Research today stands at a crossroads, grappling with reproducibility issues, misinformation, and systemic pressures that influence what gets funded, studied, and published. To discuss these challenges and potential solutions, this two-part lecture series brings together experts from different fields.

The second session (May 9th, 13:30–17:30) shifts the focus to systematic issues that shape scientific progress. Speakers include Jürgen Renn (MPIGeA Jena) on knowledge evolution, Giorgio Zanarone (UniL) on incentives in research careers, and Thomas Leibundgut (swissuniversities) on the academic publishing oligopoly. Malte Elson (UniBe) agreed to be our discussant.