New RoRI Working Paper: Why generic indicators for research culture don't work The study examines the feasibility of defining & tracking indicators for research culture & environment, exploring the structural data gaps and feedback mismatches in current systems: rori.figshare.com/articles/pre...

RoRI’s @stephenpinfield.bsky.social talked to @resprofnews.bsky.social (£) about the push to pay peer reviewers. He argues that instead of a "sticking plaster" fix, we need reform that makes review work visible and professionally valued: www.researchprofessional.com/news-article...

‘AI-assisted grants: prioritize fairness with excellence.’ Thoughtful editorial in @nature.com sparked by the article @profgeraintrees.bsky.social & I wrote last week, plus ongoing debates at ERC about how to cope with volume/demand spikes www.nature.com/articles/d41... @rorinstitute.bsky.social

A new editorial in @nature.com highlights how the "AI grant flood" is forcing funding agencies to find fair rationales for rejection. Building on our recent analysis, the piece notes that with peer review facing a crisis, the search for equitable countermeasures is on: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Our Experimental Funders Group meets quarterly to discuss experimental methods. Next up: AI in Funding on 13 May, featuring insights from Stanford Impact Labs and the DSIT/UKRI Metascience Unit. Open to all research funders. Register: forms.gle/TV9DdsAHHP5a...

The Cultural Traction project (funded by UKRI’s Metascience scheme) is hosting a webinar on 14 May to explore the gap between official university policies and the reality of day-to-day research life: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Following our study in Nature, @timeshighered.bsky.social reports on the 142% surge in applications for some funding schemes: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/researc... With the system under strain, funders must move beyond bans to new ways of assessing quality.

The art of the impact case study researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/the-art-of... We loved the message in this @rorinstitute.bsky.social blog that impact is more than just dissemination or engagement in and of itself - the important element is the actual change your research produces!

A new report suggests that up to 89% of the costs of research grant peer review are borne by applicants. James Coe explores this "inefficiency market" in @wonkhe.bsky.social and asks why such a high-cost, low-success architecture remains so resistant to change: wonkhe.com/blogs/expens...

It's been interesting and illuminating reading responses to this article - here; on LinkedIn, and unbelievably, Mastodon. I've learned a lot, and refined my thinking a little. If I were to rewrite it now, I'd frame things a little differently.

Could agentic AI topple grant-funding systems? New article in @nature.com by @profgeraintrees.bsky.social & me, with data from 12 funders showing a 57% increase in grant applications since 2022 (& the launch of LLMs) rdcu.be/ffApn @rorinstitute.bsky.social @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social

🇯🇵 Metascience is gaining serious momentum in Japan. This new report on the Tokyo Metascience Meetup 2026 sheds light on how the field is being formally integrated into policy: researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/the-enthus...

“If we don’t change our approach, we are probably 18 months away from the system collapsing entirely." RoRI’s @jameswilsdon.bsky.social tells @resprofnews.bsky.social that agentic AI is pushing grant systems to a breaking point: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

RoRI’s @scurry.bsky.social joins Andy Tattersall on the Under Review podcast to discuss the staggering hidden costs of burying negative results and how we can finally start rewarding rigour over "exciting" outcomes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Ps...

Is research funding facing an "agentic" collapse? In @nature.com today, RoRI’s @jameswilsdon.bsky.social & @profgeraintrees.bsky.social warn that AI agents are overwhelming a system built for a pre-AI world. We need AI-native funding, not unenforceable bans. Read the piece: tinyurl.com/mtxpcf7k

LATEST on the @rorinstitute.bsky.social Substack: Marta Wróblewska offer 10 practical suggestions on how to write an impactful impact case study: open.substack.com/pub/research...

Great to be in sunny Leusden, NL at the International School for Philosophy (ISVW) for the 2026 RoRI Research Retreat. And here’s (most of!) RoRI’s research and operational team — huge thanks to them all for everything they’ve contributed over the past year. @rorinstitute.bsky.social @cwts.nl

Great day in Den Haag with RoRI partners NWO and ZonMw diving into funder experiments, impact pathways, and global metascience movements. International partnerships like this are essential for strengthening the evidence base and networks needed to improve how research is funded and practiced.

Writing a great Impact Case Study can take as much time as writing a research paper. In today's post, Marta Natalia Wróblewska PhD shares ten practical observations from her experience as "Impact Ninja": researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/the-art-of...

Institutions and teams, not ‘superstar’ academics, must be the heart of the research funding system. RoRI's Peter Kolarz argues that the competitive funding model is at a breaking point and requires an urgent shift toward systemic reforms: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

We’ve added two new countries to RoRI’s Atlas of Assessment: Estonia 🇪🇪 and Sweden 🇸🇪. The Atlas provides an overview of how research is assessed around the world to help policymakers & researchers compare national approaches: researchonresearch.org/atlas/

Provocative NEW POST on the @rorinstitute.bsky.social Substack: @cash4questions.bsky.social asks how universities and funders might 'cull' uncompetitive research grant applications to relieve unsustainable pressures on the system. researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/reducing-w...

What if we prevented the least competitive 20% of grant applications from being submitted? Adam Golberg (Strategic Research Development Manager at the University of Nottingham) argues this could ease pressure across the funding system: researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/reducing-w...

The time has come for big changes to research funding. New piece by RoRI’s Peter Kolarz on why incremental fixes may no longer be enough: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

The competitive #researchfunding system is at breaking point. In our new Perspective, Peter Kolarz from @rorinstitute.bsky.social argues for whole system transformation, as innovations to address ongoing problems will not suffice. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4mjCi0g

Our partners @fwf-at.bsky.social have launched a new Open API, providing open, machine-readable access to data on FWF-funded projects and outputs: www.fwf.ac.at/en/news/deta...

NEW on the @rorinstitute.bsky.social Substack: @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy muses on an exploration of the curious interaction between theory testability and the distribution of scholarly prestige. open.substack.com/pub/research...

Academic research doesn’t just run on funding and ideas; it also runs on prestige. RoRI's @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy on new research by Kurtis Hingl on how the “credibility revolution” in economics reshaped prestige economy: researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/good-inves...

Equity in science isn’t just about good intentions; it’s about the systems that reward, recognise, and reinforce certain actors over others. Similo Ngwenya discusses why Global North–South research partnerships alone can’t fix systemic inequities in science: open.substack.com/pub/research...

💸 India spends as much on journal subscriptions as on funding an entire national research agency. Moumita Koley and Chandan G.​​Nagarajappa write about India's massive subscription scheme - and why its impact may not match the cost: open.substack.com/pub/research...

AI reviewed a psychology paper published after human peer review. It was far more rigorous, repeatedly flagging a key unresolved assumption. What happens if AI peer review does its job too well? researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/no-paper-i...

NEW POST from @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy on the @rorinstitute.bsky.social substack taking a closer look at the point of no return in research funding processes. open.substack.com/pub/research...

We're launching a new Research on Research seminar series for early career researchers! A space to share your work, brainstorm in-progress projects, or explore fresh ideas for advancing metascience. Stay updated or register to present: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We are delighted to join RoRI as Core Partners. We share the view that responsive, impactful, and fair research is essential to tackling the unprecedented global challenges of our time. SHAPE research drives economic growth, improves wellbeing, and enhances understanding of people and societies.

In our latest Substack, RoRI's @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy takes on the question: is there a point where the effort spent applying for and reviewing grants outweighs the value of the funding itself? Read the piece here: researchonresearchinstitute.substack.com/p/the-point-...

We are pleased to announce two new Core Partners: ZonMw, the Dutch Organisation for knowledge and innovation in health and well-being, and @britishacademy.bsky.social, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences: researchonresearch.org/rori-welcome...

Looking forward to lots of lively metascience discussion on the new @rorinstitute.bsky.social substack. Read my inaugural post to find out what we’re up to.

RoRI is now on Substack! With Go Meta!, we’re joining the growing metascience conversation with essays, reflections & provocations on how research is funded and evaluated. Our first post, by @scurry.bsky.social, reflects on his journey into metascience: open.substack.com/pub/research...

We’ve started work on a new project: PATHWAYS – Advancing Research on Research use to enhance positive impact 🧩 Funders want research to make a difference, but how exactly does research travel from publication to use to impact? Read more: researchonresearch.org/project/path...

📢 New RoRI Working Paper: Does targeted research funding reshape research landscapes? New RoRI evidence from Norway and Switzerland suggests shifts in research topics are gradual - and similar under both targeted and non-targeted funding: researchonresearch.org/does-targete...

RoRI’s Seunghyun Lee and @jameswilsdon.bsky.social joined discussions at the OECD Global Science Forum in Paris on rethinking research assessment & incentives. Assessment reform is moving to the centre of research policy debates; read the full write-up here: researchonresearch.org/rethinking-r...

We’re co-organising a Eu-SPRI Forum 2026 track on how research funding instruments support science and innovation policy: their rationales, design and effects. See full details here: euspri2026.webs.upv.es/index.php/ca... Submission deadline: 16 February 2026

The ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council is doubling down on distributed peer review (DPR). In new applicant-led pilots launching in 2026, ESRC will use DPR for its new Connect scheme, building on earlier UKRI pilots that “worked really well”: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Innovation in scientific publishing and its implications for Crossref DOI registration practices - MetaROR’s approach doi.org/10.64000/vfe... Together with @andre-brasil.bsky.social I just published this blog post about @crossref.bsky.social DOI registration practices for @metaror.bsky.social.

New country added to the Atlas of Assessment: Slovakia 🇸🇰: researchonresearch.org/observatory/... RoRI's Atlas of Assessment brings together curated, quality-assured information on how research is assessed and funded across countries.

In this new video, RoRI's Helen Buckley Woods and @jameswilsdon.bsky.social introduce metascience, explaining why it brings together researchers, funders, policymakers and infrastructure providers: youtu.be/P_xv4IPveFw?...

"Behind the Scenes" is a new online seminar series on how research papers actually get made: from early ideas and methods to revisions and publication. Next up: Nihar Shah on peer review (Wed 4 Feb). More info: www.bts-seminar.net

📢 Join RoRI's @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy on 22 Jan for a discussion on how AI is being used in research funding. Tom will share insights from funders’ experiences & discuss principles for making progress in this fast-evolving area. Register here: zonmw.webinargeek.com/funder-exper...

In a new @wonkhe.bsky.social piece, RoRI fellows Anna Butters and @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy explore distributed peer review - and what it can (and can’t) fix: wonkhe.com/blogs/a-new-...

NEW on Wonkhe: Tom Stafford and Anna Butters show that an alternative approach to funding evaluation is possible – its name is distributed peer review buff.ly/XVwMKu0