In our final fifth episode we explore the importance of informal and non-governmental channels in maintaining and building international scientific collaborations, the role of informal diplomatic channels such as science and culture in building and maintaining peace, the realities of science diplomacy in practice and the importance of ordinary scientists in fostering scientific collaboration.

In this episode, we’ll discuss the impact of crisis, specifically conflict, on an individual scientist, Dr Alaa Hamdon from Mosul, Iraq. Recorded over a series of voice notes during power cuts in Iraq, we spoke to Alaa about his experience before, during and after ISIS’ takeover of Mosul in June 2014. We discuss the impact of the crisis on his personal, academic and professional life, as well as the important rebuilding of what Alaa has labeled ‘the lighthouse of knowledge’, Mosul University’s Library.

This episode will unpack the worrying impact that conflict has on the capacity of organized science and scientists to respond to global challenges. Some of the critical spaces in which the most pressing issues of our modern era are being researched and studied are currently being disrupted due to conflict and crisis. In this episode we’ll be discussing two of them, the Arctic and outer space. 

In this episode of our series 'Science in Times of Crisis', we will explore two examples of how perceived national interests can impact on the capabilities of collaborative science, the scientific community and society.  Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic and AIDS crisis and secondly, Brazil’s tumultuous science-policy nexus on issues such as climate change and the Amazon rainforest.

For our first episode, and the introduction to our series, we delve into contemporary history to explore two examples of science in times of crisis. We’ll be looking at the the Cold War period from 1950 to 1990 and the Apartheid era in South Africa with two expert guests, assessing how each crisis impacted the scientific community, as well as the role of science and scientific organisations during the both crises. 

Discover the new podcast series from the International Science Council’s Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS), which explores what living in a world of crisis and geopolitical instability means for science and scientists around the world. 

Episode 1 - Science, Geopolitics and Crisis: What can we learn from history, airing this Thursday December 1st.