Our aim is to explore what drives both individuals and societies to pursue fundamental research. We hope to reflect on why researchers choose this path, what expectations shape their engagement with inquiry, and how experiences of understanding, imagination, discovery, or uncertainty influence the scientific journey. At the same time, we wish to consider why societies invest in fundamental research, what hopes and values underpin this investment, and how individual and societal motivations overlap, complement, or sometimes contradict one another. We will also consider how those doing fundamental science can positively interact with society and organisations to communicate the value of this kind of research.
Website: https://brcp2026.sciencesconf.org/
Prof. Maximilian Fochler (University of Vienna)
"Between purpose and constraint. How individual researchers and research communities orient their knowledge production"
Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss how researchers and communities make decisions in how they produce knowledge. Drawing on fieldwork and examples from the life sciences, in particular the crop and soil sciences, I will address the tensions that arise between the values and purposes driving researchers on the one hand and the many institutional boundary conditions constraining them on the other hand. In doing so, my thesis is that rather than fostering freedom to orient research work along specific purposes (such as producing knowledge of environmental relevance), many institutional structures of current science push researchers into situations that are experienced as alienating rather than purposeful. Hyper-competition for academic positions, narrowly focused researcher evaluations, the constant pressure to be innovative or hype and bandwagon dynamics are some examples I will touch upon. As a positive outlook, I will present examples of how collective orientation work can help to counterbalance some of these dynamics.
Dr. Milena Ivanova (University of Cambridge)
"Why aesthetics matters for scientific work?"
Abstract: Finding beauty in nature, discovering hidden relations, patterns and symmetries, expressing physical principles in elegant mathematical manner are all motivations expressed by scientists over the centuries. What precisely drives scientists to pursue such aesthetic goals in their research and how does the search for beauty inform the questions scientists ask, the ideas they entertain and the products they create? In this talk we explore the diverse contexts within which scientists exercise their aesthetic judgements, the rich aesthetic experiences science offers and ask what role these aesthetic aspects of science play in the pursuit of knowledge.
More invited speakers TBA.
Prof. Leon Loveridge (University of South-Eastern Norway, BRCP Member)
"The value of fundamental research"
Abstract: TBA