Philadelphia Inquirer: Trump’s executive orders put science’s reliability at risk

Professor of Engineering Matt Zucker recently co-authored an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer as part of a series entitled You Can't Teach That, an examination of the challenges facing Philadelphia-area professors and administrators as they navigate a "regime hostile to academia."

Along with co-author Kendra Albert, Zucker argues that the Trump administration's executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are hampering scientific research by "limit[ing] the ability of science to benefit humanity."

"On the most basic level, a scientist must be willing to admit that their original hypothesis is wrong," they write. "That means science requires a fundamental openness to following where those observations lead you. Sidestepping lines of inquiry that are ideologically disfavored by the administration runs counter to the goals of science and the principle of academic freedom."

Zucker and Albert argue that defunding scientific research under the pretense of "eliminating ideological biases" sets a chilling standard for researchers who have little choice but to pursue projects that are "regime-approved." Over time, this hurts not only individual scientists, but also science as a whole by reducing the number of questions that the field can attempt to answer.

"What we call science is a mutually reinforcing network of people, institutions, and practices that rests on the 'shoulders of giants,' that is, the work of others," they write. "When certain projects are suppressed, it makes it harder for all researchers to understand the state of the world and draw the correct conclusions."