Science policy
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Science policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for the conduct of science towards the goal of best serving the public interest. Topics include the
Science policy thus deals with the entire domain of issues that involve science. A large and complex web of factors influences the development of science and engineering that includes government science policymakers, private firms (including both national and multi-national firms), social movements, media, non-governmental organizations, universities, and other research institutions. In addition, science policy is increasingly international as defined by the global operations of firms and research institutions as well as by the collaborative networks of non-governmental organizations and of the nature of scientific inquiry itself.
History
In Italy, Galileo noted that individual taxation of minute amounts could fund large sums to the State, which could then fund his research on the trajectory of cannonballs, noting that "each individual soldier was being paid from coin collected by a general tax of pennies and farthings, while even a million of gold would not suffice to pay the entire army."[3]
In
The
Public policy can directly affect the funding of
Philosophies of science policy
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2010) |
Basic versus applied research
The programs that are funded are often divided into four basic categories:
Basic science attempts to stimulate breakthroughs. Breakthroughs often lead to an explosion of new technologies and approaches. Once the basic result is developed, it is widely published; however conversion into a practical product is left for the free market. However, many governments have developed risk-taking research and development organizations to take basic theoretical research over the edge into practical engineering. In the U.S., this function is performed by DARPA.[8]
In contrast, technology development is a policy in which engineering, the application of science, is supported rather than basic science.[9] The emphasis is usually given to projects that increase important strategic or commercial engineering knowledge.[citation needed] The most extreme[dubious ] success story is undoubtedly the Manhattan Project that developed nuclear weapons. Another remarkable success story was the "X-vehicle" studies that gave the US a lasting lead in aerospace technologies.[10]
These exemplify two disparate approaches: The Manhattan Project was huge, and spent freely on the most risky alternative approaches. The project members believed that failure would result in their enslavement or destruction by Nazi Germany. Each X-project built an aircraft whose only purpose was to develop a particular technology. The plan was to build a few cheap aircraft of each type, fly a test series, often to the destruction of an aircraft, and never design an aircraft for a practical mission. The only mission was technology development.[11]
A number of high-profile technology developments have failed. The US Space Shuttle failed to meet its cost or flight schedule goals. Most observers explain the project as over constrained: the cost goals too aggressive, the technology and mission too underpowered and undefined.
The Japanese
Utilitarian versus monumental science policy
Utilitarian policies prioritize scientific projects that significantly reduce suffering for larger numbers of people. This approach would mainly consider the numbers of people that can be helped by a research policy. Research is more likely to be supported when it costs less and has greater benefits. Utilitarian research often pursues incremental improvements rather than dramatic advancements in knowledge, or break-through solutions, which are more commercially viable.
In contrast, monumental science is a policy in which science is supported for the sake of a greater understanding of the universe, rather than for specific short-term practical goals. This designation covers both large projects, often with large facilities, and smaller research that does not have obvious practical applications and are often overlooked. While these projects may not always have obvious practical outcomes, they provide education of future scientists, and advancement of scientific knowledge of lasting worth about the basic building blocks of science.[12]
Practical outcomes do result from many of these "monumental" science programs. Sometimes these practical outcomes are foreseeable and sometimes they are not. A classic example of a monumental science program focused towards a practical outcome is the
Scholastic conservation
This policy approach prioritizes efficiently teaching all available science to those who can use it, rather than investing in new science. In particular, the goal is not to lose any existing knowledge, and to find new practical ways to apply the available knowledge. The classic success stories of this method occurred in the 19th century U.S. land-grant universities, which established a strong tradition of research in practical agricultural and engineering methods. More recently, the Green Revolution prevented mass famine over the last thirty years. The focus, unsurprisingly, is usually on developing a robust curriculum and inexpensive practical methods to meet local needs.
By country
Most developed countries usually have a specific national body overseeing national science (including technology and innovation) policy. Many developing countries follow the same fashion. Many governments of developed countries provide considerable funds (primarily to universities) for scientific research (in fields such as physics and geology) as well as social science research (in fields such as economics and history). Much of this is not intended to provide concrete results that may be commercialisable, although research in scientific fields may lead to results that have such potential. Most university research is aimed at gaining publication in peer reviewed academic journals.[14]
A funding body is an organisation that provides
Australia
In Australia, the two main research councils are the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Canada
In Canada, the three main research councils ("Tri-Council") are the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Additional research funding agencies include the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, Mitacs and several Tri-Council supported Networks of Centres of Excellence.[16]
Brazil
In Brazil, two important research agencies are the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Portuguese: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), an organization of the Brazilian federal government under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Portuguese: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), a public foundation located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.[17]
European Union
The science policy of the
There are also European science agencies that operate independently of the European Union, such as the
The
Germany
German research funding agencies include the
India
Research funding by the Government of India comes from a number of sources. For basic science and technology research, these include the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), and University Grants Commission (UGC). For medical research, these include the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), CSIR, DST and Department of Biotechnology (DBT). For applied research, these include the CSIR, DBT and Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC).
Other funding authorities are the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF) etc.[20]
Ireland
Irish funding councils include the Irish Research Council (IRC) and the
The Netherlands
Dutch research funding agencies include
Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan has mandated that a certain percentage of gross revenue generated by all telecom service providers be allocated to development and research of information and communication technologies. The National ICT R&D Fund was established in January 2007.
Russia
Under the Soviet Union, much research was routinely
Switzerland
Swiss research funding agencies include the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the innovation promotion agency CTI (CTI/KTI), Ressortforschung des Bundes [3], and Eidgenössische Stiftungsaufsicht [4].
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Haldane principle, that decisions about what to spend research funds on should be made by researchers rather than politicians, is still influential in research policy. There are several university departments with a focus on science policy, such as the Science Policy Research Unit. There are seven grant-awarding Research Councils:
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Medical Research Council(MRC)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
United States
The United States has a long history of government support for science and technology. Science policy in the United States is the responsibility of many organizations throughout the federal government. Much of the large-scale policy is made through the legislative budget process of enacting the yearly federal budget. Further decisions are made by the various federal agencies which spend the funds allocated by Congress, either on in-house research or by granting funds to outside organizations and researchers.
Research funding agencies in the United States are spread among many different departments, which include:
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- United States Department of Energy Office of Science
- National Institutes of Health: biomedical research
- National Science Foundation: fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
- Office of Naval Research
See also
- Big Science
- Evidence-based policy
- Funding bias
- Funding of science
- History of military science
- History of science policy
- List of books about the politics of science
- List of funding opportunity databases
- Metascience
- Open access
- Operations research
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Patent
- Politicization of science
- Right to science and culture
- Science of science policy
- Small Science
- Self-Organized Funding Allocation
- Intellectual property policy
Further reading
Books
Science the Endless Frontier.[24]
Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation[25]
Beyond Sputnik: U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century[26]
The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics[27]
How Economics Shapes Science[28]
Frontiers Of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress[29]
Science Policy Up Close[30]
Dangerous Science: Science Policy and Risk Analysis for Scientists and Engineers[31]
Journals
Issues in Science and Technology[32]
Science and Public Policy[33]
Research Policy[34]
Journal of Science Policy and Governance[35]
References
- ^ Francesca Bray (1984), Science and Civilisation in China VI.2 Agriculture
- ^ Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China
- Galileo (1638) Two New Sciences, Salviati, first day of the dialogs
- Sir Francis Bacon (1624). New Atlantis
- ^ PNAS Submission Guidelines
- ^ Vannevar Bush (July 1945), "Science, the Endless Frontier"
- ^ Clemins, Patrick. "R&D in the President's FY 2011 Budget". Retrieved 20 August 2010.
- ^ Howell, Elizabeth; April 30, Space com Contributor |; ET, 2015 12:46am (30 April 2015). "What Is DARPA?". Space.com. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
{{cite web}}
:|first2=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - S2CID 40692163.
- ^ "Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T)". www.darpa.mil. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
- ^ Gallagher, Ryan; Moltke, Henrik (2016-11-16). "Titanpointe: The NSA's Spy Hub in New York, Hidden in Plain Sight". The Intercept. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
- PMID 30980055.
- ^ Suplee, Curt (1999) Physics In The 20th Century Harry N. Abrams Inc, 58-63.
- S2CID 219529301.
- ^ "Public funding bodies". Graduate Prospects. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
- ^ "Home". nce.gc.ca.
- ^ "FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo".
- ^ "EU Science Hub - European Commission". 12 March 2024.
- ^ See Horizon 2020 – the EU's new research and innovation programme http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-1085_en.htm
- ^ "Interdisciplinary". www.unom.ac.in. Archived from the original on 2010-08-29.
- ^ "About Us". Irish Research Council. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ Coelho, Andre (16 May 2017). "NETHERLANDS: A radical new way do fund science | BIEN". Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- PMID 30089925.
- OCLC 635336648.
- )
- OCLC 671654179.
- OCLC 162145073.
- OCLC 709670355.
- OCLC 646068257.
- )
- S2CID 213952232.
- ^ "Issues in Science and Technology".
- ^ "Science and Public Policy | Oxford Academic". OUP Academic. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ "Research Policy | Journal". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ "Journal of Science Policy and Governance".
External links
- Media related to Science policy at Wikimedia Commons