Science Policy

Universidad e investigación: la financiacion competitiva de los proyectos de I+D a de Investigaciones Sociológicas, n. 109, pp. 181-218.

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Luis Sanz Menéndez (2005)
“Universidad e investigación: la financiación competitiva de los proyectos de I+D, con especial referencia a las ciencias sociales y económicas”,

Published in "Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas", n. 109, pp. 181-218.

El objetivo de este trabajo es medir la relación de las universidades con la investigación. Se trata de situar a cada... more El objetivo de este trabajo es medir la relación de las universidades con la investigación. Se trata de situar a cada universidad en escalas relativas de capacidad investigadora, de esfuerzo u orientación hacia la investigación y de excelencia investigadora. El método utilizado se basa en el análisis de los resultados agregados de la competencia que los investigadores desarrollan por la financiación pública de la I+D. El periodo utilizado para la construcción de los datos corresponde a los proyectos de I+D financiados por la Administración General del Estado entre 1996 y 2001, a través de los Programas Nacionales de I+D y del Programa de Promoción General del Conocimiento (PGC). De modo singular se analizarán las actividades de investigación en el ámbito de las Ciencias Sociales y Económicas.

Politische Soziologie technischer Prüfungen. Das Beispiel Straßenverkehrssicherheit <2012>

by Joerg Potthast

discussion paper

Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical... more Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical understand of "testing"; accounts for the history of car safety between late 1960s and 2006.

The Promise and Perils of Transformative Research

by J Britt Holbrook

Workshop conversations cluster under the four headings of the history and definitions, promotion, evaluation, and... more Workshop conversations cluster under the four headings of the history and definitions, promotion, evaluation, and integration of transformative research (TR): 1. History and Definitions: The National Science Board's 2007 report (NSB-07-32) on transformative research called for more effort directed at defining TR. The present report offers additional context and clarity regarding meanings of the term. But it also argues that there are virtues in leaving the term open to multiple interpretations. 2. Promotion: The report welcomes new mechanisms for promoting TR, such as NSF 'CREATIV' grants. It embraces additional means for promoting TR, such as increased emphasis on interdisciplinary research, and explores how different interpretations of how TR occurs imply different strategies for promoting TR. It also calls for increased attention to the broader societal impacts of TR at the levels of policy, of NSF programs, and of individual research projects. 3. Evaluation: The report emphasizes the need to develop means for evaluating attempts to promote TR. It also concludes that research should be directed toward evaluating transformative research at the project level. 4. Integration: The report suggests that consideration of the broader societal impacts of TR be fully integrated with transformative research itself. Attention to the broader impacts of TR should inform the development of policies and programs designed to promote TR, for instance through the creation of mechanisms such as an Advisory Committee for Transformative Research (ACTR).

Whose Science?'Precaution and Power-Play In European Marine Environmental Decision-Making

by Elizabeth De Santo

This paper explores the science-policy interface in environmental decision-making in the European Community (EC ) as... more This paper explores the science-policy interface in environmental decision-making in the European Community (EC ) as it moves towards its stated aims of implementing a precautionary and ecosystem-based approach to marine environmental management. Whilst recent EC case law has clarified some questions of Member State responsibilities under international environmental obligations, recent case studies at the crossing point between marine nature conservation and fisheries management in EC waters raise questions about the role of science in policy-making in Brussels. This has important implications for the developing EC Integrated Maritime Policy and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and the concept of Maritime Spatial Planning as a whole. A new paradigm for bridging the science-policy gap is required in light of the developing legislative framework and given the complex nature of the marine environment.

Varieties of Biosocial Imagination: Responding to Climate Change and Antibiotic Resistance

by Nick Lee

An extract of a draft paper currently under review.

Co-authored with Johanna Motzkau

The authors present climate change and antibiotic resistance as emergent biosocial phenomena – ongoing products of... more The authors present climate change and antibiotic resistance as emergent biosocial phenomena – ongoing products of massively multiple interactions amongst human lifestyles and broader life processes. They argue that response to climate change and antibiotic resistance is often framed by two varieties of biosocial imagination. Anthropocentric imaginations privilege the question of human distinctiveness. Anthropomorphic imaginations privilege the question of whether biosocial processes can be modelled in terms of centres of moral and causal responsibility. Together, these frame the matter of response in terms of deliberate human action. The authors argue that, considered as emergent biosocial phenomena, climate change and antibiotic resistance ‘diffract’ deliberate human action and thus limit the value of this frame by rendering the human/nonhuman and intended/nonintended distinctions that are crucial to its practical operation locally irrelevant. Alternative biosocial imaginations currently developing around climate change and antibiotic resistance that allow for ‘diffraction’ and therefore frame response differently are considered.

Participatory geographic information systems for the co-production of science and policy in an emerging boundary organization

by Bethany Cutts

B.B. Cutts, D.D. White, A.P. Kinzig (2011) Participatory geographic information systems for the co-production of science and policy in an emerging boundary organization, 977–985. In Environmental Science & Policy 14 (8).

Boundary organizations are designed to stabilize the relationship between science and policy communities. The... more Boundary organizations are designed to stabilize the relationship between science and policy communities. The literature emphasizes that products (i.e., boundary objects) should be salient, legitimate, and credible to both communities. The related field of participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) focuses on creating useful products (i.e., maps and geographic information systems) in an explicitly political environment. PGIS focuses more directly on the ways in which people may engage with information and power dynamics between actors. We argue that the epistemological parallels between PGIS and boundary organization research create an opportunity to fuse approaches to the advantage of both fields. Combining approaches facilitates communication and provides opportunities to negotiate conflict between science and policy. We apply the frames to a public information project conducted in a water resource decision-making boundary organization in Phoenix, Arizona. Through participatory action research, we evaluate the extent to which relation- ships between saliency, legitimacy, and credibility across change through time and interact with one another. We find that the boundary organization framework provides a unique role for science in framing questions and evaluating the feasibility of environmental manage- ment solutions. However, it neither guides the process of generating boundary objects nor adequately conceptualizes heterogeneity within the policy community. PGIS highlights processes internal to the policy community driving low levels of political support for initial maps of public information programs. Credibility improved after participants discussed why they felt maps lacked legitimacy, and credibility. Discussion among policy makers at a meeting convened by scientists improved legitimacy and credibility. Despite policy involve- ment in the process of generating research questions, the saliency of the map remained low. Policy stakeholders viewed the map as a necessary precursor to more usable science in the future rather than a as boundary object per se. The framework developed and applied in this paper is relevant to research centers and projects that intend to link policy and science that have stronger formal ties of accountability to science through funding.

Reassessing the Science-Society Relation -- The Case of the US National Science Foundation's Broader Impacts Merit Review Criterion (1997-2011)

by J Britt Holbrook

In 2005, I published the first scholarly article on the US National Science Foundation’s Broader Impacts Merit Review... more In 2005, I published the first scholarly article on the US National Science Foundation’s Broader Impacts Merit Review Criterion. In the intervening years, much has happened, both in terms of scholarship on the Broader Impacts Criterion and in terms of the Broader Impacts Criterion itself. Here, I revisit that original article, answering some questions, filling in some blanks, expanding some bits, contracting others, updating and generally rethinking the whole thing. The National Science Board has also rethought the Broader Impacts Criterion, and 2011 marks the gestation, if not the birth, of a much different criterion, a sort of Broader Impacts 2.0. Now, then, seems like the perfect time to think once again about NSF’s Broader Impacts Criterion and about the dialectic between the values of autonomy and accountability in the science – society relation.

Weighing Complex Evidence in a Democratic Society

by Heather Douglas

Forthcoming in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Summer 2012
Copyright 2012 Johns Hopkins University Press.

Weighing complex sets of evidence (i.e., from multiple disciplines and often divergent in implications) is... more Weighing complex sets of evidence (i.e., from multiple disciplines and often divergent in implications) is increasingly central to properly informed decision-making.  Determining “where the weight of evidence lies” is essential both for making maximal use of available evidence and figuring out what to make of such evidence.  Weighing evidence in this sense requires an approach that can handle a wide range of evidential sources (completeness), that can combine the evidence with rigor, and can do so in a way other experts can assess and critique (transparency).  But the democratic context in need of weight of evidence analysis also places additional constraints on the process, including communicability of the process to the general public, the need for an approach that can be used across a broad range of contexts (scope), and timeliness of process (practicality).  Qualitative and quantitative approaches will be compared with respect to both traditional epistemic criteria and criteria that arise from the democratic context.  I will argue that a qualitative explanatory approach can best meet the criteria and elucidate how to utilize the other approaches.  This should not be surprising, as the approach I argue for is the one that most closely tracks general scientific reasoning.

An output perspective on the teaching–research nexus: an analysis focusing on the United States higher education system

by Hugo Horta

Horta, H., Dautel, V., and Veloso, F., (2012), "An Output Perspective on the Teaching/Research Nexus: an analysis focusing on the US higher education system”, Studies in Higher Education, 37, 2, 171-187.

This empirical study demonstrates that teaching and research can be leveraged synergistically and contribute to... more This empirical study demonstrates that teaching and research can be leveraged synergistically and contribute to research outputs. In particular, it is critical to consider the nature of the learning environment associated with the teaching effort. First, by distinguishing between graduate and undergraduate education, the authors conclude that involvement in graduate teaching can play a significant role in driving research output. Moreover, both undergraduate and graduate students can provide a valuable contribution to the productivity of faculty members if
integrated in research activities where teaching and research are combined within a learning perspective.

Bringing S&T Human Resources back in: The Spanish Ramón y Cajal Programme

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Laura Cruz Castro y Luis Sanz-Menéndez (2005) “Bringing S&T Human Resources back in: The Spanish Ramón y Cajal Programme”, Science and Public Policy vol 32, n.1. February 2005, 39-53.

This article analyses a government policy initiative that aimed to increase the number of researchers in the public... more This article analyses a government policy initiative that aimed to increase the number of researchers in the public research sector working in conditions equivalent to the tenure track, and to cope with the problems of employability, stabilisation and working conditions of PhDs. The paper describes the situation of science and technology (S&T) human resources in the context of Spanish research policy and explains the mechanisms by which policy-makers link problems and solutions in the context of a policy sequence, by analysing a case that deals with Spain’s main problems in S&T human resources in the public sector.

Competition for funding as an indicator of research competitiveness: The Spanish R&D government funding”,

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Clara Eugenia García; Luis Sanz Menéndez (2005) “Competition for funding as an indicator of research competitiveness: The Spanish R&D government funding”, Scientometrics, vol. 64, n.3, August 2005, pp. 271-300

Research quality is the cornerstone of modern science, it is used in the understanding of reputational differences... more Research quality is the cornerstone of modern science, it is used in the understanding of reputational differences among scientific and academic institutions. Traditionally, scientific activity is measured by a set of indicators and well-established bibliometric techniques based on the number of academic papers published in top-ranked journals or on the number of citations of these papers. These indicators are usually critical in measuring differences in research performance, both at individual and at scientific institutional levels. In this paper, we introduce an alternative and complementary set of indicators based on the results of competition for research funding, that aims to enlarge the framework in which research performance has traditionally been measured. Theoretical support for this paper is found in the role that the search for funding plays in the researchers. credibility cycle as well as in peer review, the basic instrument for the allocation of public R&D funds. Our method analyses the outcomes of the researchers. struggle for funding, using data from research proposal applications and awards, as the unit of observation, and aggregating them by research institutions to rank them in relative scales of research competitiveness.

The vicissitudes of Spanish science and technology policy: coordination and leadership

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Luis Sanz Menéndez, Emilio Muñoz & Clara E. Garcia (1993):
"The vicissitudes of Spanish science and technology policy".
Published in "Science and Public Policy" vol. 20, n. 6, December, pp. 370-380.
(and as Working Paper CSIC-IESA-93-13, September 1993).

In the last ten years, Spain has faced a modernization process
after a complex democratic transition and major... more In the last ten years, Spain has faced a modernization process
after a complex democratic transition and major change,
involving a more European outlook in terms of its structures
and behaviour. To modernize meant to measure itself by
European standards and to enter institutions. Spain signed its
entry into the European Community in 1985.
This article is about science and technology in the
context of the broad process of modernization and change
supported by the Spanish Government. Science and new
technologies were at the forefront of the political concerns
of the early socialist governments, in contrast to the
previous regime or to the government of the U.C.D. (Unión del
Centro Democratico -- a centrist party). Furthermore, its
actions brought about a quantitative and qualitative change in
science and technology with respect to the past. However, the
situation in recent times has changed drastically

Technology policy in Spain: issues, concerns and problems

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Luis Sanz Menéndez & Emilio Muñoz (1994):
"Technology Policy in Spain: Issues, Concerns and Problems".
Published in G.Aichholzer & G. Schienstock, eds.,
"Technology policy: towards an integration of social and ecological concerns",
De Gruyter: Berlin-New York, 1994, pp.349-374. .

Explaining changes and continuity in EU technology policy: The politics of ideas

by Luis Sanz-Menendez

Luis Sanz Menéndez & Susana Borras (2001):
“Explaining changes and continuity in EU technology policy: the politics of ideas”.
Published in Simon Dresner & Nigel Gilbert eds.
"Changing European Research System"
Aldershot: Ashgate Press, pp. 28-51. .

Practising interdisciplinarity in the interplay between disciplines: experiences of established researchers

by Melf-Hinrich Ehlers

Unfolding the challenges of delegating research services for innovation and entrepreneurship in smallholder agriculture

by Laxmi Pant

Five Problems in Current Ethnobotanical Research—and Some Suggestions for Strengthening Them

by Ulysses Albuquerque

A qualidade das publicações científicas–considerações de um Editor de Área ao final do mandato

by Ulysses Albuquerque

The tyranny of the impact factor: why do we still want to be subjugated?

by Ulysses Albuquerque

The tragedy of the common reviewers: the peer review process

by Ulysses Albuquerque