Science: To Be Determined

Session

Keynote

3 Mar 2026, 09:00

iDiv

21. Keynote: The Transdisciplinary Movement for a 'better' Science: Navigating the Internal & External Realities of Communities Advocating for (Open) Science Reform (preliminary)

Dr Sheena F. Bartscherer (Humboldt University of Berlin)

03/03/2026, 09:00

In my talk I will discuss the Open Science movement and its concerted efforts to reform science from the ground up, highlighting its discourse culture, forms of organising, and the implications of their proposed reforms. My own sociological research on the transdisciplinary community forming around replications will be one focus of the talk, delineating potential advantages and pitfalls of...

18. Keynote: From crisis to resolution using preregistration, multiverse analysis and DAGs

Dr Wolfgang Forstmeier (Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence)

03/03/2026, 14:00

My presentation will cover the main causes that have led to a reliability crisis in science, as well as the most-promising solutions towards overcoming the crisis. I will emphasize the utility of p-values in hypothesis testing, and the necessity to control for pseudo-replication and overdispersion in the data. Further, I will explain the problem of multiple hypothesis testing combined with...

17. Keynote: Making impact in an age of metrics

Prof. Alice Hughes (The University of Melbourne)

04/03/2026, 09:00

In recent decades science has increasingly demanded scientists write more, be cited more, and produce more. This creates a quandary, scientists, entering the profession either in order to “make a difference’ or driven by curiosity are focused on a narrow track of writing papers. Furthermore, we have entered an age of distrust, where a scientist dedicating a lifetime to their topic can be...

19. Keynote: The Hidden Architecture of Waste in Research: A Tour Through Biomedicine (and Potential Consequences for Your Field)

Prof. Ulrich Dirnagl (Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin)

04/03/2026, 14:00

Biomedical research is celebrated as a driver of innovation and patient benefit — yet much of what we produce is unreliable, unpublished, or irrelevant. Preclinical work still struggles with basic internal validity: missing blinding and randomization, small samples, flexible analyses, and a storytelling culture that turns exploratory findings into “discoveries.” Publication bias remains so...

16. Keynote: Communicating Science in Polarized, Algorithmically Curated Information Environments

Prof. Dietram Scheufele (Morgridge Institute for Research / University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center)

04/03/2026, 16:00

Public trust in science is fracturing along partisan lines—a gap that has widened dramatically over the past two decades. This polarization is not simply a misinformation problem to be solved by better fact-checking. Algorithmically curated platforms sort audiences by ideology, reinforce existing beliefs, and undermine shared deliberation. Drawing on recent research, this talk examines why...