The IGDORE Project: Reinventing Academia with an Open (Science) Mind

[rebecca (Rebecca Willén 🦕)]

@heidi

Thanks @rebecca for this super insightful talk and for all the questions you answered!

Thank you warmly for these kind words, @heidi!

@heidi

especially since I have been struggling with the academic system because I care about open and replicable science.

Ah, I see. It was the same for me. I wrote this 2018 blog post on the topic too, might be relevant to you: ‘New academia’ — a safe harbour for researchers who love science | by IGDORE | Medium

@heidi

One thing you said in the Q&A was that you think that only “very independent” people, who do not rely on working with other people are suitable for IGDORE. I was wondering if I understood you correctly and if I did, I would like to say that I can imagine IGDORE being the right place also for people who are dependent on working with others.

Yeah afterwards I thought about that particular answer and felt that it wasn’t a good one. I think the reason I replied that way is that I generally try to be very careful not giving the impression of me trying to recruit people to IGDORE. There have been a few exceptions in the beginning when the project was newly launched but other than that I try not to suggest or encourage people to join IGDORE. A lecturer I had once in basic psychotherapy told us something I took to heart: “an advice is a costly gift”. Meaning that it’s the recipient of the advice, not the advisor, who has to live with consequences if the advice is followed. The consequences may turn out positive but it may just as well turn out the opposite. I consider IGDORE to be a high-risk project, financially but also reputation-wise. Early affiliates could with time gain academic credibility from having made the bold choice to join early, but that depends on how things turn out for IGDORE. The safest choice would be to wait until IGDORE has gained more institutional credibility. Thus, as the founder of IGDORE, I prefer to take a neutral or even pessimistic approach toward whether people should join or not: I don’t want to give the impression of me advising people to join.

That said, I do see your point and I agree that my answer in the Q&A could have been more nuanced.

@heidi

I felt like I was exactly the person you described (I do in fact eat vegan at home but am less strict when I am invited to other people’s homes and I needed a lot of supervision during my PhD)

Hah and I’m happy to hear I was wrong about this!

@heidi

Couldn’t IGDORE also be seen as the network needed to build new types of collaborations and teams to support also those who are not superindependent (in the sense that they need to feel part of a team)?

I think IGDORE has the potential of becoming such a network, but we would need more volunteers or funding (to employ people) to develop it. Ronin Institute has a bit more of this, they have existed longer and nowadays they have @arika.virapongse employed to coordinate and encourage the volunteers. IGDORE will soon launch an open seminar series, and this can hopefully create more networking opportunities.