After an unforgivable delay this episode is finally out. We had some personal and technical delays. Sorry about that.

Anyways, in this episode Bart and I continue a conversation about the Energiewende. Based on the latest episode we spoke about which solutions we think should work well. The big problem seem to be the “Not In My BackYard” stance of many people who live where the new infrastructure need to be built.

Since Brexit was supposed to happen, we also talk about Brexit, and how it is hurting science in the UK.

On September 27th, just days before I moved from Portugal to Germany, I made it to the Global Climate Strike in Lisbon. While I was there I collected footage of the march, and shared some impressions of it.

I put it all together in a YouTube video, and a photo album on Facebook! Enjoy!

This summer climate change has finally made it back into public discussion in Germany. In the last episode on climate change, Rüdiger Eichel and I spoke about Fridays for Future and how the results of the election for the European Parliament reflected the increased awareness for environmental topics in the EU.

In this episode I talk to Tom Brown from the Karlsruhe Insttitute of Technology. He models how we can use different energy distribution systems to balance the fluctuating power production from renewable sources. There are many variables and options to consider. But the good news is that a carbon neutral economy in Germany should be possible.

We focus on Germany, because it’s Europe’s biggest economy. It is highly industrialized, and still very much reliant on fossil fuels for power production. And on top of transitioning away from fossil fuels, Germany is also fading out nuclear power as well. So, if Germany can manage a transition to a carbon neutral economy, every country should be able to achieve this, too. So it is worth keeping your eyes on Germany and the Energiewende.

The main topic for this episode is Why Academia Fails… or better, what we may learn from the book “Why Nations Fail” (Acemoglu & Robinson) about the shortcomings of academia. But before we get to it, we will talk briefly about what happened over the last month – most importantly, I will give you my report on the Global Climate Strike as I experienced it in Lisbon, on September 27th.
This episode is special, in the sense that we decided to make it a 2-Part episode. In this first part we basically set up the background information, and in the November talk episode, we will have a proper, structured discussion.

And you have the chance to contribute! If you have read the book “How Nations Fail”, or are for other reasons familiar with the concepts of extracting and inclusive institutions, give us your feedback on how this could be applied to academia!

“Why aren’t our failures in science embraced the same way as our successes?”

Sophie Okolo, MPH, is the founder and chief editor of the website Global Health Aging, which covers research and news about healthy ageing. She is a science writer and researcher with a background in aging, bioinformatics, and health technology. Her insights and bylines have appeared in Forbes, MarketWatch, PBS Next Avenue, Philips, and IEEE Potentials, among others.

Sophie is interested in how technology can support healthy aging, and how it can help to fight the loneliness that many older adults experience. She communicates about these topics through podcasts, magazines, social media, etc. She also collaborates with colleagues working in areas such as assistive robotics.

While curating @sfprocur, Sophie will talk about embracing failure, finding resilience, and starting over in science.

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Dr. Marc Tennant is Winthrop Professor at the University of Western Australia, where he works on Dental Public Health. He is further founder and current Director of the International Research Collaborative – Oral Health and Equity. This collaborative is working on reducing marginalisation and addressing health inequality. Marc and this friends have been working to reduce marginalization for more than 25 years.

During his curation on @sfprocur, Marc will talk about the fantastic graduate students and wonderful colleagues who are working with him. ” As I come to the end of my career”, he writes, “I know the next generation is going to change the world. It is such a wonderful thing to be able to share with them. “

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In this episode I talk with Dr. Chinmaya Sadangi about his Science Communication Project “The Addictive Brain”.

Science Communication is of major importance. This becomes increasingly clear as we are witnessing the climate action demonstrations which are still being met with rather disappointing responses from the governments. Because of this, I regularly feature science communicators on this podcast. The goal is to inform academics about the possibilities of contributing to science communication. This can be done either in parallel to their academic careers, or as a career choice.

Biologist Dr. Greetchen Díaz is Director of the Science Education Program and Community Partnerships at CienciaPR. As such, she is committed to make significant changes in the way the STEM disciplines are taught in Puerto Rican schools and beyond.

Greetchen was recently awarded the prestigious “IF/THEN Ambassadorship” by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The goal of IF/THEN Ambassadors is to “share stories of their STEM journeys and the many ways in which they use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve problems and create new possibilities for the future”.

During her curation on @sfprocur, Greetchen wants to talk about women in STEM, Science for Service, and Scientists for K-12 Science Education.

Dustin Eirdosh is a PhD candidate and education outreach coordinator for the psychology department of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. There, he develops classroom collaborations that engage students in understanding the evolutionary origins of human behaviors, and cognitive and cultural capacities. The goal is to help solve the challenges of global sustainability.

To live on this planet without depleting its resources, people need to adapt. By understanding “how people work” on many levels (evolutionary, cultural, psychological, physiological, etc.), Dustin and his colleagues want to help students acquire the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills. They work with classrooms around the world to develop curricula that engage students and help them learn these critical concepts.

During his week on @sfprocur, Dustin wants to convey that helping students understand scientific perspectives on the human condition, may make the world a better place.

We are back from the summer break! So, we resume the “Bart and Dennis” Talk format!

Bart and I briefly talk about Bart’s research, because he just published an article! And it appeared in a journal that is actually quite good, but it is pay-walled and published by Elsevier.

We then talk about the upcoming Open Science mandate that cOAlition S is trying to establish in Europe. cOAlition S includes some of the biggest funding agencies in Europe, like the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council. Yet, a lot of scientists seem to still be blissfully unaware.