Scientific Reputation Revisited

Conferences are a central part of academic life. However, international conferences in particular are increasingly being called into question due to the criticism levelled at the air travel often associated with them. The almost complete halt to air travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has further cemented the use of virtual conferencing technologies. Nevertheless, there are still conferences that take place in person. Why do people continue to travel to academic conferences when virtual alternatives seem more convenient and air travel has lost some of its former support, both within the academic community and in society at large? The project ‘Scientific Reputation Revisited: Academic Travel and Conference Interaction’ adopts a sociological perspective on science that focuses on scientific reputation. In this context, we are investigating the role that conferences play in the ‘presentation of self in academic life’. 
We ask: What role and significance do academics attribute to academic travel at different stages of their careers and within different disciplinary cultures? And: How is reputation conveyed in conference interactions, both at in-person and virtual academic gatherings, and in formal and informal conference settings?

To this end, we are examining three academic fields that were selected on the basis of their differing disciplinary cultures with regard to the status of conferences and the relevance of academic travel, namely climate science, computer science and contemporary history. The project examines academic conferences in these fields in Germany using three methodological approaches:

• Individual interviews with researchers at different stages of their careers,
• Focus group interviews with members of an external advisory board comprising experienced researchers from the fields under investigation,
• On-site ethnographic observation at conferences organised by professional societies.

The project will examine, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, the significance of conferences and co-presence, how interaction at conferences unfolds from the perspective of reputation theory, and how the (im)possibility of travelling affects academic careers. In doing so, the project will contribute to the sociological understanding of the persistence, change and transformation of climate-impacting practices, such as international travel, as part of transregional cooperation networks in academia.