Programme / Ministerial roundtable II – Policy for Science: Balancing Risk and Reward

Summary of the session by session rapporteur Dr Zoltán Micskei, Associate Professor, Budapest University of Technology and Economics:

The roundtable focused on science policy through the lens of the policymaker. The speakers shared their viewpoints on how policymakers think about science. They underscored that science could have a broad impact beyond publications on society, economics, and all aspects of life. Moderator Peter Gluckman opened the panel by pointing out that allocation of funding or grants is only part of science policy issues. Governments address the question of science from a different angle: what value and impact does the spending on science have on the country? Policymakers fund research not only to produce new knowledge but also to support policy development and economic growth and provide stewardship for their citizens.

Asad Ramzanali highlighted that R&D spending shows that you believe in your future. The impact can be seen only after decades of breakthrough developments, as this was the case with the mRNA vaccines. Ramzanali presented several new funding and policy mechanisms supposed to support today's challenges.

Daniel Filmus presented the severe dilemma that lower-middle-income economies face: balancing spending on urgent issues and on that of research bringing a more prolonged impact. He emphasized that countries cannot overcome poverty without science and that cooperation between countries is essential in solving humanity's global problems.

Vahan Agopyan stressed that innovation is not restricted to making money from research. Innovation is transferring research results to society. He pointed out that sound public policies should be based on evidence, but this requires the contribution of proactive researchers as the activities involved in research continue after publishing a paper. To get the greatest impact from research, he recommended providing autonomy to research institutions and funding agencies and providing transparency of research spending and its impact.

Clarissa Rios Rojas explained policies on existential risks through the topic of bioweapons. She pointed out that we need to adapt and evolve the conventions signed in the last century to cope with the challenges in this technological era.

The roundtable closed with collecting arguments for investing in science, even in lower-income countries. On the one hand, these countries have the capability and human capacity to perform research, and their specific problems have not been solved elsewhere. On the other hand, cooperation between countries is fundamental for science.