New Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity and Trust Debuts

Trust and Excellence in research is mandatory for proper results. With that in mind, the new Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity, and Trust has been created by National Academy of Sciences. –By Brian Hurlburt, Founder and Host, Magnifying Excellence Podcast.

The plan is to “convene stakeholders across the research enterprise to develop ways to promote high-quality research practices and to anticipate and address challenges to research ethics and integrity,” according to recent information.

The Strategic Council will serve as a venue where researchers, institutions, and policymakers can identify challenges to the integrity and health of the research enterprise — for example, conflicting and ineffective requirements, problematic incentive systems, and barriers to inclusion and equity — and work to develop policies and best practices for solving these challenges.

It appears that given what we have been living through, there is no better time to ensure that research is done properly and effectively for the greater good.

“A number of organizations focus on components of the research enterprise, but no entity currently exists to ensure that the various policies and procedures are not redundant, or worse, inconsistent,” said National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt. “Our new Strategic Council will provide a much-needed venue for multiple stakeholders to collectively advance the research enterprise across the sciences, engineering, and medicine while preparing it for future challenges.”

Strategic Council Members:

David Allison (NAM, Strategic Council co-chair), dean, distinguished professor, and provost professor, Indiana University, Bloomington

France Córdova (Strategic Council co-chair), president, Science Philanthropy Alliance

Marcia McNutt (NAS/NAE, Strategic Council ex officio member), president, National Academy of Sciences

Wayne Cascio, acting principal deputy assistant administrator for science, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Michael V. Drake (NAM), president, University of California system

Juan Enriquez, managing director, Excel Venture Management

Kathleen Hall Jamieson (NAS), director, Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, and professor, Annenberg School for Communication

Vidar Helgesen, executive director, Nobel Foundation

John Hennessy (NAS/NAE), director, Knight-Hennessy Scholars, Stanford University, and chair, Alphabet Inc.

Lyric Jorgenson, acting associate director for science policy and acting director, Office of Science Policy, National Institutes of Health

Veronique Kiermer, chief scientific officer, PLOS

Arthur “Skip” Lupia, assistant director, National Science Foundation (until Jan. 3, 2022); professor, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Martin Rees (NAS), professor, Trinity College, Cambridge University, and former president, Royal Society, U.K.

L. Rafael Reif (NAE), president, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief, Nature

Barbara Snyder, president, Association of American Universities

Susan Wolf (NAM), professor, University of Minnesota

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