Scientists Believe Public Needs To Know About What Their Research Means For Society

Nine in ten scientists believe that the public needs to know about the social and ethical implications of scientific research, according to a new study from biomedical research charity the Wellcome Trust.

The study was conducted for the Wellcome Trust by MORI, who asked more than 1,600 scientists from across Great Britain about their attitudes to dialogue with the non-specialist public, making the study perhaps the most authoritative research of its kind undertaken in this country.

Entitled The Role Of Scientists In Public Debate, the study found that 69 per cent of the scientists believe that the main responsibility for engaging the public in debate about the social and ethical impact of scientific research lay with scientists themselves. But they also felt that science-funders, Specialist Science communicators, the government and journalists have a role to play.

In the year preceding the study, more than half of the scientists had participated in at least one activity designed to communicate their research to the non-specialist public. Those who had received communication training were more likely to communicate with the public than those who hadn't.

Almost six in ten of the scientists want to spend more time on public dialogue activities.

Wellcome Trust Director Mike Dexter said: "This research explodes the stereotype of the secretive and aloof scientist. Scientists are people with families, too, and they clearly want science to move forward in a socially responsible way."

However, the study also found that more than a third of the scientists feel ill-equipped to discuss the social and ethical implications of their research with ordinary people^*. Only 16 per cent of respondents had received communications training and even fewer had been trained in dealing with the media.

To improve public dialogue, the scientists said they need three things in particular:

• Encouragement and incentives from institutions/funders to spend time communicating
• Training in dealing with the media
• Financial support from their institution for communication activities

Dr Dexter said: "In the light of recent genuine public concern over issues like GM foods and research using embryos, the challenge facing all of us in the scientific community is to translate the willingness of scientists to communicate into effective public dialogue, which must be a two-way conversation. Science organisations must become communicating organisations, which means providing scientists with encouragement, training and incentives to engage more regularly and effectively with the non-specialist public. The next generation of scientists will need to be able, as well as willing, communicators."

"As scientific discoveries like the human genome sequence promise revolutionary medical advances, the scientific community must be equally revolutionary in the way it achieves public support. Public consultation, for example, should be at the heart of the research process in the future, informing it from the very start, rather than just as an afterthought."

The Wellcome Trust has recently made public engagement one of four main priorities in its new corporate plan, which sets out the charity's strategy for investing 1633 billion in scientific research over five years. The Trust is currently looking at improving its communication training for the researchers it funds and is extending public engagement activities with key partners such as education providers, media bodies, health professionals and opinion-formers.

The study follows the influential 'Science and Society' report published by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science & Technology a year ago.

Lord Winston, who chairs the House of Lords Science Select Committee, said: "The welfare of our society increasingly depends on understanding science. Scientific knowledge must be carefully and properly exploited and the public must feel confident in what scientists are trying to do on their behalf. Consequently, all sections of society should have the chance to understand and engage with it. This research shows that, to make such public dialogue a reality, scientists need more support such as training in dealing with the media."

The study also found that many scientists are worried about becoming a target of animal rights extremists. Of those scientists whose research team holds a licence to conduct animal research, almost three in ten highlighted the risk they may face from extremist groups as a barrier to science communication.

Dr Dexter said: "Our research shows that most scientists are hungry for open debate and we also know that the general public are excited by science. But if some scientists are rightly wary of communicating because of a very tiny minority of extremists, it is the vast majority of ordinary people who suffer and the false stereotype of the 'secretive scientist' is reinforced. It's a vicious circle."

^* This result is based on all excluding those who would not present, those who say their work does not carry social and ethical implications and those at Research Council funded establishments.

Technical details

The Wellcome Trust is an independent biomedical research charity which aims to promote human and animal health.

The Role of Scientists in Public Debate

MORI (Market & Opinion Research International) interviewed 1,652 scientists from 41 higher education institutes and 42 research council funded establishments from 13 December 1999 to 24 March 2000. The study was commissioned and funded by The Wellcome Trust. An additional funding contribution was made by The Office of Science and Technology.