Conference Documentation “The Integrity of Science”, Edinburgh, 26-27 May 2023

The Integrity of Science

A conference about the conflict between public policy and independent science, in honour of Dr. Árpád Pusztai (1930 – 2021)

Documentation

Day 1: A memorial to Dr. Árpád Pusztai

Friday, 26 May 2023

Opening (ppt / video) Prof. P. Nicolopoulou-Stamati, Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Chair of ENSSER and Secretary of the Board of Mariolopoulos Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences
Difficult days in the Pathology Department: Exciting collaboration with A. Pusztai (ppt / video) Dr. Stanley Ewen, Histopathology Dept., University of Aberdeen, Scotland
My association with Dr. Árpád Pusztai – an honest scientist (ppt / video) Emeritus Prof. Vyvyan Howard, Professor of Bioimaging, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
Árpád Pusztai – Laureate of the German Whistleblower Prize (ppt / video), Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, Institute of Integrative Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
Reflections on the Pusztai affair (ppt / video) Andrew Rowell, author
Dr. Árpád Pusztai, the private person (video) Dr. Susan Bardócz, Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Debrecen, Hungary
Screening of the film “Árpád Pusztai, Whistleblower“ made by Bertram Verhaag (2009)

Day 2: Conference “The Integrity of Science”

Saturday, 27 May 2023

Panel 1: Basic processes and values in science: What is good science? When and how does it fail?

Science as a public good: open science and scientific integrity (ppt / video) Prof. Geoffrey Boulton, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
On Technology, Ignorance and Responsibility (ppt / video) Christine von Weizsäcker, Advisory Board of the Federation of German Scientists and Scientific Committee of the German Society on Human Ecology
The decline of theorization: a threat to the integrity of science (ppt / video) Dr. Marie Chollat-Namy, République des Savoirs, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, and Vice President of the Association des Amis de la Génération Thunberg
A damaging hidden divide in our scientific endeavour – The solution requires a shift towards a “con vivo” science (ppt / video) Dr. Ulrich Loening, Centre for Human Ecology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Panel 2: Scientific questions, findings and public policies: Denial, corruption, harassment and intimidation and links to public and corporate policies

Science Suspended at the Turn of Century: Collision of a Political Imperative against Evidence and Critical Enquiry (ppt / video) Dr. Ignacio Chapela, Professor, Dept. of Environmental Science, University of California Berkeley, USA
Geography of Asymmetries and Chemical Colonialism – A Brazilian Woman Geographer in Exile (ppt / video) Prof. Larissa Bombardi, Department of Geography, University of São Paulo, Brazil (on leave) and Visiting Researcher at CESSMA (Centre d’études en sciences sociales sur les mondes africains, américains et asiatiques), Programme PAUSE, Université de Paris, France
Towards a Taxonomy of Ways in Which Current Science Lacks Integrity (ppt / video) Dr. Irina Passos Natário de Castro, University of Coimbra, Portugal and Dr. Brian Wynne, Professor of Science Studies, Lancaster University, England
Panel Discussion

Panel 3: Promises, risks and regulation: Possible ways forward

Inappropriate use of regulatory risk assessment to demonstrate ‘safety’ – unstated, unrealistic assumptions (ppt / video) Emeritus Prof. Vyvyan Howard, Professor of Bioimaging, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
Deceptive science – Manipulated methods and trimmed information in biosafety of GM crops. Reflections on two cases from Latin America (video) Dr. Georgina Catacora – Vargas, Bolivian Catholic University San Pablo, La Paz, Bolivia
Panel discussion

Final discussion, Diederick Sprangers MSc, Scientific Coordinator of ENSSER

Closing. Prof. P. Nicolopoulou-Stamati, Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Chair of ENSSER and Secretary of the Board of Mariolopoulos Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences

The full playlist is available on youtube here.

Abstracts of the presentations may be viewed here.

The conference took place at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (UK), 26 – 27 May 2023.

Abstracts of the lectures can be found at https://ensser.org/events/events_2023/abstracts-the-integrity-of-science/

The invitation to the conference as well as the final programme can be found at https://ensser.org/events/events_2023/final-programme-the-integrity-of-science/

Organised by

European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER)

Mariolopoulos Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences

Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS)

Association des Amis de la Génération Thunberg

Funded by

Triodos Foundation