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Researchers must engage in ¡°scientific diplomacy¡± and prioritise international collaboration as they come under attack from politicians across the globe, a leading scientist has said.

Brian MacCraith, senior adviser to the president of Arizona State University, told the 51³Ô¹Ï?Europe Summit that the future of science and higher education itself was under threat. ?

¡°Clearly, this is a period of great turbulence that we¡¯re going to have to find a way of navigating ourselves through¡­But I think we would all be very foolish to believe that this is simply a US issue for science. It¡¯s not. This is part of a trend globally,¡± said MacCraith.

He said while it¡¯s ¡°not as bad¡± outside of the US, there was a wider growing distrust in science and governments, and that ¡°the whole role of science to societies is being threatened¡±.

MacCraith, who chaired Ireland¡¯s Covid-19 vaccination response, said that to combat this sentiment, ¡°international sciencecraft cooperation is critically important¡±, adding that the ¡°core pillars¡± of science diplomacy involve ¡°international collaboration and multilateral approaches to the challenges of our world¡±.

He said a key example of this ¡°multinational cooperation¡± included efforts?that saw 130 different countries collaborate to address the impact of holes in the ozone layer. This had been a major concern during the 1990s, he said, but added it was ¡°no longer a major issue¡±?because of the international collaboration to address it, highlighting the ¡°critical role¡± that the international research community played in addressing global challenges.?

But the political climate means that ¡°there¡¯s a danger, and there¡¯s plenty of evidence of this, that science is becoming involved and intertwined in partisan politics and populism¡±, as demonstrated through the growing distrust of government during the pandemic.

Consequently, ¡°the esteem and the respect for science in society has been diminished a lot, and the information environment out there is part of that as well¡±.?

¡°We believe it¡¯s critical to protect, and even enhance, international research collaboration, for the reasons that I¡¯ve outlined.¡±

MacCraith said that AUS had made European collaboration and engagement a ¡°priority¡± but added that this was not just ¡°a response to current events¡±.

Europe is attractive to international providers for a variety of reasons, he said, including ¡°the EU itself¡± and its large and diverse population, as well as its policy priorities and ¡°research opportunities¡±, including via the Horizon Europe funding programme.

¡°For a research-intensive university like ASU, the ability to collaborate and partner with the region of such quality is very attractive,¡± he said.?

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com