Speakers

Invited Speakers:

• Prof. Maximilian Fochler (University of Vienna)

Title of the presentation: Between purpose and constraint. How individual researchers and research communities orient their knowledge production

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss how researchers and communities make decisions in how they produce knowledge. Drawing on fieldwork and examples from the life sciences, in particular the crop and soil sciences, I will address the tensions that arise between the values and purposes driving researchers on the one hand and the many institutional boundary conditions constraining them on the other hand. In doing so, my thesis is that rather than fostering freedom to orient research work along specific purposes (such as producing knowledge of environmental relevance), many institutional structures of current science push researchers into situations that are experienced as alienating rather than purposeful. Hyper-competition for academic positions, narrowly focused researcher evaluations, the constant pressure to be innovative or hype and bandwagon dynamics are some examples I will touch upon. As a positive outlook, I will present examples of how collective orientation work can help to counterbalance some of these dynamics.

• Dr. Milena Ivanova (University of Cambridge)

Title of the presentation: Why aesthetics matters for scientific work?

Abstract: Finding beauty in nature, discovering hidden relations, patterns and symmetries, expressing physical principles in elegant mathematical manner are all motivations expressed by scientists over the centuries. What precisely drives scientists to pursue such aesthetic goals in their research and how does the search for beauty inform the questions scientists ask, the ideas they entertain and the products they create? In this talk we explore the diverse contexts within which scientists exercise their aesthetic judgements, the rich aesthetic experiences science offers and ask what role these aesthetic aspects of science play in the pursuit of knowledge.

• Prof. Heather Douglas (Michigan State University)

Title of the presentation: The responsibilities of scientists, the responsibilities of science

Abstract: For much of the latter 20^th century, many physicists conceived of their responsibilities solely in terms of their responsibilities to their science and their scientific community.  Some physicists embraced a broader sense of societal responsibility (the founders of Pugwash, for example) but such pursuits were not obligatory.  The autonomy afforded to scientists, to decide what was worth pursuing (grant peer review) and worth publishing (paper peer review), brought with it an obligation to self-govern the practices of scientists.  The biggest threat that needed managing was scientific fraud, a rarer occurrence in physics than in the biomedical fields.  By the end of the 20^th century, the scientific community began to include the treatment of women and minorities in science as an important aspect of responsibility in science.  If the best (from wherever they might come) could not pursue science, then science would suffer.  By 2020, the ground had again shifted.  Whereas the pursuit of basic science was understood to come with no societal responsibilities in the 20^th century (those fell to others who applied the science), the 21^st century recognized a pervasive need for all scientists to attend to the societal impacts of their work.  From the siting of telescopes to concern over the dual-use implications of improved isotope separation to potential risks from unintended dangers of research, the consideration of concerns from outside of the scientific community demanded attention.  This talk will track the development of responsibilities for scientists and, in parallel, the responsibilities of the scientific community (the responsibilities of science) as a more expansive set of responsibilities came to the fore.  These issues have always been with science (they are not wholly new) but they were neglected for many decades.  The talk will conclude with consideration for how the physics community might understand and grapple with these issues, once again pressing, while pursuing the development of their field.

Contributed Talks:

• Prof. Leon Loveridge (University of South-Eastern Norway)

Title of the presentation: The value of fundamental research

Abstract:TBC