Breakthrough Prize Foundation Partners with ALLEA To Support Scientists Forced to Leave Ukraine

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Foundation Dedicates $1.5 Million from a $3 Million Pledge for Impacted Scientists to ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, for Distribution Via European Academic Institutions

The Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced that it is extending its existing partnership with ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, with a donation of funds to support scientists and scientific institutions impacted by the war in Ukraine.

As part of a $3 million fund pledged to this cause, the Foundation will dedicate $1.5 million to ALLEA, who will encourage academic institutions in Europe to apply for funding support to host scientists forced to flee from their homes. ALLEA will also assist affected Ukrainian universities, academies and research institutes in maintaining their operations and rebuilding Ukrainian scientific facilities and research collaborations in a safe, free and independent post-war Ukraine.

The millions of civilians displaced by the conflict already include many scientists, and a number of research centres, including the well-known Kharkiv Physics and Technology Institute, that have also suffered damage.

 

The programme

The programme, which is set to launch this spring, has two main aims. The first is to provide immediate assistance for scholars who have already left or will soon leave the country, so that they can continue their research in a safe environment. The second aim is to facilitate support to Ukrainian institutions to continue their operations, rebuild their research networks, and foster the return of scientists to Ukraine after the war.

Academic institutions from Council of Europe member states that are accepting Ukrainian refugees will be able to apply for up to one year’s funding support. This will be used to finance new or existing positions for postdoctoral researchers, as well as assistant, associate, or full professors affiliated with Ukrainian institutions. ALLEA will launch a Europe-wide call for these applications and work with its more than 50 member academies to widely disseminate it throughout the European research community.

The program will be spearheaded by an independent selection committee composed of senior officials from science organisations across Europe. This committee will cooperate with the hosting institutions to conduct the selection of applicants and supervise funding decisions to support Ukrainian research institutions.

While assisting scientists displaced outside Ukraine is an urgent task, it is also crucial that relief efforts avoid exacerbating “brain drain” from the country. To this end, the programme will encourage hosting institutions to prepare measures that continue to support their academic guests when it becomes realistic for them to return to their home institutions in Ukraine. To add to these efforts, ALLEA will reserve 20% of the overall programme funds to support actions that help maintain and rebuild Ukrainian scientific facilities after the war, as well as initiatives that foster reintegration of researchers after their return home.

“We are pleased to be working with ALLEA to expedite vital humanitarian relief to scientists displaced by the war in Ukraine,” said Dr. Pete Worden, Executive Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.  “Science is an international endeavor, and we hope that by working together we can make a real difference to our colleagues who have been forced to leave Ukraine.”

“We are very thankful for the generous funding of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and will work closely with them and European academies to set up a Europe-wide fellowship programme that we hope will motivate more colleagues to take action and help. Science is a community of reason, collaboration, and perseverance. In these dark times, we have the responsibility to join forces and find safe workspaces for scholars fleeing from Ukraine and support them to thrive and continue their research without harm and fear,” said Professor Antonio Loprieno, President of ALLEA.

Further details about the funding will be soon available at:

https://allea.org/european-fund-for-displaced-scientists/

 

An Ongoing Partnership

The $1.5 million donation to support this programme is a new initiative in the ongoing partnership between the Breakthrough Prize and ALLEA which pursues their shared goal of promoting science. Each year, ALLEA helps to facilitate nominations for the annual Breakthrough Prize among its members.

 

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About the Breakthrough Prize Foundation

The Breakthrough Prize Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing the world’s great scientists, advancing cutting-edge scientific research, and helping to create a knowledge culture in which everybody, especially the next generation, can be inspired by the big questions of science.

The Breakthrough Prize recognizes the world’s top scientists in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. Each prize is $3 million. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual global video competition for students to inspire creative thinking about science.

More information can be found at:

https://breakthroughprize.org/

https://www.breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/

 

About ALLEA

ALLEA is the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, representing more than 50 academies from over 40 countries in Europe. Since its foundation in 1994, ALLEA speaks out on behalf of its members on the European and international stages, promotes science as a global public good, and facilitates scientific collaboration across borders and disciplines. Jointly with its Member Academies, ALLEA works towards improving the conditions for research, providing the best independent and interdisciplinary science advice, and strengthening the role of science in society. In doing so, it channels the intellectual excellence and experience of European academies for the benefit of the research community, decision-makers and the public.

 

More information can be found at:

www.allea.org

For media inquiries about the Breakthrough Prize:

media@breakthroughprize.org

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ALLEA Joins InsSciDE Conference on Science Diplomacy

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ALLEA was invited to join InsSciDE’s third open conference, held on 22-24 March at the premises of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. This year’s InsSciDE’s conference focused on the Global South and explored crucial themes in Europe’s relationships to the many emergent poles of scientific expertise and influence. Different perspectives were prompted on how a new vision and practice of science diplomacy may be critical to bridging the Global North and South interests and contribute to finding common, albeit diverse, solutions. 

On day 1, the focus of the conference was on the role of Academies of Science in science diplomacy to delineate the role of such academies as science diplomacy organisations, particularly concerning their international involvement and role in asserting science diplomacy. The four sessions throughout the day engaged a diverse group of scholars and professionals to chart Academies’ international action in the present and as far back as the 18th century.

Daniel Kaiser presents a brief introduction of ALLEA and its involvement in Science Diplomacy at the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.

ALLEA’s Scientific Policy Officer Daniel Kaiser joined session 3 as a moderator and session 4 as a panelist, where he delivered a brief presentation on the history of ALLEA and its work on science diplomacy throughout the years. In his presentation, Daniel Kaiser emphasised that ALLEA “strives to advance the role of Science Diplomacy in Europe, promote a global approach to science and research, and provide an international structure for enhanced cooperation on global challenges as well as high-quality independent science advice for policy.”

On day 2 of the conference, diverse stakeholders came together to discuss the entanglements between science diplomacy and four topics that the conference deemed as central to future action: Open Science, Anthropocene, Technoscience and Innovation Diplomacy, New Actors and a New Definition of Science Diplomacy. ALLEA was represented by its President, Professor Antonio Loprieno, who joined the morning roundtable on Open Science. He briefly presented the work of ALLEA’s Open Science Task Force and introduced ALLEA’s involvement with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.

President Antonio Loprieno virtually joined InsSciDE to introduce ALLEA’s activities on Open Science.

Speaking on the changes needed for succesful Open Science, Professor Loprieno remarked that “the move to full open access must be accompanied by concurrent reforms of the systems for research evaluation and career progression; it will thus require a fundamental re-evaluation of the responsibilities of all the different actors in the research system. Particular attention must be paid to the impact on early-stage researchers, those from disadvantaged institutions and communities, and those working in specialist disciplines.”

On the third and final day of the conference, the focus of discussion was on InsSciDE’s historical case studies from the forthcoming book of Harmonized Case Studies. In this session, case study authors, invited experts and public attendees engaged with the research to identify cross-cutting themes and present-day applications for teaching, training and everyday practice.

You can read the full programme of the three-day conference here or visit the conference’s website here.

“Science Communication Is How Society Talks About Science”

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Professor Massimiano Bucchi

The increasing amount and spreading capacity of online disinformation related to critical sociopolitical issues, such as vaccines or climate change, coupled with the ongoing global health crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic have all made it painfully clear that we need to become more adept at communicating science within society. Seeking to dissect the importance of increasing and improving communication channels between science and society, we talked with Massimiano Bucchi, Professor of Sociology of Science and Communication, Science and Technology at the University of Trento and one of the leading European scholars on the science of science communication.

Professor Bucchi, together with his colleague Brian Trench, defines Science Communication as “the social conversation(s) around science” and he explains in more detail what this definition encompasses. While he certainly believes that organisations should devote more resources training experts in science communication, he also believes that there should be an increased focus on “developing communication and engagement activities that are grounded on the  theoretical and empirical literature about science communication.”

 

“Unfortunately, a representation of the public as hostile, sceptical and ignorant is still widespread among policy makers and experts, supporting a paternalistic and authoritarian vision of science communication and of science in society.“

 

Question: You have been working in the field of science communication for many years, and you are now the Director of the International Master programme SCICOMM at the University of Trento. Where did your interest in the field of science communication originate from?

Massimiano Bucchi: As a sociologist, I think it is not possible to understand contemporary societies without taking into account the increasingly relevant role of science and technology. I am interested in science communication as one of the keys to study science in society dynamics and their transformations.

 

Q.: In a recently published essay you co-authored with Brian Trench, you define science communication as “the social conversation(s) around science.” Can you briefly elaborate on this definition?

M.B.: Science communication as social conversation is a broad, inclusive definition: science communication is “how society talks about science”, including everyday stories about science on radio programmes, in social networks, in artists’ studios, in cafés and bars. Add to that the novels, pop and rock songs, theatre and comedy performances that give presence to science in public and popular culture and in everyday life.

This view emphasizes a mode of interactive communication that is set in contrast with dissemination or other hierarchical modes, and a concept that embraces all that is being said on a certain matter in society. Our inclusive definition of science communication not only validates activities such as science cafés and science comedy that are oriented to pleasure, but also recognises as part of the wider practice of science communication the ‘spontaneous’ use in popular culture of images and ideas from and related to science.

 

“In many cases, communication by scientific experts (and sometimes even by research institutions) has been guided mostly by personal goodwill and inclination, without much consideration given to the extensive literature available on this topic, to data on public perception and audience intelligence .”

 

Q.: Why do we need experts specialising in science communication?

M.B.: We certainly need resources trained in science communication, particularly for research organisations. The point is not so much teaching practical science communication skills, or training science journalists (for whom, unfortunately, there are very few jobs) but developing communication and engagement activities that are grounded on the now vast and profound theoretical and empirical literature about science communication, its actors, processes and audiences.

 

Q.: In a 2010 commentary piece, you argued that science communication “is not (yet) established as an academic discipline but that [it] could emerge as a discipline with strong interdisciplinary characteristics.” Do you think this has changed over the last decade?

M.B.: Yes, the field has become more structured and established. But the importance of high quality science communication, which cannot be improvised or left to the individual talent or good will of natural scientists or general staff has still to be understood in many research and policy organisations.

 

“I am not sure misinformation is the main challenge, at least in the narrow way in which it is usually defined through terms like “fake news”. The broader, central challenge is the quality of science communication: how to improve it, how to reward it, how to distinguish it.”

 

Q.: What do you think the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated about what is done right, and what still needs to improve in the way we communicate science? What would you say is the main impact that the pandemic has had in the field of science communication?

M.B.: We have been through the most spectacular science communication experiment in human history. Several international studies found citizens to be in general attentive to communication about the pandemic provided by health institutions and mostly sceptical of social media, with trust in institutions playing a key role. 

The unprecedented exposure of expert sources across the media has found many institutions unprepared to deal with such responsibility. In many cases, communication by scientific experts (and sometimes even by research institutions) has been guided mostly by personal goodwill and inclination, without much consideration given to the extensive literature available on this topic, to data on public perception and audience intelligence 

 

Q.: What are effective ways in which science communicators can contribute to the fight against scientific disinformation (i.e. on topics like anti vaccination or climate change denialism)? 

M.B.: I am not sure misinformation is the main challenge, at least in the narrow way in which it is usually defined through terms like “fake news”. The broader, central challenge is the quality of science communication: how to improve it, how to reward it, how to distinguish it from low quality, improvised science communication with unclear aims and limited intelligence of the context. Another long-term, educational challenge is building awareness for the quality of information and its value and cost (not just about science) among citizens.

Unfortunately, a representation of the public as hostile, sceptical and ignorant is still widespread among policy makers and experts, supporting a paternalistic and ultimately authoritarian vision of science communication and of science in society. As the literature from the past two decades clearly shows, this representation largely reflects unfounded prejudices.

 

Q.: What advice do you have for experts that wish to go in the science communication field? 

M.B.: Study and read broadly: history of science, sociology, psychology, literature.
 

Q.: Many creative formats, such as Nerd Nite, Pint of Science, or Long Night of Museums have been established to communicate science in a fun and innovative way, mixing knowledge with entertainment. What is your opinion of such formats? 

M.B.: The idea that the format shapes or guarantees the quality of the content today is very popular but probably misleading. Some of the content hosted within such formats may be more interesting or fun. However, we should look at the long-term consequences of such formats in terms of audience perception. Do they convey an idea that science – and science communication – can be easily and quickly improvised? This may not be a very constructive message, particularly for younger generations. 

 

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Professor Massimiano Bucchi will be one of the panelists at this year’s Future of Science Communication Conference 2.0, organised by Wissenschaft im Dialog in partnership with ALLEA. The conference will take place in Brussels on 26 April 2022.

 

About Massimiano Bucchi

Massimiano Bucchi (Ph.D. Social and Political Science, European University Institute, 1997) is Full Professor of Science and Technology and Society and Communication, Science and Technology at the University of Trento and Director of the International Master  programme SCICOMM.

He has been visiting professor in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Since 2018, he is director of the Master in Communication of Science and Innovation. He is the author of  several books (published in more than twenty countries) and papers in journals such as Nature, Science, PLOS ONE. Among his books in English: Science and the Media (Routledge, 1998); Science in Society (Routledge, 2004); Beyond Technocracy (Springer, 2009); Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (2 eds. 2008, 2014, with B. Trench, Routledge) and the 4 vols. anthology The Public Communication of Science (Routledge, 2016). He has been the editor of the international peer reviewed journal Public Understanding of Science (Sage, 2016-2019) and regularly contributes to newspapers and TV programmes.

Recently published articles by Massimiano Bucchi

To boost vaccination rates, invest in trust

Rethinking science communication as the social conversation around science

Public Perception of COVID-19 Vaccination in Italy: The Role of Trust and Experts’ Communication

 

Czech Translation of ‘Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation’ is Now Available

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ALLEA publishes the Czech version of Discussion Paper #5 ‘Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation’.

In March 2022, ALLEA published the Czech translation of its Discussion Paper ‘Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation’, which was translated in partnership with the Czech Academy of Sciences. The Discussion Paper was first published in May 2021.

ALLEA Discussion Paper ‘Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation’

The paper describes and discusses the problems and the consequences of science disinformation in three areas of concern, namely climate change, vaccines and pandemics, and what we can do to increase awareness and minimise harm caused by the spread of disinformation. It does so by highlighting the societal value of the scientific method, research integrity, open science communication and the resulting trust in science. The underlying question is how to protect the pillars of science from the severe consequences of disinformation while maintaining openness and democratic principles. The paper identifies underlying cognitive, social and economic mechanisms that amplify the spread of disinformation and evaluates potential solutions, such as inoculation, debunking, recommender systems, fact-checking, raising awareness, media literacy, and innovations in science communication and public engagement.

You can read the Czech translation here.

ALLEA and ENYAs Join Forces at Upcoming Annual Meetings in Brussels

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The landscape of European National Young Academies (ENYAs) is rapidly evolving, with new alliances for connecting young scientists and scholars being established and expanded throughout Europe. ALLEA welcomes these developments and acknowledges that combining efforts in shaping the European research ecosystem is crucial for researchers of all generations to flourish.

Antonio Loprieno, President of ALLEA, already delivered a talk at the (online) ENYA annual conference in 2020, and ALLEA and the ENYAs now are seeking to further intensify their collaboration. After two years of online meetings, delegates from both networks will get together at the Academy Palace in Brussels on 11 May, as part of the ALLEA General Assembly and the ENYA Annual Meeting.

“Throughout Europe, we can find examples of national Young Academies who have quickly realised their potential and can in many ways be considered role models in guiding the way with innovative formats and ideas. In ALLEA we look forward to an open exchange on how we can work together towards a robust and dynamic academic community.” says Antonio Loprieno.

Shared programme parts will include networking opportunities and round-table discussions on topics of international and intergenerational interest. Together, the participants will explore the role of academies in supporting a fair and balanced assessment of research careers, the transition towards a climate sustainable academic system, and diversity and inclusivity of science advice mechanisms, among others.

“The parallel meeting of ALLEA and the ENYAs means that a large and diverse group of representatives of the European scientific community will be gathered in Brussels.”, says Sarah Verhulst (professor Information Technology, Ghent University and internationalisation board member of the Young Academy of Belgium), “This makes it an excellent opportunity to learn from each other and to set up a dialogue on topics that concern us both as academics and engaged citizens.”

In recent years, ALLEA has intensified its collaboration with young academies. For instance, in 2019, ALLEA launched a strategic partnership with the Global Young Academy, which started with joint projects on research assessment models and the future of peer review. In 2020, ALLEA accepted its first young academy, Die Junge Akademie (the German Young Academy), which is currently leading the project ‘Climate Sustainability in the Academic System’.

ALLEA Board Meeting

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Discussing Academia’s Gender Problem with Dr Nafissa Ismail

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On the occassion of International Women’s Day, we interviewed Dr Nafissa Ismail, Associate Professor at the School of Psychology, University of Ottawa and project leader of the ‘Women in Science’ Working Group at the Global Young Academy.

She discusses with us her experience as a first generation university graduate, her work researching the intricacies of the human brain, and how she is fighting back against gender discrimination on the college campus, particularly unconscious biases in hiring practices.

“Often I was in a room with colleagues and students sharing an idea and it was as though it wasn’t heard; then a male colleague would share the same idea and all of a sudden, it was a fantastic idea. The interesting thing is that I didn’t initially perceive it as discrimination. I thought it was my fault,” she explains.

We invite you to watch the interview, which is part of the ALLEA Digital Salon Women in Science Series. You can also read more about Dr Ismail’s work on stress-related mental illness here.

Statement by the ALLEA Board on the Suspension of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

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The Board of ALLEA has released a statement on the suspension of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The statement reads:

In light of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine initiated by the Russian government and supported by the Belarusian government, ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, has decided to suspend the membership of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

ALLEA restates the European Academies’ commitment to academic freedom and human rights and hopes that efforts to defend democracy and the rule of law will eventually prevail. Conscious of its duty to uphold these fundamental values and giving practical expression to the moral outrage of the academic community, the ALLEA Board decided to enact this extraordinary measure, in line with international sanctions against institutions in the two states.

The Board is aware that this step might have an unintended impact on individual scientists and international scientific collaboration, but it concludes that the ability of these academies to act autonomously and independently from their governments has come into question – and therefore warrants this decision targeting only the institutional level. This suspension will be reconsidered by ALLEA member academies in their upcoming General Assembly on 11 May 2022.

The full statement is available here. ALLEA released an initial statement in support of Ukraine, its citizens and academics on 25 February. A list of resources, including funding and hosting tools aimed at helping Ukrainian scientists, can be found on this webpage.