Welcome to this episode of Under Review where I am joined by Professor Stephen Curry. Before taking retirement in late 2024, Stephen worked at Imperial for almost 30 years as a Professor of Structural Biology where he retained an Emeritus position. He continues to write about science and describes his area of expertise as figuring out the three-dimensional structures from biological molecules in atomic detail, using X-rays and crystals. 

Stephen has long been an active campaigner for the importance of engaging with the public and very much practiced what he preached with multiple outreach videos and articles in the mainstream media. He was also Imperial's first Associate Provost for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Whilst formally retired from academia, Stephen is still active as a writer and consultant, through his Reciprocal Space Blog and as a Senior Strategic Advisor for the Research on Research Institute.

Stephen was chair of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) for six years from 2017-23, which led to an invitation to speak at the meeting in the U.S. of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, known as NINDS. This in turn led to his recent paper on publishing negative results, which is the topic we are going to explore today. 

In this episode we discuss that publication bias is perpetuated by journals prioritizing positive results due to impact factor pressures and how that can be changed among other things. We discussed the importance of rewarding rigor over exciting results, viewing Francis Crick's own failures as valuable lessons.

Stephen Curry - Imperial profile

Stephen Curry - Research on Research Institute profile

Stephen's Reciprocal Space blog

Stephen Curry on Bluesky
About the show and host

Academia has a 'wicked problem' - actually, it has several. Welcome to Under Review, the podcast where I give guests an opportunity to stop tweaking the edges and start reimagining a future where things might work better. What would stay, what would we build from scratch, and what needs throwing into the Under Review rubbish bin? It’s time to put the system itself... ‘under review.

I’m Andy Tattersall and I’m a research communications consultant with 25 years previously working at a Russell Group university and over the course of this podcast I will speak to some of the sector’s boldest thinkers to bring us their most radical, left-field and blue sky ideas for reform. 

Find out more about me and my services via the following links

https://linktr.ee/andy_tattersall 

Music courtesy  PineAppleMusic 

https://pixabay.com/music/beats-sky-up-hip-hop-166453/