Stay away from politics if you want to be trusted, scientists told

Times

6 days ago

Scientists who 'take off their lab coats' to become political activists should not expect the public to retain faith in their impartiality when they put them back on to continue their work, academics have warned.
Many researchers want their work to change the world for the better, but should be careful when using their findings to support or call for particular political policies, as this could damage trust in their neutrality, experts have said.
Jim Naismith, a professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford, speaking in a personal capacity, said: 'There's a role for scientists as political advocates, and I respect that, but once you take your lab coat off and argue for a political objective, you enter an arena that's played by political rules and I don't think in today's world you can then put the lab coat back on and say, 'I'm neutral and above the political fray.''
Naismith said that science can show beyond reasonable doubt that carbon dioxide pumped out by humans is driving climate change with serious effects, but it cannot prove which political party or policies offer the best solutions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he said that the science was clear on the risks of the virus, but could not say for certain whether lockdowns or facemasks were the answer.
Several academics have said that scientists should also embrace a diversity of views among colleagues and should not look down on those who may hold a different view on Brexit or who may have religious beliefs.
Ella Al-Shamahi, the presenter of the BBC's science series Human, told The Sunday Times: 'We do have to be a little bit honest and say that, to many, it seems like left-leaning atheists have a monopoly on science', counting herself among them.
Fiona Fox is a fellow of the Royal Society and chief of the Science Media Centre. She said: 'As a politician you have an idea, and you fight for that idea and it's ideological and that's fine. The distinct contribution that science makes is to say: 'Ideas and ideology are all well and good, but let's set up rigorous experiments to test these ideas and see if they stack up.'
'But more people [in science] are saying to me: 'That's kind of not good enough, you've got to be political these days.''
Fox said that many young scientists today 'came into science to improve the world' and feel they have to 'take a stand' on political issues, adding: 'I fully understand and respect [that] but I am concerned that they risk undermining public trust, which is so high because scientists are seen as subject experts who are above politics.'
Joseph Conlon, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Oxford, said that he was 'defriended' on social media by some peers after going public with his support for Brexit and for being 'openly right of centre' and feared it would affect his funding. He added that some scientists were willing to say privately: 'Yes, I support Brexit as well but wouldn't dare say it publicly because of the risk to my career.'
'Science works on people being willing to have ideas that are slightly crazy and … new and different from everyone else,' he said, adding that science must not be 'based around orthodoxy and the idea that everyone has to think a certain way'.
John-Arne Rottingen, the chief executive of the Wellcome Trust, wrote on LinkedIn on Friday: 'Science tends to be done by people with social backgrounds, demographic characteristics and values that make them more likely to have left-leaning, liberal or progressive political and social views.'
Rottingen said that if scientists are 'seen to lean left or liberal' then it is 'not surprising that people who are not left-wing or liberal may become suspicious of science. Not because they have evaluated the quality of our evidence and found it wanting, but because they associate us with a political world view they reject.'
Stephen John, a lecturer in the philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge, said that controversies tended to arise more in scientific fields related to human behaviour such as evolutionary psychology because these are 'typically sciences felt to have political or social implications'.
He also warned about 'trespassing', where experts in one field stray outside their area of expertise to 'make claims' about other issues they are not so well qualified to speak about.
Dr Gavin Merrifield, of the Christians in Science group, said that many scientists have a religious faith but have to counter the misconception that 'science is perceived as only for atheists', warning that many feel they are 'not able to be open about their beliefs' around colleagues.
Professor John Womersley, an adviser at the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, said that 'we as an academic community [must not be] doing things that exacerbate the potential for mistrust or distrust of the academic enterprise'.