Metascience
New scientific discoveries are the basis of long-term economic growth, human health, and social progress. But despite how much the U.S. government spends on science, we know surprisingly little about how different structures, incentives, and organizational models shape the rate and direction of science. Over the past several decades, the structure of the scientific enterprise has changed dramatically, but the way we fund and incentivize science has remained static. FAS works to catalyze a more nimble science funding ecosystem, capable of keeping up with a rapidly changing enterprise and facilitating new innovations to improve the lives of people around the world. We source creative ideas for new scientific models, curate key evidence regarding the efficacy of programs and policies, and aim to break tacit knowledge out of old silos to keep data open and accessible.
FAS is eager to see implementation of metascience to measure what works, promote novel and effective research programs such as the work of the NSF X-Labs program, and create policy that enables the AI-enabled scientific enterprise to reach its full potential, safely.
We’ve identified the key ingredients of successful moonshots that meet the moment, and developed recommendations about what future efforts can and should look like.
Complex systems – from ecological to political to socio-technical – rarely change the way we expect.
The United States federal government invests nearly $150 billion annually in research and development. However, the supporting evidence generates wildly different estimates depending on the methods and available data.