INTRODUCTION
With support from The Kavli Foundation, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have launched a call for policy position papers and competition in recognition of the 75-year anniversary of Science: The Endless Frontier. The competition seeks to uplift and empower the next generation of science policy professionals to publish policy position papers that could shape the future of American science. JSPG interviewed a series of early career researchers and science policy experts, including Sudip Parikh, Marcia McNutt, Neal Lane and Deborah Wince-Smith who shared their hopes for the future of American science and tips for shaping U.S. science policy, respectively. In addition, JSPG organized a series of six webinars to inspire and help authors with their writing for the call for papers. To close out the competition, JSPG provided the opportunity for one early career individual attending each webinar to be featured in this post and share their overall impressions and takeaways from our six webinars. Below are summaries of each webinar in the series in order, from an early career participant (graduate student, postdoc or early career faculty).
STRATEGIZING FEDERAL U.S. RESEARCH INVESTMENTS TO MAXIMIZE ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL IMPACT
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What drew you to attend?
With the renewed commitment to the US scientific enterprise and the commemoration of the publication of “Science The Endless Frontier” by Vannevar Bush, I was enthusiastically optimistic to see the webinar series, sponsored and organized by the Kavli Foundation, JSPG, and AAAS, “Science The Endless Frontier: the Shaping the Future of Science Policy.” I was particularly attracted to the first webinar entitled “Strategizing federal U.S. research investments to maximize economic and societal impact.” The panel was moderated by Toby Smith and highlighted four distinguished scientists and science policy experts. Takeaways from speakers With his expertise in technology transfer, Marc Sedam approached the questions from that perspective. He stated that the US continues to be impacted by the “Valley of Death” in regards to science and technology transfer. Universities have established innovation centers and startups in an attempt to close the research-development gap, but this has only shifted the gap. Scientists and funding agencies can help this process by finding uses for ideas and ways to commercialize those ideas. Susan Renoe is an expert in research engagement. She highlighted that structural changes in the scientific enterprise are needed that can be integrated through broader participation and engagement, particularly with STEM education. More impactful activities and better and longer-term assessments of that impact need to be incorporated into the process. Along the same lines, Mahmud Farooque suggests that science needs to move beyond just inputs and outputs, and focus on outcomes. Science outcomes need to continue to be evidence-based and action-oriented. He highlighted that Science: The Endless Frontier is a guiding document but has not created a transformational shift in societal and equity changes. The scientific enterprise needs to think about “what does society need?.” Daniel Goroff advocated that science works better when social, behavioral, and economic sciences are engaged earlier in the scientific process. These types of sciences have strong methodologies, which can be used to design experiments that inform and test policy implementation. He concluded that sciences are uniquely equipped to provide broader impact and provide policy makers with evidence-based information. Overall takeaway The overall consensus of the panel is that the scientific enterprise and systems need to be viewed differently at all levels of academia, industry, government, and the public, and updated through broader engagement and accessibility at each level, such as the development of national research excellence framework, and science for and with society through participatory citizen involvement. Social, behavioral, and economic science should be incorporated into all levels of research, such as looking at the societal value of research and the role it plays in leading to qualitative methodologies, and to the commercialization of research ideas. Additionally, scientists need to think about the broader impact of their work. Policies, such as national research excellence frameworks, can be established to promote engagement and accountability with the public through increased funding and awards to scientists that incorporate this into their research activities.
What drew you to attend?
In the past year, I saw the impact of COVID-19 not only on our health, economy, and social norms, but also in the great societal divide in how to best address the problem. With limited information available about the virus came the conflicting opinions among the medical and public health communities on the specific guidelines for the public to follow. I was intrigued by the challenge that everyone involved in science policy faces when approaching a public health problem as complex as COVID-19. For this reason, I jumped at the opportunity when I heard about JSPG-AAAS’s special topics call for policy position paper submissions to “The Endless Frontier: Shaping the Future of Science Policy,” to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Vannevar Bush report. In preparation of the submission, I attended the writing workshop hosted by JSPG and AAAS to learn about the structure and style of a policy position paper which I have never written before. Attending the webinar series post-workshop seemed like a next logical step in understanding how insights from scientific research can inform policy making. The panel was moderated by Erin Heath and highlighted four public health policy experts. Takeaways from speakers The timeliness and relevance of the webinar topic made it easy to engage in the discussion. We saw COVID-19 vaccines being developed at an unprecedented speed, yet the U.S. population has not taken full advantage of it due to the lack of delivery infrastructure and growing public mistrust in science. What can we do to improve the system moving forward? The priorities in investment were discussed extensively. I agree with Carrie Wolinetz that the biomedical research enterprise requires conscious investment in promoting workforce diversity and building community relationships in science. We should learn from the consequences of the pandemic, which disproportionately impacted women and people of color. Additionally, Tannaz Rasouli and Jennifer Luray mentioned the importance of a more sustained investment in public health infrastructure for CDC, as well as no more “sugar coating” of this message to the public. Robert Cook-Deegan also had a good point about the need to move away from research conservatism that tends to prioritize funding studies with immediate benefit. Without decades of fundamental research, the COVID-19 vaccines could not have been developed so rapidly. Understanding that money alone does not solve all problems, I asked the question of, “what are some non-monetary ways to improve the US public health infrastructure to better respond to public health threats?.” The panelists offered helpful insights such as breaking barriers for early career scientists in academia, open data sharing for increased transparency, and monitoring institutional behavior for improved collaboration. I appreciated these answers because they highlight the need for an inclusive and collaborative culture for creating an effective strategy to combat national public health crises. Overall takeaway I think early career scientists would benefit from participating in public health policy discussions by identifying key unanswered questions that require further research. As a neuroscience graduate student, I found this event an excellent opportunity to explore a potential career in science policy and a nontraditional way to extend my expertise and skills to make a tangible societal impact. As we celebrate the scientific achievements and learn from our mistakes, we will have more productive solutions to future public health challenges.
STRENGTHENING AMERICAN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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What drew you to attend?
My passion centers on improving STEM education, and I am also avidly engaged in activities at the intersection of science policy and science communication. Because my day-job centers on broadening participation in STEM higher education and the webinar speakers are prominent leaders in this arena, I knew this event would identify major limitations to current higher education models and yield notable ideas on how to improve the nation’s STEM enterprise. The panel was moderated by Kate Stoll and highlighted three experts in STEM education and policy. Takeaways from speakers Vannevar Bush recognized that the greatest scientific resource we have is the intelligence and potential of the nation's citizens. Undergraduate and graduate education and training directly cultivate, accelerate, and maximize this scientific potential. According to Layne Scherer, graduate education programs must center student needs, focus on translatable skills that are usable in any career, and encourage students to develop a network of mentors. The importance of mental health in STEM education has been on the periphery for too long and needs dedicated attention. Shirley Malcom noted that the current system of STEM higher education was not designed for the emerging majority, as women and people of color are still excluded because of ethnicity or race. Two-year institutions of higher education, like community colleges, offer significantly more accessible and flexible models of STEM education when compared to four-year ones. Strategies to retain students in higher education programs include active team-based learning, accessible course design, clear expectations for learning and career development, student-organizations that foster belonging, and more. The main takeaway from Shirley Tilghman was that colleges need to think about how to educate students with varying levels of preparation and focus on the “why” students learn science: to apply scientific principles in order to help humanity. She also pointed out that hands-on and authentic research experiences significantly increase the degree-attainment of STEM undergraduate students. Overall takeaways Education is not a private good or a commodity for consumption. Strong and effective models of healthy student-faculty mentor, student-centered education, and targeted initiatives focused on increasing the inclusion of women and people of color exist across the nation. By identifying and articulating the real-world outcomes of our students and their scientific discoveries, we can craft meaningful solutions to better position the nation’s scientific enterprise to allow all students to grow and thrive. The onus lies on the current system of higher education to change, not the students.
REIMAGINING U.S. SCIENCE POLICY TO FOSTER ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE
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What drew you to attend?
May day job? Astrophysicist. What keeps me up at night? Climate Change. I spend a fair amount of time working with Astronomers for Planet Earth, a climate advocacy group that seeks to provide the climate change movement with an astronomical perspective. When I saw that JSPG, AAAS, and Kavli Foundation were hosting an expert panel discussing how to write about climate change, it seemed as if it was customized tailored for me! This webinar was a great opportunity to get advice on how to write my policy position paper for the JSPG-AAAS competition. The panel was moderated by David Goldston and highlighted four experts in climate policy topics. Takeaways from speakers The panel described how making meaningful climate policy changes is complicated, and that we can take many different roads to achieve the same goal. Amanda Staudt suggested that discussions about the future of climate research are driving it to be more community focused, convergent, and interdisciplinary. David Hart pointed out that, for climate policy, it is important to consider the balances between 1) domestic and international needs and 2) competition and cooperation. These considerations help increase both accountability, to ensure the biggest contributors are being held responsible, and adoptability, to ensure that new climate policy can be easily implemented. Tim Profeta noted that climate change is at its heart an ethical and equitable issue for society. All communities are not affected equally. In particular, lower income and communities of color tend to face the most negative environmental impacts. We must ensure our climate solutions are inclusive, and don’t leave anyone behind. Finally, Gabrielle Dreyfus highlighted the importance of not only thinking about CO2 in regards to global warming, but also other greenhouse gases such as methane and fluorocarbons. These pollutants can trap more heat, increasing global temperatures, and can lead to more atmospheric ozone production which impacts respiratory health. Overall takeaway I took away from this panel both a renewed sense of optimism on addressing the climate crisis and some great advice on how best to discuss it. In particular, this webinar helped me get a better sense of how to effectively write about climate policy. The responsibility of addressing the climate crisis lies with all of us. In order to mitigate the negative aspects of climate change, we must incorporate climate policy into all areas of life - including science policy. If science in the US is to continue to thrive in a carbon constrained future, we must take action now and adopt environmental sustainability as a key aspect of future policy initiatives
RE-EVALUATING SCIENTIFIC MERIT AND REASSESSING WHAT SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE MEANS
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What drew you to attend?
As a scientist studying impacts of climate change on forests, I increasingly feel that a large part of my job should be communicating with communities/policymakers, and ensuring that my research serves society. However, often these roles are relegated to “outreach,” and can be undervalued in traditional scientific settings. When I saw this webinar I thought I could learn a lot about work that is currently being done to re-evaluate what it means to be a scientist, and ways in which we can better value (support) science that serves our society. The panel was moderated by Joanne Carney and highlighted three experts in topics related to scientific merit and excellence. Takeaways from speakers Speaking to merit based on how the DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) examines it, Anna Hatch pointed out one thing to keep in mind when thinking about redefining research excellence, and that is whether we are doing research *for* communities or *with* communities? And there is a real need to redefine how we assess scientific excellence based to value meaningful collaborations between science and communities. From the DORA findings, Anna gave us an overview of how we can successfully make institutional changes required to redefine scientific excellence. First, institutional changes require a lot of awareness and capacity building, and second, both top-down and bottom-up grassroots efforts are needed for successful institutional changes. From the perspective of technical education, William Bonvillian offered a different view on the topic by focusing on how scientific innovation needs to also include innovation in manufacturing, and the full life cycle of producing a new technology. Focusing only on R & D limits our innovation, and we need to include the resources to build up a strong technical workforce education system (specifically in technical schools & community colleges). With her expertise in increasing diversity in the workforce, Kaye Husbands Fealing noted that while it is true that everyone could benefit from science advances, we need to evaluate whether everyone does benefit. And this involves taking intersectionality into account in our research--particularly, thinking about who is represented in the science and engineering workforce, and evaluating how underrepresentation can affect scientific technology design and implementation. For example, COVID-19 vaccines can help us, but does everyone have access to them? Overall takeaway The webinar brought really important discussions about how we can create institutional changes to ensure a focus on ways to value and reward community and society-serving science and technology advances (from the development stage to implementation stage), as well as the need to better integrate communities and science. Overall, my takeaway from this webinar is that we need to make institutional changes in the way we invest in science and technology, and how we evaluate scientific contributions. Specifically, we need changes in funding structures to ensure community stakeholders are included in the development-to-deployment process of research. We need institutional changes to how we evaluate scientific merit, such as changing tenure, promotion, and research proposal assessments to truly value community-based science for society.
What drew you to attend?
In a time of crisis, the divide between science and communities becomes clearer than ever. As an advocate for science and opportunities for engaging with communities, I often ask myself, “how did we get here?” Science is not an island. We know this. How can we improve this relationship and trust in science by the public? Most of these efforts have little value for the standard evaluation of what it is to be a scientist, but that doesn't remove this work's importance. If anything, it shows the need to update the views that science and the public need to work together. And this was what drew me to attend the webinar. I wanted to hear expert experiences, obstacles faced, and what immediate actions scientists can take to improve the interaction between science and communities. The panel was moderated by Erica Kimmerling and highlighted three experts in topics related to community engagement. Takeaways from speakers These panelists highlighted critical gaps in the current system, how they worked closely with their communities, and essential updates in the current scientific infrastructure. As an academic with community outreach experience, Jeremy Scott Hoffman pointed out that a true community-engaged collaboration takes so much longer than the usual grant cycle that we're expected as academics to achieve significant findings. The current grants system does not account for the interactive and trust-building process for creating real and meaningful ties with the community, which can take years to solidify and be jeopardized if the following grant fails. Mónica Feliú-Mójer has extensive expertise in science communication training and indicated that the ideal relationship between science and society is a dialogue, and there need to be multilateral conversations. Mónica gave us an overview of how these conversations can occur and how Ciencia Puerto Rico connects science with specific audiences' culture and context. While important for scientists to promote their knowledge, we need to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas between scientists and communities rather than promoting the unilateral transfer of knowledge. Science communication, K12 science education, professional development, and advocacy are just a few initiatives that promote this dialogue. Shannon Dosemagen’s expertise lends itself well to a discussion on data collection in science. Shannon suggested that the current scientific system focuses on the goals where we rush to the end of the research question and get something for publication rather than focus on the findability, accessibility, and usability of collected data. Focusing on these three key points would allow us to use the collected data for the public good. An alternative use of the collected data could include creating databases that share scientific data for anyone to use to ensure communities access to new technologies and reduce the complex and lengthy delay between science and its application in the community. Overall takeaway Encouraging and valuing the *dialogue* between scientists and communities felt like the crucial step in catalyzing these interactions. Communities should have the opportunity to feel heard and actively participate in conversations with the scientific community. Scientists' efforts in creating ties with communities should be accepted and *valued* as part of their research activities. Funding agencies should encourage engagement of scientists with their communities and value it as part of the research. After all, only by working together can we advance and solve the challenges that affect us all as a society. CLOSING Early career perspectives expressed in this post reveal what the future of American science policy could look like in each of these areas. Submit your ideas to this issue of JSPG by April 4, 2021! Post compiled and edited by Adriana Bankston. Comments are closed.
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