Author: Leonidas Ananiadis

Another round of interesting discussions and findings from Wissenschaft-im-Dialog (Germany)

In February 2024, POIESIS member Dr. Anne-Sophie Behm-Bahtat from Wissenschaft im Dialog organised three online focus groups with different institutional actors from all over Germany as part of Work Package 3. The participants in the three groups – university communicators, research integrity officers, and members of research funding organisations – discussed the role of institutions for public trust in science and what can be done to improve conditions for research integrity and societal integration in institutions and beyond.

The three different groups of institutional actors had lively 2-hour long discussions exploring the topics of trust in science, integrity and integration from different institutional angles. Altogether, participants did not so much see a crisis of public trust in science but rather a crisis of trust in public institutions. They underlined the importance of a comprehensive ‘culture of integrity’ at all institutional levels and also discussed why the ‘how’ of societal integration might actually be more important than the ‘how much’. 

Another round of interesting discussions about Trust in Science

The Portuguese POIESIS team, led by Professor Marta Entradas and supported by Dr. Inês Sousa and Dr. Feng Yan, has just wrapped up an insightful focus group study to investigate questions of research integrity in universities and public trust in science!

These engaging discussions with institutional stakeholders, happened in February 2024, in Lisbon, with two sessions hosted at Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and one conducted online. With a total of 20 institutional stakeholders participating, the discussions were moderated by three local co-investigators.

The focus group delved into the crucial topic of building trust in science and here are the main discoveries:

Participants widely agreed that public trust in science remains high in Portugal. There isn’t a crisis of trust, but there’s growing scrutiny of the scientific process among an increasingly informed and educated public. Science communication plays a vital role in shaping this perception.

From the participants’ viewpoint, discussions on integrity in science are starting in Portugal and are much needed. They emphasized the importance of training in integrity practices, well-defined guidelines, and effective communication to foster a culture of open science and responsible research practices.

Participants discussed the need to increase the proximity between scientists and society by using new and attractive tools to communicate science. Who are the emerging voices in science? Looking ahead, exploring new mediators beyond scientists and science communicators could be fascinating.

The LSE POIESIS team Dr Bankole Falade, Hannah Bunt and Professor Martin W Bauer have completed another round of focus groups discussions, this time with professional staff at British universities. In February/March 2024, local co-investigators had invited 6 men and 20 women who joined the conversations in Glasgow, Bristol and Loughborough and at LSE.

We talked about a ‘crisis of trust’ in science-society relations, about the ‘good researcher’ and their fall from grace in misconduct which could jeopardise the reputation of the institution and the research system. Support for research integrity and public engagement were discussed as levers to build, maintain and restore public trust. Each group detailed their own views and activities to support good research and public engagement.

According to the general view, there is little evidence for a crisis of trust in science; but punctually sensitive topics bear public concerns and risks to trust, and media misinformation can fuel this. Misconduct happens but mostly out of incompetence or negligence rather than moral turpitude and malevolence. But the problem might be underestimated and vigilance is called for. Structures are being built and strengthened to monitor, prevent and report incidents of scientific misconduct locally and nationally.  We explored tensions in this emerging system of vigilance, in particular any misalignment between REF [research excellence framework] 2028/29 and efforts to support world class research and effective public engagement.

The POIESIS Consortium latest meeting confirmed our dedication and high standard approach in fullfilling POIESIS research ambitions.

The POIESIS 3rd General Assembly was successfully held on February 22nd and 23 in CIES-Iscte, Lisbon. There were plenty interesting things to discuss such as the implementation and a short summary for each partner on our Focus Groups, our preparation for the 112 interviews on researchers and science communication experts and a very interesting primary discussion on the outcomes of our 2nd Expert Workshop.

The impact of the POIESIS research activities and its eventual recommendations were also on the centre of attention, while the Assembly opened with a presentation of the early findings of a very interesting and big research that the CIES – Iscte team has conducted, about Integrity among Portuguese Researchers.

All 7 partners of the POIESIS Consortium (Aarhus UniversityWissenschaft im Dialog, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CSIC, CIES-Iscte, National Technical University of Athens) left the Assembly very ambitious about the implementation of all the remaining POIESIS engagement activities and outcomes and their impact on fostering Trust In Science!

On the eve of the last General Assembly in Lisbon, on the 21^st and 22^nd February 2024, the LSE and WiD POIESIS members organised the second POIESIS expert workshop, this time with a focus on dynamics of recovering public trust and reputation after a crisis in different contexts.

To discuss why public trust is actually important in real life scenarios and how to rebuild it after a scandal or another kind of internal crisis, the workshop brought together six international experts with academic and corporate backgrounds and POIESIS members from different institutions. For two half days, they discussed national and international case studies each of the experts presented. The case studies ranged from crises in private companies to public universities and inspired interesting comparisons of different dynamics and mechanisms of crisis management and communication.

Discussions were lively and fruitful and will not only inspire further reflections for the work of POIESIS but also certainly lead to a common publication led by the POIESIS team.

We have just published our latest Newsletter!

Learn about POIESIS latest news, progress, engagement activities, plus one exciting trip across Europe for our Public Deliberative Workshops and their main findings with just one click.

The Lisbon Team represented the project in the University of Minho Conference

Our Lisbon-Portugal team members (Marta Entradas, Inês C. Sousa, and Feng Yan) attended XIII SOPCOM Congress from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26, 2024. The conference took place at University of Minho, in Braga, a city in the north of Portugal.

The team presented results of the POIESIS public consultation that took place last summer in Lisbon in the session “Trust is not given, it is earned: The role of the media in public trust in science”. The presentation received audience appreciations and interest, as well as comments during Q&A.

Founded in 1998, SOPCOM is a non-profit scientific association, aiming to develop research in Communication Sciences, and representing  the national scientific community of Communication Sciences in Portugal.

POIESIS is getting ready for its new excitng engagement activity

With the 2nd Expert Workshop scheduled for Lisbon on February 21st, and the Public Deliberation Workshops already conducted, another POIESIS engagement activity is already on the cards. 3 Focus Groups will take place on February in each consortium country (Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Greece), involving experts that either work with research integrity or societal integration at their institutions.

The data collected through the focus groups will allow us to investigate at the institutional level: a) Perceptions of public trust, research integrity and social integration, b) Concerns, hopes and expectations towards research integrity and social integration, c) Procedures and policies translating research integrity and social integration into communicational or organisational processes, d) Expectations about the impact of these procedures and policies.

The research will be conducted by Dr. Michel Dubois and the rest of the CNRS, France POIESIS research team.

POIESIS has been present at the Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2023, the biggest science communication conference in Germany, held this year in Bielefeld. Anne-Sophie Behm-Bahtat (Wissenschaft im Dialog) presented the project in a session with two other research projects with a focus on trust in science, science communication and also the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was a great interest in the project and lively discussions about the challenges of measuring trust and also of reaching citizens for events like the public deliberative workshops. A poster displayed during the 3 days of the conference further informed participants about POIESIS and its objectives.

The 1st Review Meeting was a huge boost for POIESIS efforts

The latest POIESIS Review Meeting was held on 7 November in Paris, a day after the Executive Board meeting. The valuable comments received, on our progress over the first year of the project, will aid us apply the work plan more efficiently in the coming months and years.

Dr. Serge M. Horbach got the event underway with a brief overview of the project and a thorough presentation of each Work Package followed. The meeting was concluded with a thoughtful discussion that gave us an even more clear view of what lies ahead and filled us with optimism and determination to fulfill our demanding and ambitious research objectives.