Responsibilities of Scientists with the Public

Nina BuffiSylke HöhnelAndrea Negro

Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge

By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:

By the time you finish high school,you know a bit more:

With a bachelor's degree, you gain a specialty:

A master's degree deepens that specialty:

Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:

Once you're at the boundary, you focus:

Once you're at the boundary, you focus:

You push at the boundary for a few years:

Until one day, the boundary gives way:

And, that dent you've made is called a Ph.D.:

Of course, the world looks different to you now:

So, don't forget the bigger picture:

But how do we bridge the distance?How is the public opinion influenced?

The Public

Scientist

Why others don‘t?Can anyone do a PhD?

Are we different? (in thinking, in looking at the world?)

Bigger picture?Are we better?

Why do we do a PhD?

Pro PhD Con PhD• thirst for knowledge

• outlook for high paid job• expectations by family/friends

• we want to „change the world“• fame

• geekiness - because it‘s fun!• commitment

• translate 1:1? not curious?• time-investment not worth it?• social background doesn‘t allow it• financial background doesn‘t allow it• no interest in changing the world? (happy with just living, egoistic?)• because it‘s boring and you turn crazy!• because it‘s too complicated

Why do we do a PhD?

Pro PhD Con PhD• thirst for knowledge

• outlook for high paid job• expectations by family/friends

• we want to „change the world“• fame

• geekiness - because it‘s fun!• commitment

• translate 1:1? not curious?• time-investment not worth it?• social background doesn‘t allow it• financial background doesn‘t allow it• no interest in changing the world? (happy with just living, egoistic?)• because it‘s boring and you turn crazy!• because it‘s too complicated

Why do we do a PhD?So, do we live in two different worlds?

- There’s a plot against us

Why are we segregated in a “sound bite show”?

Outputs:- Critical relation scientists vs public- Scientists understood there’s a problem- Communication to public is correlated to policies

but…

- We are not able to communicate

How to save the world

- Science is scaring

Who should fill the gap?

Philosophy (Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom”) is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.

Ph.D.: Doctor of Philosophy

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field (e.g. PhD).The term doctorate comes from the Latin docere, meaning "to teach", shortened from the full Latin title licentia docendi, which means "teaching license".

Back to “Sound Bite” Show

Television is the most efficient channel to reach a big mass of people.

Prof. Barrandon: “When you are interviewed by a TV network they will give you not more than 52 seconds”

Group Work:

Explain a scientific breakthrough in 52 seconds.Think that you are in front of a camera and millions of people

will see your speech on TV.

Material: lemmas from Wikipedia

Which actors do inform/influence “normal” people about science?

cultural background

movies

internet

books

newspapers

politicianschurch

scientists

TV & radio

science museums

Secondary school level person

industry

Positive points

Secondary school level person

stimulate intereststimulate interest

easy to access

correct information

easy to access and to understand

catch interest

?

correctinformation

easy to access and to understand

correct information

shows utility

Negative points

Secondary school level person

sometimes incorrect information

interests at stake

difficult to understand

sometimes incorrect information

interests at stake

just for people already interested

just for people already interested

just for people already interested bias

sometimes incorrect information

sometimes incorrectinformation

• Scenario: in Molvania 20% of the population is affected by the HIV virus. The government decided to invest the money coming from the international help to stem the problem. The pharmaceutical industry Trustme proposed to the government an expensive vaccine that works in the 30% of the cases. The government and the church are in favor of this proposition, while the scientific community is against because thinks that a good prevention campaign will be more effective and less expensive. So the population has to vote to decide whether to buy the vaccine or not.

• Four groups: the government, the church, the scientific community, the people from industry.

• Task: convince the middle voter about accepting or not to buy the vaccine.

Group activity: biased/unbiased information