Recent Articles
How Conspiracy Theorists Get the Scientific Method Wrong
Philipp Hübl on the characteristics of conspiracy theories the motivation behind their spread, and rational thought as a shield against it
Communicating Science in Covid Times
Stefanie Molthagen-Schnöring on science communication in times of a global pandemic and why communication with “the public” shouldn ´ t be its goal
Science Without a Question
Fabian Stephany on the CoRisk-Index, its development during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of implicit theory
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The COVID 19 pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge to science and higher education. Scientists are working hard on solutions to highly complex problems. They are working flat out on finding cures and vaccines. They must assess the consequences of the pandemic for society. They have to advise politicians and provide information to a highly agitated public. And all of this within a climate of extreme uncertainty.
We are looking for contributions to the following questions:
– How will science respond?
– How will academic institutions react?
– How do science and society interact in times of crisis?
– How does university teaching adjust to this?
– And what could the crisis mean for science and (higher)
education in the long run?
In this special issue we would like to discuss these developments.
We welcome contributions that deal with the crisis and that may also offer a glimmer of hope.
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The Great Update of Research
Our editor, Benedikt Fecher on research in post-COVID-19 times and the prospective falsificationist rationale
Could this be the start of a new era in scholarly communication?
We need to learn from the practices during the corona pandemic to shape the “new normal” of scholarly communication instead of falling back into old patterns, says our Advisory Board member Rebecca Lawrence
Suddenly famous: a virus and the media
Science journalists find experts, deal with new developments intensively, do fact-checking, analyse data and communicate knowledge to the public. All of this has been important in the past weeks and may lead to a difference in the future, says our author Juliane Meißner.
When your lab is the world but the world is closed down
Samantha Ruppel on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the researcher and her field, the ethical standards guiding her work, the cooperation among scientists and the topics they´re working on.
The impact of bioenergy research
Glaucia Souza on the introduction of BioFuels in Sao Paulo and all over Brazil, her activities at BIOEN and the transfer of technologies for more sustainable forms of mobility into practice.
The Science Must Go On
In this opinion-piece Katharina C. Cramer discusses the impact of the Corona-Crisis on large scale research infrastructures and their limits of performance in the current situation.
Higher Education in Crisis Times
In this interview with Teresa Völker, Prof. Villa talks about the initiative “Nicht-Semster” (calling for a cancellation of the regular spring semester during the Corona crisis) and how the crisis impacts the infrastructure of the german higher education system.
Communicating COVID-19: Prospects for a bolder Science?
In this piece, Mafalda Sandrini and Kata Katz shed light on the current state of science communication in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, phrase questions on its future and derive fields of action
Not back to normal
After his interview with Elephant in the Lab on 22 March 2020, Wander Jager develops his thoughts on the time after the COVID-19 pandemic