Leadership issues in Science ...

Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009. I would like to discuss some particular question today, which is occupying my mind now for quite a while. It fits to the topic of leadership in the Jesus Network this week. The topic is: where do we go with science today. I am a scientist, have been working in research now for 15 years. Part of this work is writing papers, i.e. publishing results, talking on workshops and conferences, starting projects with students and colleagues, exploring new ideas in our particular research area. But I do not want to talk about my special research area, but rather about the way science is run today.

We had a discussion about some particular webpage last week during the coffee time after our weekly colloquium. It is a webpage listing all the universities in our country and showing rankings, income in terms of grants, esteem indicators etc etc. It is said that a lot of students look there to make their decisions where to study, where to go. So they are led by this page, and the question is whether this is good leadership or rather some way which we should rather avoid. What is science about?

Science is about research, about topics, about questions of understanding and control. We want to understand the world, and we want to work and act in it, to achieve goals. This second topic is the question of “know how”, of control. When we talk about science, we should talk about topics, about what we know, what we would like to know and how we get there. Thus, from my point of view, leadership in science needs convincing stories about the topics of our research. We have good reasons to do our research. We believe that it is necessary and important, to do what we do, that it helps us to understand better and that it helps us to act better, to change things, such that they are better than before. That is science, and I am calling for leadership to true science.

We have to realize, that our scientific world today is strongly influenced by questions of reputation, esteem and money. Universities have become a pure business. But that is extremely dangerous, since they will loose their income in the long run, if the product is not clear and unique, and if it looses its sense of purpose. If science is no longer real science, we are lost as scientists. We need to communicate this to everyone, to scientists and those who are not professionally in science. Everyone CAN understand, that sincere science is important, that it is needed, that it is the fundament on which our companies and our business operates. This includes a good and sincere education for both engineers and business leaders. We all need science as an ingredient of our activities!

It is a matter of good leadership, to guide people in a sustainable way. For science, our society needs to redefine and rediscover the purpose of science today. That is an exciting topic, and of extreme importance for our future. It is part of my Christian faith, to work in a sustainable way for the society I live in. Guiding science to where it belongs and shaping the understanding of its purpose is on our agenda for the next years. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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