Breaking Barriers in Science

Science should be an endeavour primarily driven by curiosity, yet inequity and exclusion pose strong limitations for many researchers. At the 74^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Chemistry, we explored challenges faced by early-career researchers and identified concrete institutional actions to advance equity, inclusion, and wellness in academia. The following sections highlight key areas in which targeted efforts will improve well-being and career progression.

Supervisor Training and Leadership

Supervisors typically display a strong scientific background but have experienced little to no training in leadership. Effective supervision demands awareness, empathy, and mentoring skills. The absence of these can have strong adverse effects on students’ progress, their mental health and drive them away from academia. We therefore advocate compulsory training for people in supervising and teaching positions in the following:

• Implicit bias
• LGBTQ+ awareness
• Mental health literacy
• Mentoring and supervision

Parental Equity and Support

Parental responsibilities, particularly maternity, have a strong impact on careers in science, contributing to severe gender disparities. Exposure to hazardous chemicals prevents young mothers from laboratory work for extended periods, creating career gaps and a significant disadvantage when applying for positions or funding. To promote equitable opportunities, we propose:

• Protection rather than exclusion from potentially harmful laboratory work during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• Monitoring hiring practices to prevent discrimination
• Extension of postdoctoral contracts to cover parental leave
• Financial support for childcare and conference participation
• Recognition of parental leave as career gaps in applications
• Promotion of paternity leave

LGBTQ+ Inclusivity

Acceptance of LGBTQ+ scientists strongly depends on the respective country and culture. LGBTQ+ students often report higher levels of stress and greater discrimination, and are more likely to leave academia than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. To improve inclusivity, we recommend:

• Exclusion of questions related to gender from applications
• LGBTQ+ awareness training for supervisors, students, and staff
• Institutional declarations of support and mental health provisions for the LGBTQ+ community
• Travel grants for underrepresented groups
• Recognition of career gaps for gender-affirming care
• Inclusive facilities, e.g. gender-neutral restrooms

Mental Health

The rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout in academia generally exceed those of the general population. Mental and physical distress in academia have been normalised to the degree that they are often accepted as part of academic life. To combat this mental health crisis, key actions should include:

• Recognition of mental health leave as sick leave
• Training of supervisors in mental health awareness
• Education of students on access to support services
• Reporting mechanisms for peer concerns
• Swift institutional responses to reports
• Identification of systemic drivers of academic mental health crises

Harassment and Bullying

Bullying and harassment are widespread in academia, yet often underreported due to fear of retaliation. Even when cases are reported, action is rare, which allows abuse to persist, damages mental health, and undermines career progression. To address this, we propose:

• De-normalisation of bullying culture and empowerment to report misconduct
• Identification and challenging of systemic patterns of abuse
• Independent ombudspersons for confidential mediation and annual check-ins
• Anonymous feedback channels for students
• Provision of accessible support services for affected individuals
• Enforcement of clear accountability measures and sanctions for perpetrators

Building an inclusive, supportive, and equitable scientific environment requires sustained effort and institutional commitment. Starting from personal testimonies at the Lindau Meeting, we have collaborated with researchers in psychology to design a survey aimed at assessing the universality of these issues and the effectiveness of our proposed solutions. The findings are intended to contribute to peer-reviewed research and will raise awareness, support advocacy, and drive evidence-based policy change.

 Scientific migration largely flows from the Global South to established centres in the US, UK, Germany, and France, drawn by stronger funding and career opportunities. This often leads to brain drain, while local systems struggle to retain researchers. However, recent political shifts highlight the risks of overreliance on a few ‘supercentres’. Building multiple regional hubs is crucial for long-term scientific resilience. Programs like the EU–CELAC Common Research Area, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and Germany’s International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) show how structured mobility can expand opportunities. By offering financial support, career pathways, and integration into host economies, IMPRS demonstrates how talent circulation can strengthen both sending and receiving systems.

Scientific Mobility for Better Opportunities

Many young scientists return to or stay in their home countries due to attachment, mobility barriers, and/or strong desires to drive change at home despite great economic and political constraints. Relying on migration towards scientific havens risks isolation, saturation of scientific positions, as well as future difficulties by concentrating on these current havens, whose privileged situation can change in the future. To build truly resilient and equitable science we must support researchers worldwide.

For this, we propose the following strategies:

• International grants linking well-funded with under-funded labs, with a specific focus on mentorship
• Creation and expedition of scientific visas and short mobility fellowships
• Mentorship networks and virtual visiting professorships, g. WISC, Destination STEMM, Project SEED
• Open-access publishing funds and supporting regional journals

Worldwide Scientific Collaboration    

To face political and societal crises that threaten science, worldwide scientific collaborations are essential. Several organisations work to strengthen collaborations, however, the challenges remain. To promote interdisciplinary and multinational efforts, certain key factors must be prioritised:

• Partnership and training
• Infrastructure and governance, including shared facilities, reliable data repositories, and ethically regulated frameworks
• Funding enabling collaborations, infrastructure, and mobility

Together, these key factors ensure collaborations remain sustainable, reproducible, and locally beneficial.

Fostering the Friendship between Industry and Academia    

One of the most powerful components of the scientific ecosystem is collaboration between academia and industry. As we have seen with the Bayh-Dole Act in the US, the Fraunhofer model in Germany, and Catapult centres in the UK, when knowledge generated by academia is combined with the scalability and application power of industry, scientific discoveries can quickly translate into societal solutions.

However, in many countries, these two fields remain two separate islands. Differing incentive systems, a lack of shared infrastructure, and uncertainties surrounding intellectual property prevent scientists from fully realising this potential. As early-career scientists, we propose concrete steps to overcome these barriers:

• Joint research centres and testbed infrastructures
• Expansion of industrial doctoral and postdoctoral programmes
• Transparent and expediting intellectual property processes
• Public-private co-financing models
• Encouragement of researcher mobility, fostering exchange between scientists and industry professionals

These steps are no one-time solutions, but the foundations of a lasting culture of collaboration. When we combine the creativity of academia with the practical power of industry, not only will new technologies emerge; they could also be accessible to all segments of society.

We seek to build the scientific world of the future not only in laboratories, but in a culture centred around collaboration. When we foster the borderless nature of science across sectors, we can solve today’s problems more effectively and lead towards a hopeful world for future generations.

When entering graduate programs in academia, success is spoken about in broad terms of transaction and public notoriety, including the following: publications in high-impact journals, switching academic institutions and countries (especially notable institutions), gaining individual fellowships and funding, presenting at international conferences and teaching. However, many more skills are required to succeed which are often left unspoken but that are just as essential as the formal curriculum.

Success in academia requires a strong professional network, which are of hidden importance. A good reputation must be maintained to allow for collaborations, funding opportunities, and long-term success. Attending conferences is essential to build a community within science, to identify collaborators, and to continue fostering connected networks with social platforms like LinkedIn. Mentorship is crucial; providing scientific guidance and feedback to support career developments including grant proposals, offering mock interviews, professional visibility, and sharing insights into the career landscape. In academia, employment usually translates into securing individually funded fellowships with the expectation of moving cities or even continents and/or disciplines to further personal career prospects.

Beyond research, success in academia depends on preparing a strong application profile and, once in a research position, developing management skills to handle budgets, teams, and students. Training in managing a research group includes securing the budget to sustain the laboratory, effective scheduling, grant writing, coordinating with colleagues, and handling administrative tasks. The goal should be building a rewarding laboratory culture through creating an environment fostering motivation, fairness, and positive relationships by encouraging problem-solving and open communication. Additionally, external factors such as career breaks and the dual-body problems for positions for couples, are heavily forgotten about in the diverse science and technology world. Job security in such fields is turbulent and manifests itself in corporate ladders and tenure tracks. Each of these effects takes away the focus of the advancement of science.

In order to help build a career in science, we suggest the following tangible solutions to train scientists and tackle the challenges of the job market:

• Virtual workshops on career development, entrepreneurship, and networking, which are accessible despite financial and geographic barriers
• Programmes regarding mentorship and teaching
• Requirement and funding for graduate schools/universities for doctoral candidates to attend at least one international conference
• Programmes supported by government entities encouraging partnerships and mobility across borders

It became imminently clear that there was a strong demand for the discussion of these issues amongst the Young Scientists at the Lindau meeting. Since we believe that the identified challenges concern academia in general and require communal action independent of disciplines, the Strategy Group from the working group Breaking Barriers in Science has proposed establishing a Young Scientist Panel at the forthcoming Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, starting with the 75^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (interdisciplinary) in 2026. This new format will create a dedicated framework for Young Scientists to discuss systemic challenges in academia, share their perspectives, and develop strategies and initiatives for change.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings are renowned for their vibrant mix of formats: Agora Talks encourage intergenerational dialogue between Laureates and Young Scientists, Science Walks open up space for personal conversation, and Workshops allow for deep dives into specific scientific topics. The Young Scientist Panel paired with a workshop would complement these formats by offering a structured platform where Young Scientists themselves take centre stage in addressing academic issues that transcend disciplines.

The proposed panel will bring together representatives from different career stages – a student, a PhD candidate, a postdoctoral researcher, an early career scientist, and a Nobel Laureate, and will be moderated by a Lindau alumnus or alumna from the previous year. This continuity ensures that concerns raised in one year are carried forward to the next generation, making the discussions truly interlinked across time. Each panel will therefore build on the outcomes of the previous year, ensuring that valuable perspectives are not lost but rather expanded upon.

The format is envisioned as a one-hour session, with 45 minutes of moderated discussion followed by 15 minutes of questions from the audience. Importantly, the panel will not be a standalone event. Its outcomes will directly feed into the workshop Science without Borders, which was first held as an impromptu gathering at the 74^th meeting and proved instrumental in fostering focus groups for follow-up actions. Holding this workshop after the panel will allow participants to develop concrete ideas, networks, and initiatives based on the discussions.

To strengthen the long-term impact, the outcomes of the Young Scientist Panel will be documented and published both in the Lindau Annual Report and on the Lindau website. This documentation will serve as a reference point for future meetings and a resource for the wider Lindau community. In parallel, the working group is developing a monitoring method to track recurring concerns voiced by Young Scientists across different meetings. Identifying trends and shifts over the years will provide valuable insights into how the global scientific community evolves and where systemic barriers remain.

By creating space for continuity, diverse perspectives, and sustained dialogue, the Young Scientist Panel has the potential to become a cornerstone of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. It will empower Young Scientists to collectively voice their concerns, grow from peer exchange, and work together with Laureates to identify pathways for a more inclusive, resilient, and equitable scientific community.