Point of view:

The Value of Curiosity

Fundamental research: Many people in academia are concerned with the pursuit of knowledge, without an explicit application in mind. Is that a good thing? A commentary by Onur Güntürkün.

Many researchers are familiar with this situation: They are asked what they are working on, talk about their project and then hear the question: What is it good for? I too am familiar with this situation. My research group is interested in how the brains of birds and humans work and how behavior arises. Like many other basic researchers, we cannot answer the question about the meaning of our work by claiming that we want to cure a disease, stop climate change or develop a new product for industry. We do research to gain knowledge. Does that make sense? Yes, it does.

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