Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | Drying Technology |
Volume | 41 |
Issue | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 812-816 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISSN | 0737-3937 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Keywords
- challenges
- future
- Researcher
- science
- scientific research
- scientist
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In: Drying Technology, Vol. 41, No. 6, 2023, p. 812-816.
Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Editorial › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Where is science heading? The main challenges before today’s scientists?
AU - Ramakrishna, Seeram
AU - Li, Fanghua
AU - Kijeńska-Gawrońska, Ewa
AU - Agarwala, Shweta
N1 - Funding Information: A retrospective view of science is necessary to answer this question. Accordingly, is prepared based on broad and reasonable assumptions. Period from 1800 to 2000 is assigned to “modern science,” and before 1800 is considered as the period of “ancient science.” The science enterprise of the twenty first Century is far larger than that in the earlier periods. Millions of researchers are now pursuing science as opposed to thousands and hundreds of researchers in the earlier periods of science. Research is now being done in more countries around the world than in the past. Far more areas are researched now and have wider diversity than the areas pursued in ancient times. Interactions among the researchers is now worldwide as opposed to limited geography in the past. The Advent of Internet and numerous digital technologies in recent years facilitate instant dissemination of science compared to slow and time-consuming dissemination in the earlier periods. The twenty first Century is witnessing exponential growth of journals, journal papers, conference papers, books, patents, and other forms of reporting supported by globally spanning publishers, web platforms, and databases. In-depth science is pursed by researchers in niche areas, narrow domains and monodisciplinary topics. Anecdotal and historical accounts of science suggest that in earlier times, researchers pursued science more as a hobby at their own pace with support and encouragement from patrons and communities. The twenty first Century science is funded by the governments, largely from the tax payer’s money in addition to corporates, industries, and private foundations. Reasons for government’s involvement include self-reliance, security, strengthening skills and capabilities, competitive advantage, and new economic growth and jobs creation. Another key difference that stands out is the intrinsic motivation of researchers in solving a problem in the past vs. the extrinsic motivational factors that are now required. Hence, increasingly science is professionally managed to ensure accountability and transparency, and to generate returns on investments. Researchers are now hustled to quickly produce tangible outcomes. [ ] [ ] Funding Information: An overarching statement “research talents are everywhere but opportunities are not!” captures the challenges of today’s scientists. A major challenge is access to funding and resources. Since scientific research typically requires expensive equipment, manpower, and significant financial investment, scientists need to compete for funding support from the government, corporations, and foundations to conduct their research. This leads to inequality in scientific research, where some fields and researchers may have an easier time obtaining funding and resources, while other fields and researchers may lack this support, making it difficult to conduct meaningful research. In addition, scientists also face pressure from corporations with deep pockets and powerful allies to ring fence their research results for narrow interests rather than advancing scientific knowledge. Compliant scientists overly serve the interests of industry. This may limit or distort the research, and result in lack of necessary academic freedom.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
KW - challenges
KW - future
KW - Researcher
KW - science
KW - scientific research
KW - scientist
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85154618661&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07373937.2023.2205799
DO - 10.1080/07373937.2023.2205799
M3 - Editorial
AN - SCOPUS:85154618661
SN - 0737-3937
VL - 41
SP - 812
EP - 816
JO - Drying Technology
JF - Drying Technology
IS - 6
ER -