April 19, 2017 | News | News

March for Science

On April 22, 2017, people around the world are heading to the streets to defend the value of research and science. The management and the board of directors of the MPIDR support this action.

The March for Science is a mass demonstration taking place in more than 400 cities around the world on April 22, 2017. The aim of the demonstrators is to defend the value of research and science, and to show their opposition to the spread of so-called “alternative facts.” The movement is a reaction to the anti-science statements made and actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The March for Science is nonpartisan, and was organized through the initiative of scientists, science communicators, and people who are interested in science. In Germany, this global demonstration is supported by the presidents of most of the universities and by the Alliance of Science Organizations, a union of the leading science organizations in Germany, including the Max Planck Society.

Max Planck Director Mikko Myrskylä said: “I consider taking part in the March for Science important, because we need independent and fact-based science and research to provide answers to the questions society is asking us to address.” 

The President of the Max Planck Society, Martin Stratmann, will participate in the rally in Munich.

Martin Stratmann: “We are living in a time when things which had been self-evident are suddenly being questioned. The freedom of science is being questioned internationally - this is also the case in Europe. And although science in the 21st century – in the face of urgent global challenges such as climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, or the fight against infectious diseases – is more important than ever, we feel that evidence-based knowledge is increasingly under pressure. This is unacceptable not only for science, but also for civil societies. We have a responsibility. The March for Science is the opportunity to make this responsibility visible.”

The Alliance of Science Organizations made the following statement about the march: “The anti-democratic and anti-science actions and tendencies that we are seeing from political decision-makers and populist movements threaten the work and the values of the sciences, and of all working scientists. These actions encroach upon the ability of the sciences to perform their societal function, and endanger the basic principles of the liberal constitutional order, and of open societies and ways of life. Scientists and scientific organizations must decisively oppose such trends—not just for their own sakes, but in the interests of everyone.”   

The meeting point for the March for Science in Rostock is the Rathaus am Neuen Markt, on Saturday, April 22, at 1p.m. For up-to-date information, please see the following Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/March-for-Science-Rostock-1833368726927125/.

Contact

Head of the Department of Public Relations and Publications

Silvia Leek

E-Mail

+49 381 2081-143

Science Communication Editor

Silke Schulz

E-Mail

+49 381 2081-153

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The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.