Work

A Better Way to Classify Science

Machine Learning & Science

Evgeny Klochikhin and Patrick Lambe published a piece in Research Fortnight on how to build better science taxonomies to improve science policy and reporting practices.

Washington, D.C. Jul 2015

A Q&A with the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science

Collaborating on the new endeavor that is seeking to better understand the workings, output, and value of the science enterprise

In recent years, there’s been growing interest in finding ways to better evaluate the public science and technology enterprise: how it works, how it could work better, and what we’re ultimately getting out of it. Now, a group of experts is hoping to take a step forward on some of these questions through a new research endeavor, dubbed the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science, or IRIS.

Washington, D.C. Apr 2015

Astral – Applying the STAR METRICS approach in Europe

Collaborators at the University of Strasbourg implement a pilot initiative to document the effects of research

Researchers at the University of Strasbourg have implemented a system called Astral which parallels the efforts of STAR METRICS to capture the effects of European investments in science and innovation.

Strasbourg, France Oct 2014

A call to action on social science, big data and privacy

By Julia Lane

In the digital world, anonymity and informed consent are no longer meaningful. A global effort is needed to devise new protocols and regulations for research, says Julia Lane in a Research Fortnight article.

Nov 2014

The Big Data Debate

A Review of Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good

Fred H. Cate reviews Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good for Science Magazine. The book which presents framework for engaging with public use big-data was co-edited by Julia Lane, Victoria Stodden, Stefan Bender, and Helen Nissenbaum.

Washington, D.C. Nov 2014

Bringing Big Data to Statistical Agencies

A class on innovation

Julia Lane and several other instructors discuss the results of the first Big Data course for US Census Bureau and US Patent and Trademark Office employees. The paper discusses the course’s focus on using big data tools to measure innovation and presents some of the preliminary results found by students.

Washington, D.C. Nov 2014

New Linked Data on Research Investments

Science Workforce, Productivity, and Public Value

This paper describes the UMETRICS data initiative that has been implemented under the auspices of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. The resulting data set reflects an emerging conceptual framework for analyzing the process, products, and impact of research. It grows from and engages the work of a diverse and vibrant community. This paper situates the UMETRICS effort in the context of research evaluation and ongoing data infrastructure efforts in order to highlight its novel and valuable features.

Washington, D.C. Oct 2014

New Numbers for Old Questions

By Evgeny Klochikhin

Science Funding

Do we know what we get for our money?

Julia Lane and Jason Owen-Smith write a brief commentary on the ability to track science innovation from Federal investment. They also discuss the new efforts to broaden our understanding of the return on science investment.

Washington, D.C. Sep 2014

Digital Science Launches Workshop Reports

Breaking the Silos

Digital Science, a start-up science software platform developer, has launched a new series of reports from their workshop series on the research landscape.

New York, New York Aug 2014

How to better allocate research money and fix a flawed system

The Conversation, Australia

Presented at the ESAMACE 2014 conference in Hobart, a joint conference between the Econometric Society Australasia Meeting and the Australian Conference of Economists.

Washington, D.C. Jul 2014

Science Magazine Policy Forum, April 4

Science Funding and Short-Term Economic Activity

UMETRICS researchers describe initial findings on the organization of federally funded science research teams at 9 Midwestern universities. They also demonstrate the far-reaching economic effects of research dollars that are spent on an array of goods and services to support the research enterprise.

Apr 2014

Researchers’ skills have yet to catch up with Big Data

By Evgeny Klochikhin

US National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan

STARMETRICS recommended to support impact evaluation in the US NNI Strategic Plan

The latest strategic plan for the US NNI highlights the STARMETRICS program as potential platform to assess the impacts of the US nanotechnology R&D; enterprise. “Developing and utilizing better data and tools would enable clearer documentation of the Nation’s returns on its nanotechnology investments.”

Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good

Edited by Julia Lane, Victoria Stodden, Stefan Bender, and Helen Nissenbaum

The overarching goal of the book is to identify ways in which vast new sets of data on human beings can be collected, integrated, and analysed to improve evidence based decision making while protecting confidentiality. The Big Data book is edited by Julia Lane, Victoria Stodden, Stefan Bender and Helen Nissenbaum and publication is planned for August, 2014.

Julia Lane gives interview to CHE

“It’s going beyond this mechanical magic-multiplier stuff”

The Chronicle of Higher Education covers the UMETRICS Policy Forum piece in the April 4 issue of Science Magazine. Paul Basken describes how UMETRICS data is a critical first milestone in the long road to tracking the economic value of public investments in production of scientific research.

Apr 2014

Privacy, Big Data, and Statistical Research

By Julia Lane and Victoria Stodden

Guest column in ASA’s Amstat News Membership Magazine

Dec 2013

Federal Research Funding Report

Documenting the effects of decreases in Federal funding

New Approaches To Describing Research Investments

By Julia Lane, David Newman, and Rebecca F. Rosen

In this report, we explain how one such approach – topic modeling – was used to describe scientific research portfolios in France and the United States.

Washington, D.C. May 2013

Overview of the Science of Science Policy Symposium

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Governments across the world are investing large amounts of money in scientific research, often with the belief that such investments will increase economic growth–yet the scientific evidence for this belief is, as Colin Macilwain notes, “patchy.”

Apr 2012

The Science of Science Policy

Edited By Kaye Husbands Fealing, Julia I. Lane, John H. Marburger III, and Stephanie S. Shipp

Since 2005, a science of science policy has developed rapidly in response to policymakers’ increased demands for better tools and the social sciences’ capacity to provide them. The Science of Science Policy: A Handbook brings together some of the best and brightest minds working in science policy to explore the foundations of an evidence-based platform for the field.

Jul 2011

STAR METRICS & the Science of Science Policy

By Mark Largent & Julia Lane

STAR METRICS is a data platform that is being voluntarily and collaboratively developed by U.S. federal science agencies and research institutions to describe investments in science and their results.

Washington, D.C. May 2012