The Collaboration Conundrum: Special Interests and Scientific Research
Industry currently funds the majority of research and development in the United States. But historical scandals involving industry-funded research, together with empirical evidence of correlations in some areas of science between industry funding and research results that favor industry have undermined trust in industry-funded science. Given that so much research funding comes from industry, it would be unrealistic and wasteful to dismiss this research across the board as unreliable and unconcerned with the public good. What to do?
Government reports and scholarly publications extol the value of public participation in scientific research, and a number of funding agencies are now encouraging initiatives such as community-based participatory research (CBPR). Could the participation of citizen groups in industry-funded research also increase the relevance, reliability, and acceptability of industry research? The Collaboration Conundrum Conference brings together industry representatives and experts on important policy issues such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), pollution and toxic chemicals, biomedical research, agricultural practices, and animal welfare to answer questions about how to bring the public and industry to do research for the public good.
For more information, including a schedule of events, please visit reilly.nd.edu/c3.
Sponsored by the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.