Young scientists are increasingly opting for careers in industry and are increasingly abandoning scientific research institutions. This is because funding agencies and employers are steering on the wrong indicators, and that needs to change, UMC Utrecht immunology professor Femke van Wijk argued in her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 12. She called on colleagues to remain aware of the goals and values that unite scientific researchers.

In her lecture, Femke van Wijk - who has also been appointed as manager research at the Division Children at UMC Utrecht since September 1, 2022 - came up with specific examples. Van Wijk: "There's a system rigged by grants and employers that revolves around rules and performance indicators. Time sheets, interim reports, mandatory meetings, percentage of open access publications, and auditor's reports. In my view, it is a fallacy to think that steering by such rules leads to scientific breakthroughs. In the near future, it leads to researchers getting bogged down and causes talented researchers to choose positions elsewhere." She emphasizes that this phenomenon is already a reality in the USA. "Many scientists over there are looking for and finding more attractive alternatives, for example a position in industry."

Warning

In her inaugural lecture, Femke van Wijk draws a parallel between resetting the immune system in chronic inflammatory diseases and resetting science. "The immune system is a well-organized network of, among others, different T cells with specific tasks with the goal of protecting the body from unwanted invaders. T cells depend on communication through secreted signaling molecules and mutual contact. Scientists are also a well-organized network that benefits from optimal communication and sharing new insights.

Prof. Femke van Wijk

However, both the immune system and the scientific process show flaws. When Femke compares the behavior of many scientific researchers to the behavior of an animal species, she ends up with the ants. "For the colony to function, ants depend on communication through secreted signaling substances and mutual contact. This enables them to function as one large organism. But when something goes thoroughly wrong, a group of ants can end up in what is known as a ‘death spiral’.

The picture that Femke paints of this "death spiral" is ominous: "Due to an external trigger that disrupts pheromone communication, the ants then follow each other into a circle that is very difficult to break. And ants keep adding to it. In the end, the ants die of exhaustion." According to Femke van Wijk, there is a risk in this: "Researchers follow a trail of grants, papers and credits and obediently circle the system. Until the system becomes exhausted. A tragic risk of a carefully self-organizing system."

Different course

"I realize that a call for change is met with resistance. The fear of losing property or achievements is entirely justified. However, as scientists, we are connected by our curiosity, as well as by the contributions we want to make to science and society. Values that belong to this are creativity, freedom, transparency, and synergy. Does the current system match these?" According to Femke van Wijk, researchers are now losing freedom and creativity because of performance pressure and steering on the wrong indicators. "And because we are judged as individual scientists, we mainly try to distinguish ourselves from other scientists."

Solutions

To arrive at a solution, Femke van Wijk again likes to take an example from the behavior of ants. "Ant colonies function as one organism and defend their colony. But this does not mean that they see other colonies as competitors. No, they form super colonies where many colonies underground are connected and work together," she says. "It takes precision, courage and synergy to do what ants do so successfully. Let's really think hard about how to take the flaws out of our system, let's really take steps to start managing on other indicators, and above all, let's start working together more, with our own scientific goals and values at the forefront, so that we strengthen each other above all in the years to come."