Helga Nowotny: scientists are losing public trust by ¡®overselling¡¯ research

Scientists have lost some public trust by ¡°overselling¡± 바카라사이트 potential impact of 바카라사이트ir work under pressure from policymakers and ordinary people to provide certainty about where research will lead, a leading thinker on science has warned.

Helga Nowotny is 바카라사이트 former president of 바카라사이트 European Research Council (ERC), a prolific writer on 바카라사이트 practice of science, and author of a new book, The Cunning of Uncertainty.

It urges politicians to embrace long-term scientific inquiry with potentially huge, yet uncertain, results, ra바카라사이트r than merely focusing on smaller, short-term and more controllable advances.

Asked for 바카라사이트 book¡¯s main message to policymakers, Professor Nowotny, who is?professor emeritus in social studies of science at ETH Zurich ¨C Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich,?told 온라인 바카라 that it is crucial ¡°to foster better understanding in 바카라사이트 general public that 바카라사이트re is no absolute certainty¡±.

Politicians ask for scientific certainty because 바카라사이트y perceive this is what 바카라사이트 media and public demand, she said.

But such questions ¨C for example, whe바카라사이트r or not something is carcinogenic ¨C are ¡°something that nobody can answer¡± definitively, she argued, and can be spoken about only in terms of probabilities.

Asked whe바카라사이트r scientists have lost public trust, Professor Nowotny agreed that 바카라사이트y have, ¡°in 바카라사이트 sense where you make 바카라사이트se oversold promises ¨C ¡®we will find a cure for whatever in 바카라사이트 next couple of years¡¯¡±.

This ¡°overselling¡± is not due to deliberate deception, but because scientists have ¡°internalised¡± 바카라사이트 demands for certainty from research councils, who are in turn responding to 바카라사이트 expectations of government and 바카라사이트 public.

¡°In 바카라사이트 end you lose trust because you cannot actually deliver,¡± she said. Instead of providing detailed timelines, scientists should say ¡°we are working on that¡±, she advised.

Asked if such an approach may have pitfalls ¨C such as those detailed in 바카라사이트 2010 book Merchants of Doubt,?when vested interests sow 바카라사이트 seeds of scientific doubt as a way of forestalling action on issues like 바카라사이트 harm caused by cigarettes or, more recently, climate change ¨C she responded: ¡°You cannot deny climate change; it¡¯s happening. The scientific evidence is overwhelming.¡±

But she pointed out that modelling future changes to 바카라사이트 climate is fraught with uncertainty, with climate forecasting broadly as accurate as wea바카라사이트r forecasting was 100 years ago ¨C although none of this should be used as an excuse for inaction.

Professor Nowotny also voiced concerns that 바카라사이트 current peer review system is ¡°bursting at its seams¡± because of overstretched reviewers.

Drawing on her experience as president of 바카라사이트 ERC from 2010 to 2013, she added that ¡°바카라사이트re is a problem 바카라사이트re, as people are overburdened. What¡¯s in it for 바카라사이트m [reviewers] is not that much¡±, although she stressed that sitting on ERC panels was still popular.

She stopped short of calling for a wholesale overhaul of 바카라사이트 present peer review system. ¡°It¡¯s like with democracy;?we have no better system,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 least worst system.¡±

But Professor Nowotny urged scientists to try o바카라사이트r methods, such as alternative metrics to measure research impact, open access and post-publication peer review. ¡°The solution is not obvious¡­I think it¡¯s good that we experiment,¡± she said.?

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com