this is a large ERC-funded project with several subprojects, focused on developing an empirically grounded philosophy of Open Science [OS] that emphasises the diversity of research environments around the world and articulates the conditions under which OS can leverage such diversity to promote good research practice. All details and publications can be found on the project website: www.opensciencestudies.eu
The TUM Ethical Data Initiative is a non-partisan platform fostering open discussions on data ethics globally. We focus on equity and engagement across different domains of data work for public interest, and aim to foster capacity for responsible data work particularly for low-resourced and vulnerable groups and institutions. Find out more about our events, resources and activities here: www.ethicaldatainitiative.org
The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® is a new resource for anticipating scientific and technological breakthroughs across many different research domains. Using this database, in combination with complimentary resources, we ask the following four questions:
1. How, and to what extent, can the data contained in the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® be used to anticipate the effect of breakthroughs in science and technology on the process of research over the next 5, 10 and 25 years?
2. Is it possible to identify breakthroughs with the potential to disrupt the practice of science and research, and how? If it is possible, which breakthroughs can be considered of the highest potential and/or with the greatest impact, and why?
3. In which directions could the future process/culture of science and research evolve globally, considering different cultural and regional practices of research, value systems or relations to knowledge systems (for example indigenous knowledge)?
4. How can the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® be optimised as a resource for studying the future of science and research practice?
The research will be conducted chiefly through literature review of relevant academic scholarship with particular attention to social studies of science and technology, including the philosophy and history of science.
Data Shadows (Sabina Leonelli, Jacob van den Beugel and Brian Rappert, 2024-2025, with funding from AHRC Impact Accellerator Award and TUM) : A film collaboration with philosopher and data scientist Sabina Leonelli, co-director and artist Jacob van der Beugel and co-director Oliver Page examining notions of Data Shadows. Just as data are extracted from the real world, in the context of this film, we have extracted concrete cores to represent the creation of data. Concrete is an artificial and natural medium, very akin to data. The central narrative follows the physical journeys of these data cores as they undergo processes of loss, de-contextualisation, appropriation and transformation. Launching January 2025.
This is a book project for Maya Goldenberg, Marcel Boumans and Sabina Leonelli to co-write a short monograph critiquing the interpretation of misinformation as “truth decay” fuelled by social media and anti-democratic politics. While we do not question the concrete social harms associated with misinformation, we challenge the guiding narrative that misinformation is itself the root of the problem, and therefore that eradicating misinformation will provide a solution. Following the disease metaphor that animates much of the discourse on misinformation, we propose that misinformation is the symptom, not the disease: the social trends mentioned above are not a product of misinformation, but rather the precursors to an unhealthy informational ecosystem. Focusing on the case of scientific research, we argue that distrust in science is due to a misunderstanding of the nature of scientific results.