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The progress that scientists have made in understanding SARS-CoV-2 over the last few months has been outstanding, however I think the pandemic has also highlighted some less attractive parts of academia and I wanted to highlight some of these in this thread.
Large collaborations and consortiums have been set up to study this novel virus. While collaboration is generally great and helps us move science forward much quicker, there are some serious downsides that need to be considered.
More junior scientists who work tirelessly on these projects often fail to get any scientific recognition for their work, except for being named as part of the consortium on any publications.
Unfortunately scientists require first-author publications in order to successfully apply for funding and hence to have a successful scientific career. The academic system is therefore designed to reward more isolationist research and slower scientific discovery.
My experience during this pandemic has unfortunately made me more sceptical of getting involved in collaborative work and I know many others feel the same. Collaborations tend to reward the most senior organisers at their heads, but not the scientists down on the ground.
I hope the academic system will find a way to adapt, so that future scientists are rewarded for focussing on scientific progress as a whole, rather than individual achievement.
After all, aren't we all scientists to further knowledge and hopefully make the world a better place?
