National Science Foundation Collaborates with UK on Metascience to Improve Research Grant Processes
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced a collaboration on metascience, which involves using scientific methods to study how research is funded and conducted. This partnership, declared on October 8, aims to explore cooperation in data analysis and coordinated experiments to improve grant-awarding processes. The UKRI has already piloted new methods for reviewing grants, while the NSF has not yet specified when its own tests will commence. This initiative follows the NSF's September 10 memo announcing its Office of Metascience, which seeks to increase 'scientific productivity and impact' per federal research dollar, track grant turnaround times, and support 'high-potential ideas that may be too divisive for committee consensus.' The collaboration builds on the Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science, endorsed by the U.S. and 16 other countries, which advocates for metascience to enhance the conduct, organization, and funding of science.
