Voice of UYA - Wim Otte on Purposeful Research

Road to Open Science (R2OS)

Wim Otto looks differently at the “cure” or career dichotomy. He does so by putting meaning above science, elevating the discussion level so high that talking about the “academic career” will sound naive. Looking from his perspective, the “cure” or career question becomes almost irrelevant. He is a successful neuroscientist with a long publication record (metrics) and inventions that are currently being used by medical doctors in their practices (impact). Despite his high performance, he expresses his dissatisfaction because he is “actively helping to get the segregation between the poor and rich bigger”. He is worried that “if there is too much separation between the winners and the losers, we end up in a very segregated world, which makes it difficult to tackle global problems.” By analyzing the science enterprise from a value-centered humanitarian standpoint, he can set free from the constraints of swimming in the mainstream. Meanwhile, even in playing the rules of the game, he collects points using his strong sense of empathy with the other players who do not necessarily share his viewpoint, for example by making his articles easy reads for reviewers and making the figures attractive for the editors. Climbing up the academic ranks is not an end goal for him, but only a middle stop to an elevated search for meaning.