Blog post
Increasing global scientific cooperation is fundamental to the mission of the International Science Reserve. Effective collaboration will have a positive impact on how we solve global challenges.
Published on December 23, 2024
By Mila Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Executive Director, International Scientific Reserve
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global human catastrophe. But the damage caused could have been even worse if the spread of the virus had not been countered by vaccines, diagnostics and treatments, all developed at breakneck speed by the medical and bioscientific community. In this success story, those involved in the response tend to highlight an essential but often publicly overlooked ingredient: global scientific cooperation.
Could we achieve this level of international collaboration again? There are many reasons to worry when we might not.
First, in recent years we have seen intensifying economic and political competition between the United States and an increasingly assertive China. This rivalry is not only played out at the level of customs tariffs, but also in increased security restrictions on commercial exchanges of technologies and scientific collaboration.
A article by Keisuke Okamura last year at Quantitative scientific studiesthe official journal of the international association of researchers who study the metrics of science, analyzed the impact of these tensions on scientific collaboration. Using data from published papers, Okamura found that the United States and China, after growing rapidly closer for decades, had drifted further apart since 2019.
Compounding this seismic shift in global relations will be the potential impact of the new administration and its protectionist “America First” approach to supply chains, international climate standards and climate cooperation. public health. This potentially threatens our collective ability to respond to new and unexpected crises, as well as those we know all too well. A recent Rand Corporation assessment of Risk of global catastrophe found higher risk levels for hazards related to sudden and severe changes in Earth’s climate, nuclear war, artificial intelligence, and pandemics of natural origin or synthetic biology.
International scientific collaboration is on the rise
Whether it is climate change, the need to establish ethical standards for AI, geoengineering or gene editing, all of these challenges are based on science and can only be addressed by global collaboration. Encouragingly, Okamura’s article shows that the dominant trend toward international scientific cooperation over the past 50 years has been positive, with scientists from many institutions and countries in multiple scientific disciplines regularly working together.
It is crucial for the future of science that we develop new ways to be proactive and operate cohesively to promote solutions, security, and stability across borders, even if formal interstate relations become more difficult. At International scientific reserve (ISR) to The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy), we have fostered avenues of scientific cooperation, building a community that, I believe, can help function as a common protection against the threat posed by the scientific isolationist model.
Tens of thousands of scientists from more than 100 countries have registered to the ISR network to be ready to work together in response to future cross-border crises. We help train and prepare scientists and experts on how to manage disasters, crises and instability, as well as identify and access additional resources when needed.
Apocalyptic scenarios
Since it is our duty to think about apocalyptic scenarios, let’s talk about one.
Another pandemic hits. Policy, whether institutional or governmental, has prevented researchers and health professionals from different countries from talking, collaborating and sharing data. Such a lack of collaboration makes it increasingly difficult for us to understand why some regions of the world are hit harder than others, because we lack the data to understand why. Meanwhile, scientists in other regions have the answer, but they don’t share it. Lives are lost, economies are destroyed and we are all less safe. This is obviously a scary scenario.
ISR was developed with the express purpose of circumventing barriers to collaboration. We help researchers communicate with each other to build trust and share ideas through our digital hub. We develop games and scenarios to help them better prepare for decision-making in their own context in the event of a crisis.
Personalized digital games
This year, for example, we partnered with Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation Center (CAPTRS) to create personalized digital games to test how policymakers make decisions based on evolving scientific information during a crisis. We run scenarios on different types of crises – from extreme heat, mega wildfires and floods to crop failures and outbreaks of new pathogens – and we have explored and expanded access to modeling tools and analysis of the data that researchers need to answer them. We also celebrate the work of ISR Network members and value the stories of those who directly understand the role of science in responding to global crises and help the public better understand why this matters.
In our hypothetical scenario, ISRs are one of the spaces where scientists communicate, support each other and share knowledge. They can then bring this research and information back into their local context to strengthen their response. Of course, this scenario is hypothetical, high-level and perhaps idealistic. But right now we need a clear vision to work together across borders to reduce harm and save lives.
We cannot predict what will happen next. Science cannot tell us what the day-to-day decisions of world leaders will be. But what we do know is that global problems can only be effectively solved through sustained scientific collaboration. To achieve this, we must look outward, not just inward.
Do you want to be part of this impactful network of scientists? Join ISR today
Author
Mila Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Executive Director, International Scientific Reserve
Mila Rosenthal has more than 20 years of international experience as a leader, communicator and educator on economic, social, climate and environmental issues. Most recently, as Director of Communications and Advocacy for the United Nations Development Program, she led global public policy advocacy in 170 countries for the United Nations’ largest anti-poverty agency. , inequality and climate change. She currently also teaches at Columbia University as an assistant professor of human rights and is co-founder of Planet Reimagined, a nonprofit climate impact startup.