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.
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.
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
Science funding agencies are biased against risk, making transformative research difficult to fund. Forecast-based approaches to grantmaking could improve funding outcomes for high-risk, high-reward research.
Collaboration between federal agencies and academic researchers is an important tool for public policy. This primer provides an initial set of questions and topics for agencies to consider when exploring academic partnership.