Quality assurance in research is a central issue among scientists and scholars. This involves a range of issues - from designing inclusive and ethically sound research and providing replicable research results, to assessing the quality of editorial and peer review processes, to establishing institutional arrangements for identifying and remedying breaches of quality standards. Across academia, researchers in their respective fields are working to improve quality standards. This is especially true for researchers at the beginning of their careers.

To recognize innovative and relevant initiatives specifically by early-career researchers, the Einstein Foundation Berlin awards a prize in the "Early Career" category as part of the Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research. The winner will be announced on Wednesday evening during a virtual award ceremony by the Einstein Foundation Berlin. Beforehand, they will present their projects at the first International Symposium on Integrity in Research, hosted by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA). A panel discussion on November 25, 2021, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., will offer interested parties the opportunity to learn more about the projects and explore research quality issues in depth with the nominees.

The nominated scientists are:

• Dr. Patrick Forscher, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Nairobi, Kenia
• Prof. Danielle Peers, University of Alberta
• Dr. Yuri Pavlov, Universität Tübingen/Ural Federal University
• Dr. Martin Zettersten und Dr. Jessica Kosie, Princeton University

The research groups will address research ethics in disability studies, science standards in large teams with psychologists from Africa, reproducibility of EEG experiments in the life sciences, and reproducible standards for large cross-cultural research networks in child psychology.

The project teams are taking different approaches to advancing research quality and will present their goals as well as challenges that arise in a culturally, geographically, and disciplinary diverse environment. They will also share their motivations and experiences with research quality awareness initiatives. Afterwards, participants will have the opportunity to speak with the nominees in small groups.

With the Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research, the Einstein Foundation aims to honour researchers and institutions from all areas of science and all parts of the world who are committed to improving quality in research. The award will be presented in three categories and is endowed with a total of 500,000 euros.

The event will be opened by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Dirnagl, Department Director of Experimental Neurology at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Founding Director of the QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and member of the Steering Committee of BUA's Objective 3: Advancing Research Quality and Value. Dr. Suzy Styles of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore will moderate the panel discussion. The panel discussion and Q&A will be held in English.

Registration: https://hu-berlin.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5wof-2prz4tG9b5Z9fYL7XwDywWodrI90Oh 

Contact: Dr. Stefan Skupien, core@berlin-university-alliance.de