relations between research, innovation, and wider society. But more recently it has been addressed systematically beyond its origins in the philosophy of science by several academic fields and from several points of view. Most recently, it has also begun to form bridges and connections with other literatures coming from different directions such as corporate social responsibility, responsible innovation including steering towards societal challenges, responsible industry and innovation systems. But how strong is the connection between RRI and these related concepts? Read more […]
Bad behaviour is omnipresent in science. It encompasses everything from outright scientific fraud, such as falsifying data, to other misconducts like cherry-picking data, favourable-looking images and graphs, and drawing conclusions that are not backed up by the actual facts. Overall, it matters more serious than keeping a sloppy lab notebook that no-one else can follow. This raises the deeper question: what drives scientists to behave in such a way? Read more […]
During the last IMPRS interdisciplinary symposium New Frontiers in Science the topic of “Science and Society” was clearly exemplified by two prominent researchers and science communicators. While Prof. Ernst-Peter Fischer from Germany talked about “The public misunderstanding of science”; the Mexican Prof. Ana Maria Cetto addressed “The scientists’ misunderstanding of the public”. But who are these scientists and who are the public? Read more […]
“I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures”. ~Earl Warren Read more […]
Just a couple of weeks ago Marc Hauser was in the news, again. He is known as one of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists and teaches at the Psychology Department at Harvard University. His work focused on primate behaviour and animal cognition. Hauser has been awarded science medals from the US and France and he has published about 200 articles in research journals. However, the latest news coverage is based on accusations against Hauser as the Harvard faculty suspend him while investigations are carried out for ”scientific misdemeanour”. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
