https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8479-8686
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence is an international institutional nonprofit association of ranking organizations, universities and other bodies interested in university rankings and academic excellence. Its purpose is to strengthen public awareness and understanding of range of issues related to university rankings and academic excellence. IREG Observatory invited the first author of this Editorial to deliver a keynote address on “Where is science heading? The main challenges before today’s scientists?” at IREG2023 international conference.[Citation1]
Keynote topics are pertinent, and call for voluminous discourse to the satisfaction of numerous and diverse stakeholders. Readers can leverage the recently popular Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to satisfy respective queries. Generative AI is an umbrella term for any kind of machine learning that uses algorithms to process a huge amount of textual or visual data, sourced from the Internet and digital databases.[Citation2] ChatGPT and DALL-E are notable examples of Generative AI. The following sections provide succinct answers to the aforementioned two important questions. Using the key terminology of this Editorial, the readers could further deep dive into multifaceted answers.
Where is science heading?
A retrospective view of science is necessary to answer this question. Accordingly, is prepared based on broad and reasonable assumptions.[Citation3] Period from 1800 to 2000 is assigned to “modern science,” and before 1800 is considered as the period of “ancient science.” The science enterprise of the twenty first Century is far larger than that in the earlier periods. Millions of researchers are now pursuing science as opposed to thousands and hundreds of researchers in the earlier periods of science. Research is now being done in more countries around the world than in the past.[Citation4] Far more areas are researched now and have wider diversity than the areas pursued in ancient times. Interactions among the researchers is now worldwide as opposed to limited geography in the past. The Advent of Internet and numerous digital technologies in recent years facilitate instant dissemination of science compared to slow and time-consuming dissemination in the earlier periods. The twenty first Century is witnessing exponential growth of journals, journal papers, conference papers, books, patents, and other forms of reporting supported by globally spanning publishers, web platforms, and databases. In-depth science is pursed by researchers in niche areas, narrow domains and monodisciplinary topics. Anecdotal and historical accounts of science suggest that in earlier times, researchers pursued science more as a hobby at their own pace with support and encouragement from patrons and communities. The twenty first Century science is funded by the governments, largely from the tax payer’s money in addition to corporates, industries, and private foundations. Reasons for government’s involvement include self-reliance, security, strengthening skills and capabilities, competitive advantage, and new economic growth and jobs creation. Another key difference that stands out is the intrinsic motivation of researchers in solving a problem in the past vs. the extrinsic motivational factors that are now required. Hence, increasingly science is professionally managed to ensure accountability and transparency, and to generate returns on investments. Researchers are now hustled to quickly produce tangible outcomes.
Table 1. Where is science heading?
All nations around the world agree on the need for progress with respect to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). National governments have become stakeholders of science in recent times. In other words, they are looking up to the scientific efforts to contribute to the 17 SDGs. Addressing these goals requires expertise from multiple disciplines. Progress of science needs efforts from the researchers with a poly-disciplinary mindset as well as mono-disciplinary strengths.[Citation5] The role of science is evident to everyone from the recent example, i.e., protecting eight billion people from the devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Considering growing research investments and millions of researchers worldwide, the twenty first century could be dubbed as a golden period for science. The aim of science is to improve human living standards, solve practical problems, promote social progress, and increase human understanding of nature and the universe. Nonetheless, the priorities of science are determined by the societal needs and expectations. Poorer countries mostly focus on solving basic survival problems, such as food security, clean water, sanitation, disease prevention and control. In developing countries, the priorities of science are more diversified and segmented, covering multiple areas such as information technology, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, agriculture. Developed countries are pursuing high-tech and cutting-edge research, such as new materials, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, aging, space, defense, security, advanced manufacturing. Many challenges are common to all human beings and require contributions from science. This include climate change, extreme weathers, rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, food supply, nutrition, health care, security, urbanization, sanitation, clean water, clean energy, resources, shelter, transportation, and circular economy. Science is needed to progress cutting-edge areas such as stem cells, gene therapy, regenerative medicine, organ engineering, personalized medicine, quantum computing, quantum communications, generative artificial intelligence, brain-machine interface, nuclear fusion, renewable energy, low-carbon energy generation, storage and supply, living materials, intelligent materials, wearables, urbanization, decarbonized transportation, sustainable materials, sustainable product design and manufacturing, carbon capture, storage and utilization, space and deep ocean exploration, agriculture and farming in extreme weather conditions, aging, mental stress, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Science is needed to bridge the knowledge gaps in better understanding of highly complex human brain and nervous system and to demystify diverse mental functions and mind. Science will continue to find answers to unknowns and big questions, i.e., origin of the universe, what else is there in the universe, and mechanism of life?
The main challenges before today’s scientists?
Challenges faced by today’s scientists are several, and vary demographically. This Editorial articulates the generalized challenges of today’s scientists in low-income countries, middle-income countries, and high-income countries. Scientists in the low-income countries are devoid of research support, funds, and encouragement. High-income countries understand the importance of scientific research and strategically invest at levels above the global averages. About fifteen percent of their total R&D expenditure is directed toward basic research. However, due to their over zeal, they also change research funding priorities swiftly, thus posing challenges to the scientists. In the middle-income countries, research investments are below the global averages, and the industry in those countries view scientists as consultants as opposed to co-creators of new knowledge, solutions, and innovations. Corporates and industries in high-income countries have developed experience to proactively engage scientists in co-creation of solutions and novel ideas. However, scientists are often subject to short-term agendas and goals of industries/corporates. Another aspect is the quality of communication, given that the cultures of corporates and academics are different. Researchers in high-income countries are better trained/well-seasoned to communicate their research ideas and approaches with the industry personnel. They also benefit from the well-developed intellectual property policies and regulations, and ways and means of structuring cooperation/partnerships. Hence, they are able to realize higher inventions conversion rates, i.e., the rate that research inventions are industrialized. Researchers in the middle- and low-income countries struggle with lack of adequate skills and training.
Prior to the advent of bibliometrics, the assessment of scientists was carried out by the seniors and accomplished individuals via a qualitative peer review process. In recent years, with the global accessibility of databases of publications, quantitative assessment via bibliometrics has gained prominence. A range of bibliometrics, including the number of papers, citations, citations per paper, h-index, journal impact factors, field weighted citation impact (FWCI), internal/national quantitative systems, patents, and research income are used in addition to qualitative assessment. There is a growing reliance on bibliometrics around the world, which is otherwise a challenge to sieve through volumes of publications. Bibliometric analysis facilitates research benchmarking, either locally, regionally, or globally. They are being used for assessing the research performance of a scientist as well as eligibility criteria for research funds and collaborations. Such over emphasis is subjecting scientists to undue stress. Often, the research careers span from 30 to 50 years. Sustainably securing adequate research funds for several years is by no means an ordinary task for any scientist. In the high-income countries, research ecosystem is akin to a pressure cooker. Low success rates of winning a grant cause researchers to spend enormous time in grantsmanship instead of doing research. Most grants come with duration limits of 2 to 5 years. In others words, researchers have to constantly write competitive grant proposals to sustain their research activities. Furthermore, in recent years the proposal dossier grew voluminous compared to the past decades as they need to contain diverse sets of information and justifications as expected by the grantors/funders. Contrary to this development, the administrative support for the researchers has diminished as the institutions shifted to self-service software tools. As a result, researchers are not spending time on tasks they are trained for and being paid for. Scientists in the middle-income and low-income countries are facing different kinds of challenges in securing research funds. Vague and incompetent procedures, and slow and mindless bureaucracy are troubling the scientists and taking away their precious research time. Moreover, the research funds are ad hoc and often directed toward the national labs and the deployment of available solutions. In the case of high-income countries, often research funds are skewed toward the established researchers with trusted and demonstrated track records, thus posing difficulties for entry-level and junior scientists. Funders/grantors expect prior intellectual property, proof of concept results, and strong articulation of breakthrough impact of research outcomes even before the proposed research hypothesis is performed. Researchers end up making inflated claims and generate proof of concepts by any means. Such situations lead to non-repeatable and non-reproducible research results, and thus causing a negative perception of science.
Over the years, the high-income countries have built up world-class research infrastructure with top-line research equipment, which are often very expensive. Low-income and middle-income countries are struggling to catch-up for a number of reasons, which include funds shortages, export restrictions, and lack of skilled technicians and after-sales service. This situation is disadvantaging researchers in these countries. In the case of high-income countries, researchers must have funding to access those world-class infrastructures; otherwise they are unable to leverage them. Moreover, the high-income countries have a steady supply of highly motivated research talents from all around the world. While this is a blessing, it is also a source of downward pressure on the researchers. Migrant researchers are first in the line to face the brunt of this pressure. In the case of middle-income and low-income countries, the research human capital is of varied quality, and thus affecting the global competitiveness of their research. Researchers in those countries struggle to make the best of their inadequately trained research human capital. Furthermore, researchers have fewer opportunities and encouragement for conducting interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research. Researchers are expected to demonstrate impact via research applications in terms of new products, new services, new capabilities, and real-world solutions. However, their ecosystems lack the resources and/or opportunities to do so.
According to Statista consultancy, the total global spending on research and development increased from about 500 billion dollars in 1996 to about 2.5 trillion dollars in 2022. This commensurate with the increased costs of doing research and development. It is estimated that more than ten million researchers are present worldwide. In other words, competition for the precious research funds is intense. Hence, competition trumps cooperation among the researchers. The research enterprise is dynamic with multitude of players/stakeholders. Researchers lack access to good mentors who can guide them to navigate complex research ecosystem. For most researchers, the post-doctorate career path is unclear. Meritocracy among researchers is often plagued with pedigree, race, and gender. This is exacerbated by the availability of fewer tenured/permanent positions. Researchers lack structured opportunities for reskilling during the course of their long research career. Reskilling is needed as the prioritized/trending research areas change with time, and often the doctoral training may not be aligned with the future opportunities. Furthermore, fast paced research enterprise enabled by newer research tools and techniques require opportunities for continual learning and re-skilling. As can be expected, the pace of research in high-income countries is faster than in other countries, and accelerated by the technology advancements and disruptions and high-density of quality researchers. Increasingly, the researchers are pressured to publish in high impact factor (IF) journals independent of their research areas, eventhough it is known that certain areas of research have higher IF journals compared to other areas of research. Researchers from the low-income countries are disadvantaged by the inherent biases of the journal peer review process, whereas the researchers from the middle-income countries are often unable to pay high publication charges posed by the journals/publishers. This is exacerbated by the profit-only minded publishers. There are several reports on the unscrupulous practices of peer review and publishers. A chicken and egg problem exists in the publishing world where many early-career researchers have complained about their research not being accepted by prestigious journals as it may not lead to high citation. Lack of publishing in prestigious journals slows down one’s career progression, which in turn affects attracting good funding, thus slowing down research output. Maverick and black sheep researchers succumb to the pressures of cut-throat competition and the allure of monetary rewards and fame, and violate the codes of research ethics and integrity.
Researchers have reported on the negative effects of overwork culture of academic research affecting their mental health and work-life balance.[Citation6] The desire to pursue a successful career in research and to obtain a permanent position often deprioritizes the family. Moreover, the fear of wasting “the best moment” for scientific growth results in postponing the decision to establish the family and have children. Also, the salary packages of researchers have not kept up with other professions. Mental stress and burnout of researchers also need due attention. There is yet another facet to the research. Certain areas of research attract intense attention from the religious communities and society, which results in over regulations on research. On the other hand, as a global society, we did not yet come up with a robust definition of the beginning and the end of the human life. The accepted boundaries of human life cycle are non-uniform around the world, and the limit of ethical interference in human genes has not been set. Well calibrated and balanced approach is necessary in such cases. Excessive commercial interests also impede sharing of knowledge, which is necessary for further advancement of scientific knowledge. Most research funds are ring fenced within the country. There is very limited international research funds and mechanisms to facilitate research collaborations beyond the borders and mobility of researchers. Often, the cross-border research cooperation are troubled by the geopolitics and language and/or cultural barriers.
An overarching statement “research talents are everywhere but opportunities are not!” captures the challenges of today’s scientists. A major challenge is access to funding and resources. Since scientific research typically requires expensive equipment, manpower, and significant financial investment, scientists need to compete for funding support from the government, corporations, and foundations to conduct their research. This leads to inequality in scientific research, where some fields and researchers may have an easier time obtaining funding and resources, while other fields and researchers may lack this support, making it difficult to conduct meaningful research. In addition, scientists also face pressure from corporations with deep pockets and powerful allies to ring fence their research results for narrow interests rather than advancing scientific knowledge. Compliant scientists overly serve the interests of industry. This may limit or distort the research, and result in lack of necessary academic freedom.
Another challenge is the public’s understanding and acceptance of science. Due to the complexity of scientific theories and methods, as well as misunderstandings and misconceptions about scientific knowledge, public trust in science is affected at times, which may lead to criticism of scientific research. Therefore, scientists need to actively communicate and engage with the public to improve their understanding and awareness of science, so as to have sustained support.
Competition and collaboration are two interesting challenges that scientists face, and they both have pluses and minuses. Competition is a part of scientific research, where scientists need to compete with other scientists for new discoveries, research funding, publishing papers, and honors. This competition can stimulate scientists’ motivation and creativity, and promote the progress of scientific research. However, competition also have some negative effects, such as limiting the diversity and innovation of scientific research, as some scientists may abandon riskier research directions in pursuit of high output, high citation rates, and high academic reputation. In addition, excessive competition may also lead to unethical behaviors such as scientific fraud. In contrast, collaboration is also an important aspect of scientific research. Scientists typically need to collaborate in the laboratory or research team to complete complex experiments and tough research projects. In addition, scientists need to collaborate with experts in other fields to solve interdisciplinary problems. This collaboration can promote knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary development, and drive breakthroughs in scientific research. However, collaboration also faces some challenges, such as conflicting interests among scientists and differences in research goals.
Aforementioned observations infer that scientists should passionately pursue research, and not to be off-balanced by the challenges, rewards, and recognition. Role of scientists is very important for the wellbeing of humans and planet Earth. Every stakeholder of the humanity and Earth must adequately support and encourage them ().
Table 2. The main challenges before today’s scientists.
National University of Singapore, Singapore
[email protected]
Fanghua Li
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
[email protected]
Ewa Kijeńska-Gawrońska
Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
[email protected]
Shweta Agarwala
Aarhus University, Denmark
[email protected]
References
- https://ireg-observatory.org/en/events/ireg-2023-conference-tashkent-samarkand/.
- https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/generative-ai-explain-algorithms-work/.
- https://ourworldindata.org/technology-long-run.
- Ramakrishna, S.; Ng, D. J.-T. 2011 The Changing Face of Innovation, World Scientific Publishing Company, 217. ISBN 9789814291590, 9814291595
- Ramakrishna, S. Celebrate Poly-Disciplinary Minds. Drying Technol. 2023, 41, 1–2. DOI: 10.1080/07373937.2023.2158266.
- Kucirkova, N. I. Academia’s Culture of Overwork Almost Broke Me, so I’m Working to Undo It. Nature. 2023, 614, 9. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00241-8.