HxA STEM
Initiative
The HxA STEM Initiative is an opportunity to advance knowledge on a topic of which heterodoxy can add value to our collective understanding.
Open inquiry is increasingly under threat in the natural and applied sciences. Whether through the publishing system, rules for competitive grants, restrictions on data access, hiring criteria, or simple social pressure, an orthodoxy of “acceptable” research has found its way to STEM departments on campus (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
The stakes are high. When university laboratories and departments compromise the processes they use to discover new medical treatments, make technological breakthroughs, or track global crises, the human costs can be staggering.
In 2023-24, HxA begins a new initiative focused on Open Inquiry in STEM. We are working to gather STEM professors, students, and administrators who work in STEM fields; explore the problems, and potential solutions, related to open inquiry in STEM; and demonstrate the power of real, constructive, evidence-driven debates on controversial topics in STEM. HxA members can expect new live and virtual events, funding opportunities, and STEM-focused content features.
This work is possible thanks to support from Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative of Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
HxA expects to award up to $50,000 in grants through this program for research on the topic of opportunities for and challenges to open inquiry in the STEM disciplines. Grant applications will be reviewed on rolling basis beginning Nov 13.
FEBRUARY 23 2024: This one-day symposium hosted at the Stanford University Faculty Club will explore how the academic norms of open inquiry were followed, or not, in responses to COVID, with the benefit of hindsight and the evidence gathered to date.
Can't wait for the summit? HxA and its communities regularly put on virtual and in-person events on STEM topics. Find an event and register today.
Join our community of faculty, staff, and students in our efforts to improve the quality of research and education in universities through viewpoint diversity, open inquiry, and constructive disagreement.
Complimentary membership includes access to the new HxA Portal — a private online forum for HxA members and HxCommunities — invitations to members-only events, funding opportunities, professional development opportunities, members-only discounts to HxA Summits, and more.