GRADUATE

ACADEMY

How do you deal with setbacks in research?

4:50 p.m. | Online via ZOOM | Language: English

Talks and Panel Discussion with

• Kevin Machel, Editor-in-Chief Journal of Unsolved Questions - JUnQ e.V.
• Dr. Anne Maass, Group Leader Multimodal Neuroimaging at DZNE 
• Dr. Dmitri Bershadskyy, OVGU - Chair of Economic Policy

Failure is a tough word. It somehow implies that you did something wrong. But is that true? Of course, people fail again and again in everyday life: from a botched driver's license test to large projects that totally messed up. Not everyone likes to talk about it. Others really celebrate their failures: For example, there are so-called 'Fuck Up Nights` around the world, where people tell their very personal stories behind a failure. Now in 90 countries and more than 300 cities.

But is it really possible to fail in research? Of course, the answer here is yes. Not every idea can be implemented, not every experiment brings the expected result, not every theory withstands the practical test. But, we shouldn't be silent about it. We are not the only ones who can learn from failure. We also save others from investing a lot of time, energy and money in the future only for them to find out also that it doesn't work.

Failure is part of research! That is why we discussed with you about this important topic on March 1^st, 2022.

Interesting thoughts from the discussion:

• It is entirely possible to publish even "failed" experiments, it also depends on how you frame and present the results.
• One can also reach out to the professional community via preprints to spare others the same "dead ends".
• Brilliant new ideas or unexpected results sometimes emerge from seemingly failed attempts.
• Even if the risk of rejection may be higher: it is worth trying to publish, if only because of the often helpful reviews.

Please find the presentations below:

• Kevin Machel

• Dr. Anne Maaß: Fail beautifully or how to learn from “failure”

• Dr. Dmitri Bershadskyy: How some Subjects f*cked up my precious research

To reflect in more depth:

The VW Foundation is organizing a symposium week on "Failure Matters - Dimensions of "Failure" in Science" from December 12-14, 2022, at Herrenhausen Palace in Hannover, Germany. It invites applications for scientific symposia that elaborate on what it means to take risks and, if necessary, to fail. The focus can, for example, be on the researcher as an individual or on the respective scientific discipline. The question of the challenges of interdisciplinary research or cooperation with international partners could also be the subject of a symposium.

The Volkswagen Foundation plans to closely accompany the theme week and to enter into discussion with representatives of a wide range of disciplines in order to generate possible guidelines for the Foundation's funding activities. There will therefore be several overarching slots for exchange and networking, to which the participants of all symposia are invited.

Funding information

Radio Feature:

SWR 2 Wissen: "Failure" in Science - How a Taboo Impedes Research" (in German)