Maria Kronfeldner (CEU & @knowledgecrisis) contributed to an inspiring discussion at the ERA Symposium organized by @ffg.forschungwirkt, joining the workshop “Strengthening Trust in Science: Ways to Enhance Public Participation.” A key theme was the need to shift how we talk about sciences: public attention often focuses on who scientists are and what they produce, while the processes behind knowledge-building remain largely invisible.
Kronfeldner highlighted that mistrust grows when we replace the old “in god we trust” with a belief in “scientific priests.” Scientists are not priests—they are knowledge workers, navigating uncertainty through established methods, open debate, and critical scrutiny. Making these processes visible is essential, especially in a context where commodification and conflicts of interest risk undermining science as a public good.