The American Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Phoenix for the first time this week. The meeting brought scientists, researchers and policymakers from over 65 countries to downtown for a major conference hosted in partnership with ASU.
The 2026 AAAS Annual Meeting theme, “Science @ Scale,” focused on the challenge of expanding research innovation beyond the lab to significant public impact. The meeting emphasized the importance of taking informed risks, scaling new scientific knowledge and using evidence-based policy to serve the public good.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said Phoenix’s growing role in research and innovation for science and technology, from ASU’s incoming medical school to Taiwan Semiconductor’s $165 billion investment, made it a fitting location for the annual meeting.
“ASU is a national leader in research, innovation and education,” Gallego said. “Phoenix is proud to be a partner in their work.”
READ MORE: ASU announces semiconductor facilities, partnership with Department of Commerce
Sudip Parikh, AAAS’ CEO and executive publisher of the Science family of journals, said the meeting represents a major collaboration between AAAS and ASU.
“Just about a year ago, the AAAS and Arizona State University launched the triple AAAS-ASU collaboration, the first of its kind partnership between the scientific society and an institute of higher education,” Parikh said. “This unique collaboration is built on a shared commitment to advancing science that delivers key public value.”
Parikh also said the collaboration is built around expanding public engagement in science and supporting research with measurable societal impact.
“What is the measure of science?” Parikh said. “Is it not to impact our communities around us?”
ASU President Michael Crow framed Arizona as a unique environment for experimentation and innovation, describing the state as a “democratic laboratory” that was built without traditional constraints.
READ MORE: How ASU’s democracy aims to impact the future of the world
Crow said Arizona’s history as the 48th state has shaped its approach to development, allowing institutions like ASU to experiment with new models of higher education and research.
“It’s really important to remember that, because when you’re the last in, that means you don’t have any rules, you don’t have any boundary conditions, you don’t have any guidelines,” Crow said.
He said ASU aims to ensure research is tied to measurable outcomes, warning that scientific work becomes disconnected when it does not address public needs.
To Crow, the challenge is not whether science is advancing but whether society can keep up with it.
“Science is moving at warp speed beyond anything that anyone can imagine,” Crow said. “What we call democratic government … how we think about what we want science to do, is not moving at warp speed, it is moving at impulse power.”
Theresa Maldonado, AAAS president and vice president for Research & Innovation at the University of California Office of the President, highlighted the meeting’s international nature.
Maldonado talked about the importance of collaboration across disciplines and institutions, stating that scientific progress requires partnerships between academia, industry and government.
“Scientific excellence alone is no longer sufficient,” Maldonado said. “Responsibility for societal impact must be built into how innovation advances.”
Maldonado described shifts in the national research landscape over the past year as a huge turning point, warning that the U.S. cannot assume scientific advancement without long-term investment.
“Earning trust in the evidence we provide is very important, building relationships before the crisis occurs, being intentional about scaling and preparing for those moments of unintentional scale,” Maldanado said.
Jonathan Kim, a graduate student studying biology and society, attended the meeting to support his peers as they presented their research.
Kim’s biggest takeaway from the meeting was how many different areas were intermingling.
“I’m more used to conferences where it’s more specific,” Kim said. “It’s genetics, or it’s humanities, or it’s very particular topics and themes, whereas (with) AAAS you’ve got physicists, geologists, astronomers rubbing elbows with clinicians and medical engineers.”
Kayla Genord, a graduate student studying anthropology, presented her work related to the reconstruction of Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil central to the study of human evolution.
Genord said the research contributes to broader scientific understanding of evolution and human origins.
“Anthropology does a really good job of bringing together a lot of different groups of people,” Genord said. “Our research takes place all over the world, and we typically engage with communities in a way that encourages more people to get involved with science.”
Beyond the exhibitions and presentations, speakers also stressed how scaling science also means addressing inequalities in public health and ensuring research reflects the communities most affected.
One of the meeting lecturers, Mao-Mei Liu, a researcher and professor at the University of California, discussed disparities in Alzheimer’s and dementia research, expressing how improving outcomes requires more diverse teams and representation in studies.
“Democratizing science does not mean faster extraction,” Liu said. “It means broader benefit, shared governance and building durable trust.”
Liu’s lecture aligned with the recurring message at the meeting: Scaling science means ensuring it serves the public and earns trust. Speakers emphasized that innovation must be tied to real-world outcomes, not just for recognition.
“If you can’t measure the public value of the research, if you can’t listen to the heartbeat of the people in a democracy about scholarship and science and research, then you’re disconnected,” Crow said.
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Senna James and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at mmart533@asu.edu.
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MJ MartinezSenior Reporter
MJ is a senior reporter. She previously worked as a part-time reporter for Sci-Tech.