Study led by Unicamp’s DPCT should help develop research and innovation policies
How to measure the impacts of excellence in research on society? This is the question that moves the project “Research and Innovation Research: Indicators, Methods and Evidence of Impacts”, coordinated by Professor Sergio Luiz Monteiro Salles Filho, of the Department of Science and Technology Policy (DPCT) at the Institute of Geosciences (IG) at Unicamp, and funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The team working in the project includes undergraduate and post-graduate students, professors, and employees from various research groups at Unicamp, such as the Laboratory of Studies on Research and Innovation (Lab-GEOPI), the Public Policy Studies Centre (NEPP) and the Higher Education Studies Laboratory (LEES). It also counts on partners such as the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) and the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF).
According to DPCT researcher Evandro Coggo Cristofoletti, one of the purposes of the research is to expand understanding – both in academia and in society in general – about the forms of production and use of knowledge and, thus, open new possibilities for organizing and promoting research and research-based innovation. With this in mind, it is essential to discuss the concept of excellence and research relevance to (re)think research, development and innovation (RDI) policies and strategies, particularly in connection with its relationship with economic, social and environmental development and with different segments of society, which include health, education, mobility, competitiveness, among others. The challenge is to create metrics and indicators of aspects of the production of scientific knowledge of excellence and social significance.
Put differently, the research aims to conduct cross-border research on indicators and methods related to the dynamics of scientific and technological knowledge production, its relations with the use of knowledge and its consequences on society. Four topic research fronts were created for this purpose.
The first is called ‘Linking funding to research impacts’, with the challenge of developing methodologies that allow linking research funding and its results to its uses and impacts on society.
The second research front is called ‘New forms of prioritization, selection and decision on research funding’, which intends to discuss and test different forms of selecting investments in research and innovation in the development agencies (in addition to peer review).
The third front, called ‘Professional paths and researchers’ mobility ‘, is intended to identify and trace work paths and the dynamics of researchers’ mobility, primarily taking into account – individual and collective (economic, social and cultural) – returns on investments in training highly qualified professionals.
On the fourth front of the project, ‘Indicators and methodologies for the analysis of higher education institutions (HEIs) and Science and Technology Institutions (STIs)’, the challenge is to develop new typologies of higher education and research institutions that are more accurate in relation to the characteristics of these institutions in their composition and nature, as well as how they contribute to society (training, research, continuing education, among other aspects).
The teams involved in each work front have been exploring new databases and sources of bibliometric data, as well as debating the potential for using new statistical and econometric methods for measuring and creating indicators. “It is important to point out that the project relies on the active participation and experience of FAPESP’s Indicators Management team, which has been developing analyses on scientific and technological production in the state of São Paulo for several years”, stated Cristofoletti.
According to him, the research is still in its initial phase, but its results have the potential to be applied and have a direct impact on the planning of Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) policies and strategies, focusing on financing, as well as supporting greater accountability and advocacy with internal and external actors in the research community and society in general, demonstrating the effects of investment in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). “Debating and measuring the social impacts of research becomes an even more important challenge in view of a scenario of (political, social, economic) devaluation of science and the university”, he concludes.
Article originally posted in Jornal da Unicamp by PATRICIA MARIUZZO.