Aspects of the culture of academic research can be at odds with efforts to improve rigor and reproducibility, from hyper competition for jobs, funding and fame, to the everyday devaluing of “administrative tasks” as a part of scientific practice. In this workshop, participants will explore the cultural barriers to implementing rigorous and reproducible practice. Please register below.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the broad cultural barriers to rigor and reproducibility
• Identify at least one cultural barrier that is impeding their own practice in rigor and reproducibility
• Develop a strategy to implement in everyday practice for improvement of rigor and reproducibility

Instructor: Elizabeth Silva, PhD - UCSF Graduate Division

Instructor Bio

Liz is a trained biomedical research scientist with interests and experience in science policy, particularly relating to publication and research ethics, reproducibility of research, and training of biomedical graduate students and postdocs.

After completing her PhD and postdoctoral training in developmental biology and genetics (in Canada, the UK and the US), she moved to PLOS ONE as an Associate and then Senior Editor. She returned to UCSF in 2014 where she managed the Motivating INformed Decisions (MIND) program, one of 17 experimental programs across the country that aimed to bring biomedical research training in line with the realities of the career outcomes for graduate students and postdocs. In 2016 she became the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in UCSF's Graduate Division.

She has served as a panelist and speaker on a variety of topics in science policy, including: reproducibility in research, ethical conduct in research and publishing, research communication and publishing for scientists, career exploration and professional development for PhDs, and issues related to the roles of PhD trainees in the biomedical workforce and in academia.