How Has Covid-19 Shaped Scientists—and the Future of Science?

In so many ways, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic left us with more questions than answers. How did the virus spread? What activities were safe? When would life return to normal?

The questions were no less plentiful or urgent for the researchers who study the nature of scientific advances at Kellogg’s Center for Science of Science and Innovation. How has the pandemic affected science in both the short and long term? What role has science played in addressing the wide-ranging implications of this global crisis? And what lessons can we learn about the nature of scientific progress by studying how scientists adapted their research during the past year?

“It was quickly clear that we were in the biggest crisis of our generation, yet we knew so little about how the pandemic was impacting science and innovation,” explains CSSI Director Dashun Wang, who is an associate professor of management and organizations at Kellogg.

What was also abundantly clear was that the world was looking to science and innovation to save us, explains Benjamin Jones, a Kellogg strategy professor. The record speed at which scientists were attempting to develop vaccines—using technology that relied on decades of prior research—highlights, as Jones says, “that science is fundamental to human progress, which means that studying the science of science can generate extremely high social returns.”

So back in the spring of 2020, he and his colleagues got to work investigating the activities of their fellow scientists. Here’s a look at what they have since found.