Valentin Amrhein: Statistical significance and the reproducibility of research

Statistical significance and the reproducibility of research
Valentin Amrhein, University of Basel

Valentin Amrhein is professor of Zoology in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel and heads the Research Station Petite Camargue across the border in France. He has carried out groundbreaking research on the behavioral patterns of nightingales – on topics such as migration, singing, and mate selection – and the effects of climate change on diverse species and their habitats. 

Recently his work has focused on major conceptual issues in science, including the topic of today’s talk: problems in the way researchers have applied the concept of statistical significance as they interpret their findings. After several papers on the topic, he wrote a Comment for Nature that was co-signed by 854 scientists from 52 countries. Within two weeks this paper had the highest online attention score ever measured by Altmetric – and held the record until COVID came along.

Alongside his broad research interests, Valentin has been heavily engaged in science communication to very diverse publics – as a freelance science journalist, and as editor of scientific journals and at the main daily newspaper in Basel.

The event will take place onsite and online via Zoom.