In a world shaped by rapid scientific and technological advancements, the challenges of integrating these breakthroughs into society’s consciousness are immense. At the recent 2024 World Science Forum (WSF), Dr Margaret Hamburg, Co-President of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), sat down to talk with the WSF about the panel she participated in on “Risk Assessment – Weighing Risk in Policymaking” and her views on policymaking.

The World Science Forum 2024, held in Budapest, brought together leading scientists and policymakers from around the globe to address pressing challenges facing the scientific community. While one of the central themes emerging from the discussions was the apparent decline in trust in science, this trend, as the conversations revealed, might not be as universal as often portrayed in Western media. This complexity of the global scientific-trust landscape became particularly evident in an…

The World Science Forum (WSF) had the opportunity to speak with Professor Ana Maria Cetto after the two sessions she was involved in as a speaker at this year’s event. A wide range of topics came up in our conversation, including the lack of science in people’s lives, how Open Science should be rethought, the commercialisation of science and free access, and bringing science closer to people.

Among the central themes of WSF2024 was the apparent erosion of trust in science and scientists. We sat down to talk with one of the invited speakers, Dr Ruth Morgan, Professor of Crime and Forensic Science at University College London and Co-Director of the UCL Arista Institute, who addressed this challenge by drawing parallels between forensic science communication and broader issues of public trust in scientific evidence.

Dr Tamara Elzein delivered a passionate keynote speech that challenged contemporary scientific paradigms at the recent 2024 World Science Forum (WSF) in Budapest, during the first plenary session “Trust in Science – Conceptualising Trust in Science”. The Secretary General of CNRS Lebanon also addressed the complex relationship between scientific advancement, school curricula and societal trust. The WSF sat down with Dr Elzein to elaborate on some of the ideas that came up in her talk.

“When we come together with unity of purpose, we can achieve great things”. The World Science Forum (WSF) had the opportunity to speak with Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim amongst the many sessions she had been moderating or speaking at during this year’s event as the president of TWAS and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA.