Science of science policy (SoSP) is an emerging interdisciplinary research area that seeks to develop theoretical and empirical models of the scientific enterprise. This scientific basis can be used to help government, and society in general, make better R&D management decisions by establishing a scientifically rigorous, quantitative basis from which policy makers and researchers may assess the impacts of the nation's scientific and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

enterprise, improve their understanding of its dynamics, and assess the likely outcomes. Examples of research in the science of

science policy 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 funding of science, the careers of scientists, and the translation of scientific disc ...

include models to understand the production of science, qualitative,

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

and computational methods to estimate the impact of science, and processes for choosing from alternative science portfolios.

Federal SoSP effort

The

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

has long been a supporter of SoSP. In 2006, in response to

Office of Science and Technology Policy An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

Director John H. Marburger's challenge for a new "science of science policy," the

National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and ...

's Subcommittee on Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) established an Interagency Task Group on Science of Science Policy (ITG) to serve as part of the internal deliberative process of the Subcommittee. In 2008, the SoSP ITG developed and published The Science of Science Policy: A Federal Research Roadmap, which outlined the Federal efforts necessary for the long-term development of a science of science policy, and presented this Roadmap to the SoSP Community. The ITG's subsequent work has been guided by the questions outlined in the Roadmap and the action steps developed at the workshop. Furthermore, since 2007, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, in support of academic research to advance the field, has awarded grants from the Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program. The SciSIP research supports and complements the Federal SoSP efforts by providing new tools with immediate relevance to policymakers.

Science of Science and Innovation Policy program

The Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program was established at the National Science Foundation in 2005 in response to a call from

John Marburger John Harmen "Jack" Marburger III (February 8, 1941 – July 28, 2011) was an American physicist who directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the administration of President George W. Bush, serving as the Science Advisor to the Pr ...

for a "specialist scholarly community" to study the science of science policy. The program has three major goals: advancing

evidence-based Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. While seemingly obviously desirable, the proposal has been controversial, with some arguing that results may not specialize to indivi ...

science and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

policy decision making; building a scientific community to study science and innovation policy; and leveraging the experience of other countries. Between 2007 and 2011, over one hundred and thirty awards were made in five rounds of funding. The awardees include

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

s, sociologists,

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and l ...

s, and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

s. Some of these awards are already showing results in the form of papers, presentations, software, and data development.

Federal SoSP effort

Science of Science and Innovation Policy program

See also

References

Further reading