Newsletter
Theodota Lagouri
Bionote
Theodota Lagouri is the Chair of the MCAA Policy Working Group and a Senior Research Scientist at CERN, affiliated with Yale University. With extensive experience in particle physics and high-energy collider experiments, she has significantly contributed to scientific research and international collaborations. As an active member of the MCAA and the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, she advocates for science policy and diplomacy, fostering responsible research and inclusive innovation worldwide.
Can slowing down actually help science move forward? In a world where researchers face relentless pressure to publish quickly and frequently, a growing movement, slow science is gaining traction. This article shares insights from the recent MCAA Around The World (ATW) webinar held on 9 May, where experts from academia and policy challenged traditional success metrics and advocated for a cultural shift toward care, collaboration, and meaningful impact in research careers. Discover why rethinking excellence could be the key to building a more inclusive and sustainable scientific future.
In an academic world driven by speed and measured by publication counts, funding, and citation metrics, the concept of slow science offers a powerful counter-narrative. At the recent ATW webinar titled Slow Science to Move Forward? Rethinking Science Policy & Research Careers, organised by the MCAA Policy Working Group (WG) in collaboration with the Communication WG and the North America Chapter, speakers explored how slower, more reflective research practices can help build sustainable, meaningful careers across various disciplines, particularly for early- and mid-career researchers.
Moderated by Theodota Lagouri, Chair of the MCAA Policy WG and supported by Tereza Szybisty, MCAA Policy Officer, the webinar critically examined the hidden costs of the publish - or - perish culture and the pressures of fast-paced, metrics-driven research environments. The session explored how the pace impacts career transitions, researchers’ well-being, mentorship, and equity. Rather than calling for reduced ambition, speakers advocated redefining excellence to emphasise ethics, collaboration, and societal relevance.
Slow science to move forward? Rethinking science policy and research careers
From productivity to the ethics of care
Sandra Montón Subías, ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, opened with a critique of academia’s pathologies: relentless pressure to publish and the need to fit research into narrow funding calls. She described how publication fever displaces core values of inquiry and knowledge creation.
Sandra called for a cultural shift, from productivity metrics to an ethics of care: for researchers, communities, and knowledge integrity. She shared insights from her project MaGMa, which applies slow archaeology by incorporating rest, reflection, and inclusive fieldwork. In this model, time is not wasted but used wisely to ask better questions and foster deeper collaboration.
Slow science invites us to embrace ethics of care: PhD students are not our resources, but collaborators.
The human cost of acceleration
Sergio Crespo-García, Assistant Professor at Université de Montréal, shared his experience navigating the academic treadmill. Despite building a research group and securing funding, he endured 60–80 - hour workweeks, frequent rejections, and pressure to meet performance metrics.
His talk, "The Gas Pedal of Science: When Will I Be Able to Use the Brakes?" questioned whether early-career researchers can realistically slow down. Efforts to create equitable, supportive environments often clash with institutional expectations rewarding quantity over quality, driving burnout and attrition.
Sergio’s story highlights a critical question: Is academic success worth the personal cost?
Enabling systemic change through policy
Annelies Van de Ven, Policy Officer at the European Commission, offered a systemslevel perspective. She stressed science’s inherently collective nature and the need for institutional cultures to value mentorship, collaboration, and reflection, qualities often missing from current evaluation systems.
Citing the Belgian Slow Science Manifesto, she emphasised that science should serve the public good, not prestige. Platforms like Open Research Europe promote open peer review, transparency, and sustainability. She called for alignment with reform initiatives such as:
• Declaration on Research Assessment
(DORA)
• Coalition for Advancing Research
Assessment (CoARA)
• European Charter for Researchers
Long-term funding schemes like the ERC’s seven-year grants were highlighted as crucial, providing researchers with time and space for deeper inquiry and career development.
We may go faster alone, but we go further together: collaboration, reflection, and mentoring are essential.
Rethinking excellence and supporting transitions
A key theme was redefining excellence. What if success were measured not by publications or grants but by mentorship, collaboration, and societal impact?
This is vital for those navigating career transitions. Many leave academia not for lack of talent but because the system fails to support inclusive, balanced lives. Panellists emphasised that truly inclusive research environments must accommodate caregiving, chronic illness, and non-traditional career paths. Institutions must move beyond celebrating individual outliers and build systems that enable sustainable, collective achievement.
The concepts of (i) research assessment reform, (ii) open scholarship, and (iii) equity and inclusion cannot be treated separately.
Building a culture of care
The session emphasised that meaningful change requires engagement from funders, institutions, policymakers, and researchers. Slow science is not about doing less but about creating space for depth, ethics, and longterm impact.
For those forging careers in academia, policy, or industry, this cultural shift offers a foundation for sustainability and fulfilment. It is a call to rethink not only how science is done but what future we want for research and researchers.
Closing reflections and key takeaways
The webinar highlighted the importance of critical thinking, ethics of care, and long-term reflective approaches as central to science policy. It urged looking beyond publications to lab culture, mentorship, and student engagement as indicators of impact. The discussion emphasised that meaningful scientific progress requires time and space, advocating for slow, open, collaborative practices. Support for platforms, reforms, and sustained funding was deemed essential.
The session closed with a call to reflect on implementing slow science principles within institutions and to continue advocating for policies prioritising quality, care, and collective impact in research.
In a world where research is increasingly pressured by speed and productivity demands, slow science offers a compelling alternative. It advocates for a more thoughtful, deliberate approach, valuing quality over quantity, collaboration over competition, and longterm impact over rapid turnover.
MCAA resources and initiatives
This webinar was part of the MCAA Policy WG’s ongoing commitment to promoting inclusive and sustainable research careers with Monika Golinska appointed as the Task Force leader.
To get involved:
• Email: policy@mariecuriealumni.eu
• Follow the Policy WG on X and LinkedIn
• Learn more about the MCAA Policy Working Group and the MCAA policy activities
Recommended Reading
Open Research Europe: Open access platform with transparent peer review
PEP-CV: the MCAA’s Peer-Exchange Platform for narrative CVs
SECURE project: Building sustainable careers for researchers
OPUS project: Reforming research assessment and incentivising Open Science
Theodota Lagouri
X
Chair of the MCAA Policy Working Group
policy@mariecuriealumni.eu