Scientists’ worlds will shrink in the wake of the pandemic

Scientists’ worlds will shrink in the wake of the pandemic



Illustration by The Project Twins

Scientists’ worlds will shrink

The pandemic has forced researchers to grapple with how restrictions on their movement will affect the way science is conducted. Some fear that these limitations could lead to a world that favours elite scientists and established teams with less need to network, while other groups lose collaborators and become marginalized, and that fieldwork will become a luxury. Or, the opposite could turn out to be true: travel restrictions could help to democratize science, if virtual working allows access to more connections for people who cannot easily travel.
Nature | 6 min read

Read more in our series on science after the pandemic:

• Universities will never be the same (9 min read)
• How scientific conferences will survive (5 min read)
• The pandemic will make or break research funding (5 min read)
• The risk to China’s race to the top of science (5 min read)
• Is this scientific publishing’s new normal? (6 min read)