Webinar Invitation: Scientific Integrity in Academic Research, David Levi-Faur in talk with March Edwards
Monday 27th of November, 2023.
16.00 Jerusalem; 15.00 CET; 14.00 London; 9.00 AM East Coast;
Zoom Link here: https://huji.zoom.us/j/89059242758?pwd=d1NJNmt5WXplNWNUaFVteCsreEpJQT09
Abstract: In a 2016 paper, we argued that incentives for academic scientists have become increasingly perverse in terms of competition for research funding, development of quantitative metrics to measure performance, and a changing business model for higher education itself. Furthermore, decreased discretionary funding at the federal and state level is creating a hypercompetitive environment between government agencies (e.g., EPA, NIH, CDC), for scientists in these agencies, and for academics seeking funding from all sources—the combination of perverse incentives and decreased funding increases pressures that can lead to unethical behavior. If a critical mass of scientists become untrustworthy, a tipping point is possible in which the scientific enterprise itself becomes inherently corrupt and public trust is lost, risking a new dark age with devastating consequences to humanity. Academia and federal agencies should better support science as a public good, and incentivize altruistic and ethical outcomes, while de-emphasizing output.
Marc Edwards, PhD is a University Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he teaches courses in environmental engineering, applied aquatic chemistry and engineering ethics. Edwards pioneered research into health problems associated with building plumbing systems including lead, copper, legionella and pipe leaks associated with mold. His research group conducted the investigative science uncovering the dimensions of the 2001-2004 D.C. Lead Crisis and the 2014-2016 Flint Water Disaster. Edwards has conducted research in collaboration with dozens of communities throughout his career, innovating a model of citizen science to reveal health and infrastructure problems that occur in consumers’ homes. Time Magazine dubbed Edwards “The Plumbing Professor” in 2004, listing him amongst the 4 most important “Innovators” in water from around the world. The White House awarded him a Presidential Faculty Fellowship in 1996, he won a MacArthur Fellowship in 2007, and in 2013 Edwards’ was the 9th recipient (in a quarter century) of the IEEE Barus Award for “courageously defending the public interest at great personal risk.” In 2016 he was named amongst TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people in the World, the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine, Politico Magazine’s Top 50 Visionaries who have transformed American politics, Foreign Policy Magazines 100 World’s Greatest Thinkers, and was short-listed amongst Flint whistleblowers as Time person(s) of the year. He was co-recipient of the inaugural 2017 MIT Disobedience Award, received the 2018 AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility award, and the Hoover Humanitarian Medal in 2019.
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