SIX REASONS to LAUNCH a YOUNG ACADEMY the Founders of Hungary’S Young Academy Describe How and Why They Set It up in 2019

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Send your careers story Your Work to: naturecareerseditor story @nature.com AMÁS SZIGETI/HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ACADEMY AMÁS SZIGETI/HUNGARIAN Science leadership training was organized for early-career researchers by the Global Young Academy in 2019. SIX REASONS TO LAUNCH A YOUNG ACADEMY The founders of Hungary’s Young Academy describe how and why they set it up in 2019. By Erika Bálint and seven co-authors.

wenty-one years ago this month, Global Young Academy, founded in 2010, Young Academies aim to support junior Germany became the first country and the Young Academy of Europe, founded scientists and to get their voices heard by to launch a national Young Academy in 2012). Their financial and legal status, as well decision-makers as they race to produce aca- of early-career researchers. This as their relation to senior academies and gov- demic knowledge and meet ever-evolving spawned a movement that now strad- ernments, greatly varies— which strongly influ- research-evaluation procedures. They also Tdles 45 countries, from Albania to Zimbabwe, ences the possibilities and potential impacts advocate science’s role in helping to meet including 14 in Africa and 13 in Asia. Such acad- of each of these organizations. societal challenges, and provide authentic, emies now exist in countries that score well in trustworthy information in an era of misin- academic-freedom indices, and in some that “They provide formation, disinformation and fake news. don’t. Many early-career researchers juggle these Alongside these national bodies, which authentic, trustworthy demands alongside precarious positions and usually have between 25 and 60 individual information in an era of caring responsibilities. members, there are 16 similar bodies around misinformation.” Hungary’s Young Academy was launched the world (see ‘A step beyond’), including in 2019. As founding members, we wanted to 5 transnational organizations (such as the share how we went about getting it live. We

Work / Careers hope our experience will be useful to early-ca- A STE EYOND reer researchers who are keen to set up a Young Young Academies and other organizations that support junior researchers and aim to get their Academy in their country, and to raise aware- voices heard by stakeholders number more than 60 worldwide across upwards of 50 nations. They also work to improve public understanding of how research works and its societal benefits. ness about the types of activity that Young With Young Academies With similar bodies* Academies get involved in. In 2018, the Hungarian Young Academy’s founding members conducted a survey on the situation of young researchers in the country. The goal was to identify major life- and career-related challenges — such as job pre- carity, access to funding, work–life balance, gender equality, diversity and inclusion, working-environment conditions and international competitiveness — and to gather information for quantitative arguments that we can use in discussions about these issues with decision makers, and to prioritize the Hungarian Young Asia has 13 Academy’s future activities. active national Alongside the survey, we reviewed the bodies activities of existing academies. We found that Young Academies offer a wide variety of *’Similar bodies’ are organizations with missions similar to those of Young Academies. services and initiatives, as well as benefits to Nature publications remain neutral with regard to contested jurisdictional claims in published maps. local scientific communities and society. that can attract a wide and an especially young lead to Young Academies or early-career Outreach audience, thanks in large part to digital plat- researchers getting involved in national — or Young Academies help to improve public forms, including social media and podcasts, global — decision-making. In April 2020, for understanding of how research works, and the and to the often informal communication style instance, the Global Young Academy, together societal benefits that scientific achievements of younger people. with 14 national academies, published a state- can bring. They organize workshops that are ment on the dire need for international coop- open to members of the general public on hot Open science eration among different sectors during the topics, such as alternative medicine, COVID-19 Many Young Academies are strongly pro- COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, 14 and climate change. These workshops aim to moting and supporting open science and European Young Academies set up the Young make citizens aware of recent scientific results open data — the legal removal of access bar- Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS). and evidence, or to raise public awareness of riers from peer-reviewed scientific research YASAS will soon become involved in the Euro- the importance of vaccination, for example. outputs around the world. In 2018, the Young pean Commission’s Scientific Advice Mech- Young Academies can also promote sci- Academy of Utrecht University in the Neth- anism, which was set up in 2016 to provide entific careers to the next generations of erlands produced The Road to Open Science independent scientific advice to members of scholars. Some, such as those in Finland and podcast. It explores the philosophy and his- the European Commission. Norway, run ‘Meet a Researcher’ or ‘Book a tory of open science and how it can benefit Researcher’ events, often at a scholar’s alma research. In April 2021, the Young Academy Networking mater, where both early-career and senior of Europe teamed up with other Young Acade- Young Academies provide a multidiscipli- scholars can talk about their everyday research mies and the open-access initiative cOAlition S nary platform that allows their members to tasks and career development. In 2020, along for a webinar to discuss the Rights Retention exchange diverse views and experiences to with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, we Strategy, which aims to offer researchers the broaden their intellectual horizon. They also launched a similar motivational programme, freedom to submit manuscripts to a journal of promote interdisciplinary research, and col- which helps secondary schools contact and their choice while remaining fully compliant laborations at both the national and inter- invite their former students who now work with Plan S. This requires researchers who ben- national level. One such project is the Global in academia to participate in similar pro- efit from state funding to publish their work Young Academy’s cross-disciplinary biodi- grammes. in open repositories and journals. versity project Bio2Bio (Biodiversity for Sur- Our audit also revealed how Young Acade- vival via Biomedicine), which aims to preserve mies encourage younger generations, from Science policy knowledge about the medicinal properties of preschoolers to undergraduates, to develop Some Young Academies publish articles in different species and develop pharmaceuticals investigative attitudes and critical-thinking national and international journals to raise from nature while protecting biodiversity. skills. In 2011, the Dutch Young Academy, awareness of various issues of concern from for example, devised the enquiry-based a young researcher’s perspective. One such ini- Mentoring and advocacy science-education game called Expedition tiative is the June 2019 survey led by the Young Mentoring offered by Young Academies might Mundus for students aged 8 and older. This Academy of Europe, which illustrated that represent various opportunities to support game simulates landing and exploration on early-career researchers often work beyond the career development of young scientists, an unknown planet by using various scientif- a standard work week, juggling administrative including science-communication, scientific-research methods, and has been translated and educational tasks alongside research. ic-writing or grant-writing workshops and into multiple languages and advertised in sev- These publications are read not only by seminars for individual advice, counselling eral Asian and African countries by the Global members of the scientific community, but or mentoring schemes. Several Young Acad- Young Academy. also by policymakers, legislators, funding emies propose principles and guidelines Several Young Academies run scientific- agencies, business leaders, journalists and for young scholars to achieve a sustainable communication talks by junior researchers members of the public. These articles can academic career. These types of mentoring

can help early-career researchers to choose precarious and they are just starting to achieve family must be introduced. an independent career path, regardless of professional recognition and success. Paren- These organizations can also promote discipline-specific convention, by gener- tal leave affects mainly women — especially successful, diverse role models and ating, gathering and sharing knowledge on in countries with traditional family models, increase the visibility of research done by responsible research practices across all disci- such as Hungary — so it places a heavy burden under-represented groups to make science plines. And junior researchers who participate on young female scientists, and many talents more inclusive and more attractive to the pub- in Young Academy workshops might receive remain untapped or simply get lost along the lic. The Women in Science working group of advice on how to preserve research integrity leaky pipeline. the Global Young Academy was among the first even in the face of scientific misconduct. Young Academies make recommendations teams to publish inspiring experiences and Some Young Academies provide up-to-date and provide advice to support early-career advice for early-career researchers working information on available domestic and inter- researchers’ work–life balance and parental in home offices during COVID-19 lockdowns. national grant applications, funding oppor- leave, and to help them find childcare facilities, At the same time, the members of the Hungar- tunities and resources, as well as potentially ian Young Academy and the Young Academy exciting scientific events. In September 2020, “New measures that allow of Europe tried to raise decision-makers’ and the Young Academy of Europe organized a grant agencies’ awareness of the difficulties European Research Council Starting Grant scientists to build careers faced by young scientists, especially those with mentoring event involving almost 500 par- alongside raising a family caring responsibilities, during the pandemic. ticipants across European countries, with a must be introduced.” When recognized as independent, diverse follow-up one-to-one mentoring programme. actors in the local, national, regional and In Hungary, we launched a similar initiative global science-policy systems, Young Acad- focused on major national grants and scholar- and to develop strategies and initiatives that emies can have a significant role as authentic ships. This led to constructive discussion and can reduce gender inequalities. These include and trusted mediators between society, the jointly organized workshops with the coun- new funding mechanisms to compensate research community and decision-makers. try’s major national funding agency about eli- for career responsibilities, and measures to This is a win–win situation for all. gibility, grant and report evaluation criteria, achieve a more-even gender balance across However, these organizations rely on volun- discipline-specific aspects and administrative panels, committees and other leadership tary work and usually have a limited number burdens. and decision-making positions. The Hungar- of members — and it is crucial to not encour- We think these efforts all represent impor- ian Young Academy’s founding members, for age junior researchers’ tendencies to work tant milestones in establishing a sustainable example, worked with a trade union in 2018 to themselves to exhaustion. Instead, Young career model in science. Doing so will certainly boost awareness of the importance of increas- Academies need to optimize their members’ also require regular exchange with leaders of ing the eligibility window for grants to accom- workload, energy, time and financial invest- governmental organizations, funding agen- modate childcare activities. We also proposed ment by strengthening existing collabora- cies, research institutes and universities. a specific grant type to our country’s funding tions, networking and synergies among similar agency and government to support reintegra- organizations, as well as among senior acad- Equality, diversity and inclusion tion of early-career researchers into science emies and national and international bodies. Starting a family has a huge impact on the after a parental career break. We strongly feel Together, we can go further. career development of young researchers. that, to avoid losing junior talent and diversity This usually coincides with the first decade(s) in science, new measures that allow scientists Erika Bálint is an assistant professor at of their career, when their positions are often to build successful careers alongside raising a the Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary. Dorottya Csuka is a senior research fellow at the Department of Internal Medicine and Haematology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. Viktória Venglovecz is an associate professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. Gitta Schlosser is an assistant professor at the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Zsófia Lázár is assistant professor at the Department of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. Eszter Gselmann is an associate professor at the Department of Analysis, Institute of Mathematics, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary. Donát Alpár is a senior research fellow in the 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. Katalin Solymosi is an assistant professor at

ROBERT LEPENIES/JIM CURTISS ROBERT the Department of Plant Anatomy, Institute The executive committee of the Global Young Academy. of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.