The Academic Think Tank (TATT)

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Summary from The Academic Think Tank (TATT) discussion held on April 30, 2025

The session focused on the persistent issue of bad behaviour within academic environments, particularly within PhD supervision and mentorship. A wide-ranging, global conversation featuring participants from Europe, North America, and Asia all affirmed the systemic nature of the problem. The discussion emphasized cultural issues, institutional inertia, lack of accountability and leadership failures, while exploring potential solutions such as leadership training, peer accountability and incentive systems.

Key Takeaways:

1. Abuse in academia is systemic and persistent:
   • Power asymmetries and perceived fear of retaliation prevent students and junior faculty from speaking out.
   • Institutions often protect high-profile academics because of their ability to attract signficant research funding and reputation concerns.
   • This has been the norm for years and is widespread within the academic world.
2. Leadership gaps and lack of training:
   • Faculty often move into supervisory or leadership roles without any formal training.
   • Emotional intelligence and communication skills are rarely emphasized in academic progression.
3. Zero tolerance vs. practical change:
   • Complete elimination of abuse may be unrealistic. Instead, focus on creating respectful norms.
   • Psychological safety, support systems and proactive mentoring are critical.
4. Structural solutions:
   • Karolinska Institutet’s ‘Green Light’ system: Before a faculty member can supervise a PhD student there must be approval from the department.
   • Peer feedback systems and confidential reporting mechanisms were considered to be essential but currently underutilized.
5. Students need better protection and support:
   • Confidential, trusted support channels are vital for students experiencing abuse.
   • Institutions need to move beyond ‘lip service’ and act on reports of misconduct.
6. Recognition and incentives:
   • Suggestions included ‘digital badges’ (currently used in Osaka University) or other means for positive reinforcement for good supervision practices – lift up good practices rather than focusing on fixing bad practices.
   • Calls for shifting focus in professional promotion from only publication/grant funding metrics to holistic evaluation including quality of mentoring and workplace enironment.
7. Cultural shifts must be both top-down and bottom-up:
   • Cultural transformation must be driven by institutional leadership and supported by grassroots academic communities.
   • Public and funding bodies should be lobbied to prioritize impact and academic well-being over raw output. Couple financial incentives to best practices.
8. Next steps and output:
   • Participants proposed creating blog articles, LinkedIn posts, and a website to share outcomes from TATT discussions.

   • A podcast titled ‘CIA Talks’ (Culture in Academia) was proposed to spotlight individual stories and insights.

      

Who was present:

Isabelle Köhler 

Joey Barnett

Ferhan Sagin 

Elena Hoffer 

Clement Angkawidjaja

Thierry Mallevaey

Emmanuel Tsekleves

Bob Harris 

Documents

Clement Angkawidjaja (Assoc Prof, Career Education Unit at Osaka University, Japan)

Thierry Mallevaey (Associate Prof & Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at University of Toronto, Canada)

Eduardo Vilablanca (Prof at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)

Elena Hoffer, PhD in Medical Science (Founder of Alma.Me LLC, USA)

Elena Hoffer holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from the University of Applied Sciences in Biberach, Germany, and earned her PhD in Medical Science from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

Throughout her academic journey, Elena has been deeply passionate about improving lives and making a meaningful impact. During her PhD, she actively contributed to initiatives such as ‘Women in Science’ and ‘Karolinska Institutet Clinicum Connections’ (KICCs), and she organized career development sessions as part of ‘PhD Careers Beyond Academia’ at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Career Service.

Seeing the impact of the career sessions on early career researchers, she was dedicated to providing tools and knowledge to early career researchers who often feel lost, overwhelmed, and uncertain about their future careers. She co-founded Alma.me, a startup focused on equipping early career researchers with the resources they need to land fulfilling careers beyond academia. To achieve her mission, Alma.me partners with both individuals and universities to provide scalable career development solutions.

Contact information

Email: elena@alma.me

Joey Barnett (Prof emeritus, Vanderbilt University, USA)

Ferhan Sagin (Prof at Ege University, Turkey & Chair of FEBS Education Committee)

Isabelle Kohler (Assistant Prof at VU Amsterdam, Holland) 

Emmanuel Tsekleves (Prof at University of Lancaster, UK)

 Gundula Bosch (Dr. and Director, R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education, Johns Hopkins, USA)

Bob Harris (Prof and Dean of doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden).

Robert A Harris, D.Phil, B.Sc.Hons

Academic Vice President for Doctoral Education
Professor Robert Harris has been Academic Vice President for Doctoral Education since 2019 at Karolinska Institutet. Prof. Harris completed his undergraduate training at Portsmouth Polytechnic (UK) in 1987, his postgraduate training at University College London (UK) in 1991 and was named Professor of Immunotherapy in Neurological Diseases at KI in 2013.

Harris has previously served as Central Director of doctoral education at KI (2008-2018), working specifically with developing quality control for KI doctoral education through a variety of teaching and organisational activities, and also teaches widely at national and international institutions. He has also served as Director of doctoral education for the Department of Clinical Neuroscience (2005-2018). He was Chairperson of the International Advisory Council at KI from 2019-2023. In 2014 he was one of two recipients of the KI pedagogy prize, the first to receive it for a contribution to doctoral education. In 2024 he received the first ever FEBS Education Award. Prof. Harris was also President of ORPHEUS (2015-2022; Vice-President 2013-2015), The Organisation for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System, which aims to stimulate quality assurance of PhD research and education and to strengthen career opportunities for PhD graduates.

Prof. Harris leads the research group Applied Immunology and Immunotherapy at the Centre for Molecular Medicine, a designated translational medicine centre at Karolinska Institutet. They conduct a strongly interconnected research programme aimed at using knowledge gained from projects in basic science to applications in a clinical setting, with focus on understanding why chronic inflammatory diseases of the nervous system occur, and then devise ways to prevent or treat them. Current focus is on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis. Prof. Harris has served as consultant to the Swedish biotechnology company Diamyd Medical AB with whom he has numerous patents and developed a vaccine for treatment of Type 1 diabetes to Phase III clinical trials.

Contact information

Prof Robert A Harris

Tel: +46 70 002 1803

Email: Robert.Harris@ki.se

Kevin Sanders