Basic scientific research and technological development have had an enormous impact on innovation, economic growth, and social well-being. Yet science policy debates have long been dominated by advocates for particular scientific fields or missions. In the absence of a deeper understanding of the changing framework in which innovation occurs, policymakers cannot predict how best to make and manage investments to exploit our most promising and important opportunities. 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. The contributions in this book provide an overview of the current state of the science of science policy from three angles: theoretical, empirical, and policy in practice. They offer perspectives from the broader social science, behavioral science, and policy communities on the fascinating challenges and prospects in this evolving arena. Drawing on domestic and international experiences, the text delivers insights about the critical questions that create a demand for a science of science policy.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

This report characterizes the international responses to the changing demands on the science policy process. Chapter 1 discusses the role of science advice in government decision making with regard to such issues as the science/policy interface, the decision-making environment, internal procedures & outside advice, quality control, risk assessment, science communications, and science in a social context. Chapters 2 & 3 review the key elements of different systems of science advising, best practices, and approaches to risk assessment & public communications in the European Union, New Zealand, the Nordic Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, the World Bank, and national science academies. Chapter 4 contains case studies that examine the effective use of different principles for the incorporation of science into decision making. The final chapter reviews the main points & lessons learned.