Maintaining Trust and Objectivity in the Context of Use-Inspired Research

摘要

The editorial "Crossing the Imaginary Line" (http://pubs. acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b04432) raises a variety of complex issues. My comments are based on my experience as the Director of the (publically-funded) Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Eawag has a mandate to conduct use-inspired research and to provide expert service to society. To fulfill its mandate, Eawag must be trusted as a source of objective scientific information that can serve as a reliable basis for decision making in environmental policy, management, and practice. Here, I would like to highlight the aspects of trust and objectivity.