What does it take for research to flourish? by Astrid Roetzel

I created this poster as part of the Infogr8 Future Fridays & Data Visualization Society initiative. It was themed around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and I narrowed it down further to a topic which deeply resonates with me as an academic researcher: In my own field, I have consistently observed a striking disparity: contributions to conferences and academic literature predominantly came from individuals based in high-income countries. This disparity raised the following question in my mind: are the challenges faced by high-income countries better documented and researched—not because they are more critical, but because the conditions in these countries enable research to flourish more readily?
To delve into this question, I examined relevant SDGs and indicators to explore the underlying factors that drive research productivity and equity. This visualization represents the first step towards answering this question: What does it take for research to flourish, and how can we ensure equitable attention to challenges across all regions of the world?
Through the lens of data visualization, this project aims to spark discussions and inspire actionable steps toward a more equitable global research ecosystem.