From his keynote presentation at "
Open Science Jetzt!" one particular quote by
Daniel Mietchen is still sticking in my mind. He said that
opening scientific practices means to learn how to have an eye on the other/s.
I think this is one of the most important skills or capacities we need to train from the beginning of higher education, if not earlier on. This is what Pierre Bourdieu and others called for by establishing a
reflexive scientific practice. This is what feminist STS would label "
strong objectivity" or recognition of "
partial perspectives". Besides reflecting one's own habitus and standpoints, we should widen our attention to all sorts of potential perceptions and impacts of our research, in all phases of research.
Thus, how could this reflexive capacity be better trained if not through exercises in cooperation, maybe even in interdisciplinary collaboration? In order to establish a sensitivity towards one's own and other (epistemic) cultures, we need to learn how to open up without fear of exposure, we need to learn what can be opened and what not. Moreover - thinking of the scientific meritocracy - we need to set up a reward system for such practices and the gathering of such experiences.
