Sustainable tourism is an emerging alternative to conventional tourism and nowadays it is increasingly essential on the path to sustainability. As a result, several types of tourism based on experiences have emerged. Among those is the so-called scientific tourism. As it is such a recent form of tourism, at the top of our knowledge, literature is limited. Therefore, this research compiles the state of the art on this topic.

Firstly, we provide an overview and critical analysis of the various concepts and definitions associated with sustainable tourism, revisiting the perspectives of different authors and exploring similarities and analyzing points of convergence. Building on the analysis of the literature review we derive key topics, namely: scientific tourism and sustainability, scientific tourism as a mediator and, finally, the associated challenges and opportunities. The literature review addressed a selection of 17 articles, extracted from the Scopus database by string and limitations, and followed the PRISMA methodology for the selection of the highest quality articles.

In summary, past researchers argue that scientific tourism is still a recent topic and is characterized by little existing literature, with no definition taken as a basis. However, they also state that scientific tourism is an alternative to conventional tourism, promoting economic but also sustainable, local and academic development. It has been explored how this expanding concept can act as a mediating tool linking the tourism sector, local stakeholders and science. The articles also mention the difficulty of implementing this type of tourism and doing so in an innovative and impactful way due to limited investment capacity, infrastructure, the difficulty of integrating with the local community and the need for rapid adaptation and continuous innovation.

In parallel, there is a clear need for the continuous training and retraining of professionals, particularly in the tourism sector, where new skills are needed to integrate the principles of sustainability, scientific involvement and the involvement of the local community in tourism experiences. In analyzing the sector's opportunities and challenges, we underline the importance of equipping professionals with the necessary skills to support its sustainable development.

Keywords: Scientific tourism, sustainability, sustainable tourism, scientific mediation, knowledge production, education in tourism, competencies.