#WeResearchAsOne

I believe, that every one in academia — whatever gender, gender identity, ethics, background, etc. — should work together as a whole, which is how “#WeResearchAsOne” initiates. Every gender, ethics, or background should be respected and treated equally. Only by collaborating well with each other, can we make great progress in research.

In academia, there are still a lot of problems happening nowadays. There are discrimination, harassment, and bullying — that’s why I’m calling on every researcher to “research as one”.

For example, women are the most vulnerable group in academia. I heard a lot of cases when women were belittled, bullied, or even sexually harassed. Another problem that seems to be less serious but still important is disrespecting someone by ignoring their opinion, or even worse, by stealing their idea. This can frustrate the person, or even lead to worse consequences, e.g., depression. This is quite common in sexual minority groups, e.g., LGBTQ+, because there are still a lot of people who think they are abnormal and have a bad attitude towards them. Other problems includes belittling someone by yelling at them, or by forcing them to only do boring work, e.g., administrative work and repetitive work. This can make the person feel inferior to others, and lose their confidence.

Alongside these problems, there are also some unprofessional behaviours. The most simple one is a senior researcher pointing fingers at a junior researcher. This can make the junior researcher feel under great pressure, and eliminate their passion for research. Other problems includes romantic relationships despite conflict of interest, for example, between a teaching assistant and a student, advisor and advisee, or mentor and mentee. This can lead to unfair treatment to other people. To make things worse, if the relationship is ambiguous, it is really hard to tell whether it is a real romantic relationship or not.

In my opinion, all people in academia, since they are all qualified to be in academia, have the capability to work as a good researcher. Therefore, they should not be blamed because they fail to meet the expectation of others, as long as they make their best effort. Any unfair treatment and unprofessional behaviour are not acceptable and should be eliminated as soon as possible.

I always strongly support anyone who are belittled, discriminated, harassed, treated unfairly, etc. I am committed to keep a supportive environment in all labs where I work or have worked. I respect all people, particularly the minority, because they have suffered much greater emotional hardships. If I spot any cases when people are disrespected, I will make every effort to address the problem, and make the victim feel better. If direct action is not possible or brings more harm, I will try to find a way to help the victim indirectly. If necessary, I will transfer the case into written form, and report them to the appropriate authorities.

I believe that if all people, regardless of their gender, gender identity, ethics, background, etc., work together collectively and collaboratively without discrimination and inequality, we can push the boundary of human knowledge further and make greater achievements for all people. Every researcher should join hands and support every single person in academia to create a better world for all human beings!