The OpenRAM theme of epistemic inequities presented in the University of Edinburgh

7th August 2026. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

The theme of epistemic inequities was presented at the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation by Ismael Rafols of INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), who was conducting an OpenRAM visit. The argument of the presentation is that there exist major misalignments between research agendas and societal needs or demands, for example in terms of research investment diseases, or  in terms of the types of research approaches. Such misalignments result in inequal attention to the needs of some populations — which thus receive less attention.

The presentation shows methods and evidence to analyse alignment of research priorities with societal needs, in topics such as disease types, mental health and rice research. These bibliometric analyses suggests that research is relatively concentrated in topics relevant to the Global North, aligned with economic interests and academic prestige. In the face of these findings, I will argue that more epistemic diversity is needed to address global challenges and that participation of stakeholders in priority setting may help in pluralizing research agendas.

Slides of the presentation are available here.