Featured

9 results
  • Fair partnerships are mutually beneficial

    We are still far from complete fairness in research partnerships between the global North and South. The North also dictates research on inclusive global development. Peter Taylor and Irene Agyepong, pioneers in this field, aim to break old patterns.

  • Making genuine progress in North-South collaboration

    Even in a conflict area, academic collaboration can flourish. Thea Hilhorst, professor at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, supervised PhD students in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and together with Congolese researchers, established an independent research institute. An interview with Hilhorst and the Congolese research leader Rose Bashwira about research potential and international resistance.

  • Can ethics codes help prevent ethics dumping?

    Scientific output is dominated by a small number of countries. This dominance can lead to unfair practices, like “ethics dumping”. But a new generation of research leaders is fueling change by introducing powerful ethics codes. A double interview with Europeans Doris Schröder and Sandra Alba who have both worked on new, innovative ethics guidelines.

  • Data collection as a form of resistance

    “Data is gold, and we are the gold diggers”, is the title that Gauthier Marchais gave to his article about unfair relationships in international scientific research. In Kenya, the activist Nicera Wanjiru personally experienced the “gold fever” and decided to collect data herself. A double interview.

  • Contributing to science against a backdrop of murder

    In order to conduct good quality research into inclusive global development, it is essential to set up collaborations equally. In this series Vice Versa and WOTRO Science for Global Development are investigating the dynamics of North-South academic collaboration. What is going well and what needs to be done better? This series is a sequel to a series of articles about the role of academics in the public debate.

  • Knowledge that does not undermine anyone

    ‘Man does not belong in nature.’ And: ‘Society is engineerable.’ These are Western convictions that are also dominant in science, often without realising so. These ideas get in the way of fair and just development, say Nitin Rai and Rutgerd Boelens. After all, knowledge creates power. But there are other options: searching for new answers and new ways. Welcome to the world of Indian nature and Peruvian water.

  • A healthy world requires global health justice and research fairness

    As long as there are not enough vaccines against COVID-19 in many parts of the world, the virus will continue to roam. A real solution would not be giving away vaccines in programmes like COVAX, but more justice in global health, say Sharifah Sekalala and Amrish Baidjoe. They call for decolonising human rights and putting the right to health central: by lifting intellectual property on vaccines, increasing research capacity in the South and encouraging more equitable cooperation between scientists in North and South. ‘The COVAX system has not worked.’

  • Big Tech companies thrive on ignorance

    Artificial intelligence is increasingly determining our lives more so than ever before, and this is also the case in Africa. However, there is a risk of AI being misused due to a lack of regulation and because opportunities to use AI are not equally divided. There is also a positive side to AI: ethics and culture are incorporated in AI and local issues are being solved thanks AI. We must keep our eyes wide open, however, as ‘the African people should take the right into their own hands to own their own data.’

  • Connecting with the local community is key

    Collaboration in academic research between the North and the South is not equal yet by far, but it has become more equal in recent years. At the end of this series, a British and a South-African expert are going back to basics: How can you as a researcher or a research funder really make a difference in the world? The answer is simple: Never forget to involve the local community.