Harnessing Failure

Getting things wrong is a key component of life. It’s no different in math and science. Failure can lead to incredible breakthroughs, whether a powerful life lesson or a new way of looking at our universe.

With decades of experience as an astrophysicist and now serving as president of the Simons Foundation, David Spergel has spent much of his career navigating the complexities of scientific discovery, where failures can be just as essential as discoveries.

In his recent book, “Productive Failure: Unlocking Deeper Learning Through the Science of Failing,” Manu Kapur asks readers to reconsider their experience with failing. He challenges them to instead approach failure not as a setback but as an integral part of the learning process and a crucial catalyst for growth.

Join us for a conversation between Spergel and Kapur as they dissect how we navigate failure on a personal and societal basis and how we can better prepare people for the inevitability of failure — and perhaps even find joy in it.

Spergel is an astrophysicist and philanthropic leader. Since July 2021, he has served as president of the Simons Foundation, leading the foundation in its mission to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. In his decades-long career, Spergel has helmed major astrophysics research projects and advocated for government investment in science. Before becoming Simons Foundation president, he chaired the astrophysics department at Princeton University and was the founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute. Spergel has been the primary mentor for more than 100 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Many of his mentees are now academic leaders. Spergel’s work has been recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship, the Shaw Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Kapur is the director of the Singapore-ETH Centre and a professor of learning sciences and higher education at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. With a strong technical background in engineering and statistics as well as doctoral training in the learning sciences, Manu brings a unique interdisciplinary skill set to the study of human learning, both in terms of the fundamental mechanisms of human learning as well as developing applications for translating these mechanisms for teaching and learning. Manu is widely known mainly for his work on learning from productive failure, is a sought-after keynote speaker, and has delivered two TEDx talks. His contributions extend across high-profile journals and conferences, influencing educational policies and practices internationally.