SfN Continues to Affirm Support for Global Collaboration in Neuroscience, Offers New 'Science Knows No Borders' Initiative to Researchers Unable to Obtain Visas
Society for Neuroscience (SfN) President Diane Lipscombe, PhD released the following statement, continuing to affirm the Society’s support for free exchange of information, diversity, and global collaboration in science.
“As the members of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) grapple with travel restrictions imposed in 2017 by the U.S. government, and other governments, we continue to insist on the need for open borders to allow for scientific exchange and collaboration that yields new discoveries. Over the two years that the travel restrictions to the U.S. have been in place, the impact on the research community has been significant, holding back important scientific progress that will help solve some of our most urgent public health problems and treat a wide range of devastating diseases and disorders.
In considering the essential need for scientists to come together at meetings such as the Society’s annual global scientific meeting in Chicago, presenters unable to travel to the U.S. this year due to visa restrictions will be able to participate in a new ‘Science Knows No Borders’ program, allowing them to present their science and their posters remotely. While there is no replacement for attending the annual meeting in person, we hope that this program will give affected scientists a voice and a platform to present their current research.
Science is international and this aspect of our society should be valued and protected. Neurological and psychiatric disorders including neurodegenerative, developmental and addictive disorders cause untold suffering the world over – they know no borders. As a field, we make better informed decisions, and the pace of discovery is accelerated when we engage in open and global scientific discourse.”
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is an organization of nearly 38,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and the nervous system. SfN is the world’s largest organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of the brain and the nervous system.
