IoPPN Research Culture Insights: Dr Alina Cristina Marin

What do you think of when you hear research culture?

It's an interesting question because you're not asking me what I think research culture is, you're asking what I think about when I hear research culture.I don't know if that was intentional, but it sent me in a whole thinking spiral. I have very positive associations with the term because I usually hear it in the context of initiatives to make things better, whether it's improving reproducibility or Open Access; it’s also mentioned a lot in the equality, diversity and inclusion space. I think it's become a bit of a catchall phrase for improvement initiatives.

Reflecting on this, I think it's maybe because when we were tackling smaller problems, the scientific community started reflecting on how we do science and why we do it that way. We've become more aware of the culture of the research space we inhabit, as in the Royal Society definition (the behaviour, values, expectations, attitudes and norms of our research communities).

The other thing that I was thinking about was, why research culture? Why this term and what other things does it imply? We have a framework for how we think about culture in other spaces we can draw from; for example, getting a job in science is like moving to a new country, and I've moved to a new country to be a scientist. I've experienced entering a new culture in both senses and drawing the parallels was quite interesting.

But also thinking about it in that way comes with the bad things about culture. You can think about whose culture wins and colonialism influences, but also the various ways discrimination manifests against immigrants. You can think about that in a similar way to people whose parents aren't scientists. A lot of the rules that govern the resource base are not written. So, if you're lucky enough to be raised in that culture, then you know all these things instinctively, whereas if you come from the outside, then it will be harder to pick them up.

What aspects do you think are done well in IoPPN or your department or research group?

I don't feel confident talking about the IoPPN in general regarding the everyday research culture, but I think there are quite a few very well-done things at the higher level, such as the Community Engagement Corner. In my department, the Wolfson SPaRC, and I can speak about the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology a bit as well, I think they both have a good community spirit. This allows people to talk about a lot of the research culture, which again I think is important and that we acknowledge and reflect on how we do things.

Having an open space to communicate allows us to have those conversations and change things as needed, or just be aware of how and why we do the things that we do.

Going forward, what do you want to see in the research culture space?

I think the IoPPN culture is quite fragmented; examples of good practice exist in many small islands, but I don't really know what's going on and I would like to. Looking at the definition of research culture again, the bit about values, expectations, and attitudes, it's about involving and engaging people, and I'm not sure how to achieve that.

But I would want to continue seeing things that involve people and open conversations to connect the different islands. I had a recent incident in the lab where my tools were damaged during routine room maintenance. When I talked to the facility managers, they were so nice and while there is no physical outcome of that, it's made me feel so much more supported and less than I that I was by myself and unsafe in my work environment. We can’t underestimate the people-to-people interaction.

My department is having a potluck lunch in a couple of weeks where we’ll bring and eat food from different cultures. It's bringing it to the forefront of our minds that different people will think differently and acknowledge diversity, but also the need to have a common reference point. We do that a lot when we're communicating with people in different languages or when we’re writing for different audiences, but being conscious about that while existing in the lab is harder to do.

We need more about our carbon footprint. I was listening to a talk recently about the carbon footprint of analysis pipelines, particularly for new imaging data. I kind of thought about it as an abstract thing, we now have tools such as Green Algorithms, CodeCarbon and Carbontracker, that we can use to measure the carbon footprint of the algorithm, so as you do your analysis, you're keeping track of the energy consumed. These models work a bit like the carbon estimator for planes, so they give you a concrete number to compare different analysis pipelines, just like you compare flights and trains before you go on a trip. I thought that was awesome and scary.

Another thing would be support for local grassroots initiatives. Especially in the IoPPN, we have a lot doing amazing work and they need support to continue, grow, and act as agents of change in the research culture space. Examples include the Postdoctoral Network, the various postdoc networks in the various departments, and the things that we try to do together.

There’s also the anti-racism tool that the developed in the SGDP. Diversi-Tea is also a fantastic series because a lot of the stuff that is discussed has an evidence-based aspect which appeals to the scientific mind. When you see a study showing the magnitude of the problem or putting it in a slightly different light, it’s impactful. I think I would also like financial buy in into a lot of these things, because it’s empowering to have moral support from people, but sometimes that's not enough.

This blog is part of a ongoing series looking at research culture at IoPPN. If you would be interested in contributing, please contact aneita.pringle@kcl.ac.uk.