47. How do you view researchers?

It’s important that researchers have the trust of the public. But maybe some people are suspicious or worried about our motivations and agenda.  And this means sometimes people do not trust researchers, including those who work for universities. 

One researcher I know said that he sometimes feels like people see him as the Child Catcher the villain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!  (I actually believe that the real villain is ignorance.)

But what if researchers are truly heroes trying to make the world a better and fairer place?  I like to view us a little like Doctor Who's tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant.  He's a hero who always does his best to solve whatever problems come, and he cares a lot for humanity and the universe.  Even in the show, there are people who are very sceptical of the Tenth Doctor, but he still cares and still moves forward. He's not perfect and he sometimes gets things wrong, but he always recognises this, often with the help of his companions around him.  I like to think our research team works like this!

No researcher in the world is perfect.  But like heroes, we do our best to make a difference.  We need to work build trust by being open, willing to learn new skills, and being positive in what we do.  I do hope the public will see us people trying to bring new knowledge to make the world a better and fairer place. 

That way, we can do our jobs as researchers and hopefully make a better society and stop ignorance.

So what do you think? 

Written by Mo Hakim, Research Assistant, Kingston University London