The Challenge of SciSIP

The National Science Foundation's Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) Program was begun as a means to address increasing calls for the science community to be held accountable for the societal impacts of science and technology. This trend highlights the growing awareness that the reservoir model of science policy, which states that investments in scientific research will result - automatically and inevitably - in future societal good, is no longer an appropriate description of the relationship between science and society. The SciSIP program is an attempt to re-think that relationship by investing in research on the science policy process.

To date, however, SciSIP has put most of its resources to date in measuring the inputs and outputs of R&D, reinforcing the reservoir model rather than developing critiques of it. This may be in part a reflection of the rather narrow cohort of disciplines that have applied for grants; but it is also because the SciSIP research portfolio is largely focused on economic growth instead of examining the multi-faceted relationship between science and society. Continuing along this path may provide measures of the outputs, but not the outcomes, of investments in science and technology.