Session US1

US1 | Redefining excellence and academic career pathways in the geosciences

Redefining excellence and academic career pathways in the geosciences

Convener: Jean-Baptiste KoehlECSECS | Co-conveners: Ana Bastos, Aglaé Jézéquel, Christina Anna OrieschnigECSECS, Liliana Macotela

Programme

| Thu, 07 May, 10:45–12:30 (CEST)

Room E1

How we define scientific excellence has an immediate, career-defining impact on geoscientists, particularly early- and mid-career researchers who contend with a series of short-time contracts, expectations of high mobility, and the relentless pressure to publish. Currently, the indicators we use to evaluate excellence in the geosciences are predominantly quantitative - including the number of peer-reviewed articles and citations, invited talks, awards won, funding sources obtained, publishing in “prestigious” journals, and positions held at prestigious institutions. However, all these indicators are biased and not representative of the impact of research on science and society. It is further increasingly recognised that they are often exclusionary for underrepresented groups and amplify imbalances of power and visibility.

This Union Symposia invites diverse voices to reflect on how scientific excellence and academic systems (including peer-review and grant evaluation) can evolve to become more sustainable and inclusive - and who needs to drive these changes. We will explore different proposals that can offer more robust support structures and flexible environments for underrepresented groups and researchers balancing family and career while also facilitating and enhancing scientific progress. In particular, we aim to challenge entrenched practices, reconsidering publication requirements before Ph.D. completion, rethinking how international mobility is weighted in grant evaluations, and transforming anonymous peer-review systems, with a power imbalance skewed in favor of reviewers, into open and transparent processes that foster scientific progress. We also aim to explore emerging indicators of excellent science, such as Open Science, FAIR research, research focusing on societal challenges, inter- to multi-disciplinary research, and the number of published Open Access datasets. We also discuss how to best integrate qualitative factors, such as a scientist’s open-mindedness to testing different ideas, dialog-oriented attitude during the peer-review process, objectivity in acknowledging their failures, collaborations with colleagues supporting competing hypotheses, and commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).
Come and join us and our three invited speakers (Prof. Thom Bogaard, Prof. Stuart Lane, and Prof. Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr) to make your voice heard.

Programme: Thu, 7 May, 10:45–12:30 | Room E1

The oral presentations are given in a hybrid format supported by a Zoom meeting featuring on-site and virtual presentations. The button to access the Zoom meeting appears just before the time block starts.

Chairperson: Jean-Baptiste Koehl

10:45–10:50

Introduction

10:50–11:05

Publication system (Thom Bogaard)

11:05–11:20

Quantity vs quality (Stuart Lane)

11:20–11:35

Family & mobility (Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr)

11:35–12:20

Questions & discussion (audience)

12:20–12:30