Published 6 February 2025 by LINO News
How to Translate the Lindau Guidelines Into Action
The Lindau Guidelines are a set of principles designed to foster open, cooperative, and sustainable global research. They encourage scientists and institutions to promote transparency, diversity, and international collaboration to strengthen the scientific community.
Turning Workshop Discussions into Action
At the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, discussions among researchers resulted in practical recommendations in two pivotal areas for early-career scientists:
- Creating Bias-Free Review Procedures for Fellowships and Research Grants: Developing transparent, fair selection processes that ensure equal opportunities for all researchers.
- Removing Obstacles for the International Movement of Early-Career Scientists: Identifying and eliminating barriers that hinder researchers from pursuing global opportunities.
The following two articles distills these these discussions, offering practical recommendations to foster a more inclusive and dynamic research environment.
How to Create Bias-Free Review Procedures for Fellowships and Research Grants
Workshop moderated by Council Member Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
How to Remove Obstacles for the International Movement of Early-Career Scientists
Moderated by Lindau Alumnus Leonhard Möckl, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
Lindau Guidelines
The Lindau Guidelines 2020 owe their existence to Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn’s initiative during the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in June 2018. Released after the Online Science Days in June 2020, the Guidelines are aimed at promoting an open, cooperative science community where data and knowledge are freely shared. While intended for all those engaged in scientific research, they are especially important for those embarking on independent careers. The successful implementation of the Lindau Guidelines relies on the commitment of the global community of scientists and researchers, including Lindau Alumni, Young Scientists, and partner institutions.
After the productive 2023 workshops, there was a realization that the focus should now be on implementation. Organizers and participants alike felt that three goals should be prioritized:
- the workshops should produce very concrete texts that move from protest to an actionable plan;
- while the commitment of Young Scientists and the Lindau Alumni community was key to the workshops’ success, the perspective of more senior, tenured scientists should be added. Not only may they have more leverage regarding implementation, but they can also share useful insights into typical pitfalls and ways to surmount those obstacles;
- a strong element of democratic selection should be added to the prioritization process.
To this end, moderators Leonhard Möckl and Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede clustered the results of the 2023 workshop. In discussions with the Executive Secretariat, a list of six concrete items was prepared and put to the wider alumni community for a round of online voting. The two highest scoring topics formed the basis of the 2024 workshops. Participants discussed solutions in these areas, with input from Nobel Laureate W. E. Moerner, Adam Smith (Nobel Outreach) as well as Paul Krabat and Barbara Pauly (both Human Frontier Science Program Organization).
Brief summaries for both sessions with more information on the participating researchers are linked above.