Use evidence-based methods for decision-making on complex policy issues

Now that the government has decided to make drastic cuts to the budget for science and scholarship, it is important to work on improving the science system as a whole. Effective decision-making on science policy is beneficial for everyone, and that is why The Young Academy is in favour of a method that improves the decision-making process. Academics usually help shape policy by participating in focus groups and surveys. But it is quite a challenge to assemble a representative focus group or draft a survey questionnaire in which respondents make truly informed choices. The Young Academy advocates using consultation methods, such as participatory value evaluation (PVE), to capture the widest possible range of inputs and to make well-informed decisions on complex science policy issues.

Experiment with research funding

To test the usefulness of this method, The Young Academy conducted its own PVE and asked more than 1,100 academics to share their views on the allocation of research funding. The results are documented in the report informed choices. Involving researchers in science policy decisions.

Research funding preferences

Here are a few of the key take-aways from the PVE on research funding:

• There is strong support for rolling grants, i.e. continuous, non-competitive funding.
• Grant dependency is perceived as a threat to academic freedom.
• Researchers at different career stages vary in their preferences, whereas preferences appear to differ less across disciplines.
• Even successful grant applicants and veterans of review committees do not consider the grant proposal review process ‘fair’.

Lessons learned from the PVE experiment

The Young Academy designed and carried out a consultation process involving a large group of respondents. Various lessons can be learned from its consultation. Proper time management in the planning and implementation phases and alignment with the target audience both help ensure that a PVE is applied in an appropriate context, i.e. to address wider issues and decision-making. Even broad consultations cannot guarantee a representative sample. The PVE should promote forward-thinking, with the dilemmas and consequences associated with the various options being explicitly stated. The Young Academy encourages policymaking bodies such as the Dutch Research Council and UNL to organise similar surveys on a regular basis.

Method

The Young Academy conducted a PVE in which respondents were asked to address complex issues as if they were confronted by the same dilemmas, limitations and consequences as those faced by policymakers. The consultation was conducted in May and June 2022. While academics at all Dutch universities participated, the response rates differed sharply between these institutions. The fully anonymised data from this survey are publicly available and accessible via GitHub.