ESF presented two sessions at the AAAS annual meeting 2011, highlighting recent successes in both strategic science policy and international collaborative science research. The AAAS conference which took place in Washington D.C. from February 17 to 21.
Thinking About Thinking: How Do We Know What We Know?
It was standing room only at this session to hear about the latest research in metacognition - the ability to feel doubt and certainty about your own thinking. A perfect example of metacognition is the feeling of something being on the tip of the tongue.
John David Smith from the State University of New York at Buffalo presented research showing some animals share this ability that was once thought to be uniquely human. Josef Perner from the University of Salzburg in Austria discussed how the ways of testing cognition in animals could help us gauge cognitive development in young children. Closing the session, project leader Joëlle Proust from Institut Jean-Nicod in France, explored what this means for philosophers' debates about the theory of mind.
The findings result from a new collaboration across disciplines: philosophy, psychology and behavioural biology. They were supported through a EUROCORES collaborative research project ‘Metacognition as a Precursor to Self-Consciousness: Evolution, Development and Epistemology’ managed by the European Science Foundation, with funding from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), French National Research Centre (CNRS), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
Session details in AAAS programme
The session attracted an audience of nearly 150, including a significant media presence. It generated international media coverage including:
Monkeys 'display self-doubt' like humans BBC News, UK, 20 February
Ser o no ser: la incertidumbre de los macacos BBC Mundo, South America, 21 February
Apor känner sig också osäkra DN, Sweden, 22 February
Così intelligenti da sapere di non sapere Corriere della Serra, Italy, 22 February
Podcast: Thinking About Thinking Science, 22 February
Reaching a Global Standard in Research Integrity
Fraud, fabricating results and falsification were under the spotlight in this session chaired by ESF Chief Executive Professor Marja Makarow. Research integrity has emerged as a critical issue in science policy in the wake of several high profile scandals in the research community. Recent alleged cases of breaches of research integrity captured significant political and public attention worldwide. Reaching international understanding of the issues and impacts of fraud and falsification is essential to scientists working together; it is also important for ensuring public trust in science and scientific methodology.
Speaking to a full room, Ovid Tzeng from Academica Sinica in Taiwan opened the session by describing his observations from the US and Asia, concluding that cultivating the attitude of "zero tolerance" is the only way to combat corruption. Laura Marin from the ESF presented the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which was developed by the Member Organisation Forum on research integrity. John Galland from the USA's Office of Research Integrity discussed the American situation and how the scope of research conduct education is evolving from the mere compliance, to the whole ethics of the research process in order to make research integrity a habit. Ragnevald Kalleberg explained how the Norwegian National Commission for the Investigation of Scientific Misconduct works within a multi-level, national system for promoting research integrity, preventing and handling misconduct. As a member of the commission, he stated that the main challenge is to keep the right balance, stimulating the institutions to make and maintain ethical considerations as an integral part of everyday research and teaching.
The session provoked many questions from the 50 strong audience, including several journalists.
Session details in AAAS programme
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