As our international cohort of eLife Ambassadors experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence-based research can heavily impact policy. The policies created ultimately affect research funding and projects, yet researchers and particularly ECRs are not often trained to present their work to the public or policymakers. As a result, the Ambassadors have formed the Global Science Policy Network. The new initiative aims to provide ECRs with more understanding on the topic of science policy and how it affects researchers, as well as showcasing potential career paths and real applications of research in science policy.
Read more from the team of global Ambassadors below:
The past decade has been witness to an unprecedented surge in the politicization of science within and beyond the academy. Graduate student unionization campaigns, unionizing tech workers, and grassroots demands for just, equitable pandemic responses have challenged the long-held belief that science can remain “apolitical”. Instead, we find that the scientific enterprise is deeply political, and this sentiment is one that is being felt around the world. Indeed, an effective solution to many of the pervasive problems of scientific research can only be addressed at the global scale, as science becomes more and more international. From immigration status to international public health policy, the time has come to take seriously the challenge and necessity of international science policy.
Aiming to respond to this challenge, we have formed the Global Science Policy Network (GSPN) as an initiative within the eLife Community Ambassadors program. We believe that to address science policy at an international scale, we need to build a diverse and accessible community that will facilitate the sharing of knowledge, resources, and skills. Through this international community, we can help each other tackle the many outstanding policy problems that face science today and will continue to plague the discipline into the future.
But we can’t build this network without your input and support. We wish to keep the needs of the community we are hoping to serve at the center of our mission. Hence, we are asking you to guide us by participating in our survey (linked below), which aims to understand the policy interests and needs of early-career researchers from around the world. We want to identify key problems facing international researchers, as well as ways we can bring people together to address them. We are asking anyone committed to the betterment of science to join us in this work to build the scientific future we all deserve.
Additionally, we encourage you to watch two recent webinars on global science policy hosted by members of the eLife community: Getting involved in global science policy and Science policy in action.
Getting involved in global science policy
Science policy in action
Thank you for your interest and watch this space!
The Global Science Policy Network
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For the latest developments in this year’s Ambassador programme and other opportunities for early-career researchers, sign up to the eLife Early-Career Community newsletter and follow @eLifeCommunity on Twitter.
