Healing the wounds: why science, and research culture matter more than ever now

​There was a political earthquake in the US last week. There are major ongoing wars, climate change, economic uncertainty, a post-pandemic world we are still adapting to, and the new challenge of ‘artificial intelligence’.
 
And somehow, in the middle of all this, we need to stay calm and rational enough to do good science!
 
How does that work?

​You may be relieved to hear this post is not about politics! Or the perceived moral high ground of either 'side'. You may find it helpful to read regardless of where you stand on those issues. It is about finding the clarity and motivation for science in an uncertain world. What are the prospects for science in a world that questions its role in society? And how can we reinforce our own personal values in a changed landscape?

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​Handling uncertainty
We know how difficult it is to plan a day in the lab if we don’t know what time the equipment is available. And every PI knows the challenge of long-term planning when we have no idea whether a grant application will be funded or not.
 
So if these are hard, then living with more fundamental uncertainty over science policy, or how our work is valued and communicated, could seriously undermine our motivation if we let it.  
 
But the truth is, none of us even knows whether we will be alive tomorrow and we don’t spend all day worrying about that. Our minds have a mechanism for handling uncertainty and getting on with our lives. That mechanism doesn’t mean naively ignoring all that happens around us, or that could happen. It means focussing on what we can do and seeing its place in the bigger picture. I will write more on what we can control in research life, and what we can’t in a future post.
 
Occasionally, however, something happens that pushes us into ‘fight, flight or freeze’, or even catastrophising when the threat is big enough. Many scientists felt that way last week, including me. So what can we do about it?

​We (?) are “the enemy"?
One of the most chilling moments of the US election campaign for me was a speech by the incoming Vice President recalling a quote from former President Nixon: “The professors are the enemy”. And: “We need to…attack the universities in this country”. I’ve written before about the damage fear does to research. So how does a professor who regularly travels to the US deal with the inevitable ‘fight, flight or freeze’ reaction triggered on hearing this?  And what about the many valued and respected US colleagues I know?

​My first instinct on hearing this was such outrage as to want to cut off all links with the US in my professional life – the ‘flight’ reaction - and still a part of my mind is screaming at me to do so. But that would be suicidal for our research and I will not do it. It would be letting down the patients I hope will ultimately benefit from our research, the great team who work with me, and those US colleagues I feel great solidarity with at this moment. So that’s not an option but I do have to deal with the conflict in my mind, or ‘cognitive dissonance’, this creates – another topic I will come back to in a later post.
 
And for those whose lives and careers depend on visas there are additional, major concerns. Despite widespread recognition how much US (and UK) research is powered by people born outside these countries, it is deeply disturbing even for those of us who are citizens of one of them to see how our colleagues are treated. For those directly affected it is so much more troubling. Handling this must be incredibly difficult.

​Understanding how our mind works is more important than ever!
Luckily, our minds, and our cultures, have systems specialised for dealing with any event and getting back on track. In this environment they matter more than ever. Steve Peters’ books The Chimp Paradox and A Path Through the Jungle describe how our emotions are tailored to respond to a perceived threat, quickly shutting down the rational part of our mind to channel all our resources into survival. That’s what flight, flight or freeze is.

​But once we accept some ground truths, however unpalatable, and bring back perspective, values and our sense of purpose, we can move forward on our chosen path. Sometimes we can manage this alone, but on particularly difficult occasions we need others who understand and help us work through it. 

​The unpalatable truth: a harsher environment in many countries
However much we dislike it, the environment for research will get harsher. And voices already calling in other countries for similar changes are likely to get stronger. Even when the rhetoric around ‘enemies’ and ‘attacking’ calms down, funding mechanisms and levels are likely to come under pressure, increasing concerns over researchers’ security. Meanwhile, communicating science to the public will become harder in the face of 'alternative facts' from other sources. But however much harder it becomes, this makes doing so even more important. Acceptance of these changes is vital so energy can be channelled into doing and communicating science in this tougher environment instead of wishing it were different.

​Values and Purpose
The contrast between the tone of the incoming US administration and that of many Science Without Anguish posts could not be greater. Humility and psychological safety are in short supply, and success appears to be defined only by money.
 
But there is something very important here. Are there values you feel are too important to sacrifice, whatever the apparent success of a different approach?  In other words, does anything really make your toes curl here? It’s worth taking a moment to figure out exactly what that is, because this can provide not only a sense of direction but the commitment and energy to fuel it even when things go wrong.

​It’s a good time to remember Purpose too. If we find ourselves questioning ‘why am I even doing this?’ we can recall that at some point in our life, we already answered that question. We just forget it sometimes in the heat of events. But when we stop and think, the importance of that answer may even have been strengthened. If it’s finding solutions for a disease that struck a family member, this hasn’t changed just because someone questions the role of universities in society. Or if it’s training the next generation of scientists, we need to safeguard science so there is still something for them to take forward. The path to our goals might change, and it might be harder going, but the goal, and its purpose, remain the same.

​Perspective
One benefit of having been around a while is having other experiences to call on. How, for example, did other major world events feel at the time and how did they turn out? I’ve written before about how global shocks have interfaced with my own research career, from 9/11 to financial crisis to global pandemic. Somehow, however bad it seemed at the time, some kind of normality returned and research progress was made. Indeed, with the pandemic not so long ago most readers will be able to recall themselves how different the world of 2020 seemed to that of today.  Through all the interruptions and diversions, we always find a way to get back on track and to progress, both in our careers and in moving research forward.

​It can help to look even further back. What the ‘professors are the enemy’ speech didn’t say is what happened next to President Nixon and his university policies! Two years after he said it, Nixon resigned amid one of the biggest scandals is US history. As far as I am aware, no professors were harmed!
 
And Nixon did not invent the idea either. It always comes up when leaders feel insecure in the face of new knowledge. From Socrates to Galileo, history has shown this way of thinking to be temporary and wrong every time. Historically, it has sometimes taken the worst outcomes to turn it around, and we must avoid that at all costs, but while there is a need for vigilance there is also cause for hope. We are no longer imprisoned or made to drink hemlock as a punishment for curiosity! In the end, it will pass and research will go on, however much politicians in any party or any country interfere. It is, after all, only four years since that same president, along with the entire world, desperately needed science!

​Supporting one another
The solutions to getting back on track then, and dealing with any challenges that arise, are to accept what we can’t change, to reconnect with our strongest values and sense of purpose, and to use the perspective of historical, and sometimes recent challenges to science to help predict how events could play out.
 
Just occasionally, however, our challenges become too much even for that approach. This is when we need to reach out and connect. Knowing that others understand and care matters most when we are at our lowest point. And they do. More often than not they feel the same as we do. And most of all we need to support those who have to struggle even for the ‘right’ even to remain in the country.
 
This is why research culture matters more than ever now. Rich or poor, black or white, respectable left or respectable right, citizen or immigrant, we are human beings and colleagues first, and scientists second. None of the rest has anything to do with our value to science, society or each other.
 
With this approach, science can continue to progress and young scientists can still move towards a stable career. History has shown us that the world needs science no matter the conflict and anguish.

​(Ending written by Science Without Anguish illustrator Dr Alice White. Thanks so much Alice!)