Measuring science: Emerging tools for analysis of federal R&D investments

Abstract

Assessment of federal funding for scientific research and development (R&D) has broad relevance across academia, government and industry. Over the last 20 years, public policy decision-makers and federal administrators have generated legislation and guidelines for the development of new tools to support a deeper understanding of R&D investments. Led by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, STAR METRICS and Research.gov are two new R&D data systems. Following an overview of these systems and tools, we will present the findings of two portfolio analysis projects. The first applied a topic model approach to assess the current coverage of funding regarding the social aspects of environmental sustainability. The second project generated a novel conceptual framework to identify awards and assess outcome-based contributions to the "BioEconomy." We conclude with a presentation of the political and practical challenges that emerged during the portfolio assessment for the BioEconomy, and a discussion of implications for the wider use of these new systems.