Abstract

Research funders, research institutions—and, of course, researchers themselves—have shown impressive agility in their responses to COVID-19 over the past 18 months. Resources have been mobilised at great speed, often through novel funding instruments, to support vital research into the acute health and social challenges the crisis has generated. This session will look beyond these immediate responses to consider ways in which the pandemic is likely to influence the longer-term policies and priorities of research funders through what some have dubbed the ‘COVID decade’.

If we think of initial research funding responses to the pandemic as a first wave, we’re now seeing a gradual shift in emphasis towards second wave challenges—the myriad ways in which the post-pandemic recovery poses challenges and choices for governments and societies. Beyond this, we can discern – if still fuzzily – the outlines of a third wave of effects on research systems: potential shifts in the overall size and scale of the R&D enterprise; in the balance between different disciplines and priority areas; in the appetite for investing in pandemic preparedness, but also broader resilience in the face of risks, uncertainties and unknowns that may lie ahead. The session will bring together a panel of leaders from the international funding community to reflect on post-pandemic lessons and opportunities, and the role that metascience can play in informing these.