Two-thirds of researchers globally say there is now more emphasis on producing research aligned with government priorities compared with a few years ago, a major survey has found.

In a new poll of 3,234 researchers published by Elsevier on 4 November, 67 per cent agree that there is more pressure to focus on “mission-orientated” research than in recent years.

Half of researchers (50 per cent) also state that research must always have real-world benefit, up seven percentage points since 2022, when Elsevier conducted a similar survey.

Pressure to do more impactful research was strongest in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East-Africa regions where about 80 per cent of researchers said they felt more pushed towards “mission-orientated” research.

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In North America, only 46 per cent of researchers polled felt more pressured to align their research with government priorities, while the figure was 60 per cent in Europe.

Asked if research must always have a “real-world benefit”, some 85 per cent of researchers in the Middle East-Africa region agreed but only 35 per cent did in North America. In Europe the figure was just above 40 per cent.

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On the growing pressure to lean towards “high-impact, ‘mission-oriented’ projects”, one India-based researcher worried that this had created a “dynamic where recognition is often reserved for those tackling grand challenges or those working in a highly specific niche, potentially leaving less room to acknowledge vital, long-term foundational research”.

“It is not possible to predict when basic research will yield real-world benefits. As such, focusing only on research that we think will have real-world benefits may actually paradoxically reduce the amount of research that ultimately yields real-world benefits,” said another researcher, based in Denmark.

The increased focus on “mission-led” research reflects moves by some European governments to align research funding more closely with government aims.

Led by science minister Patrick Vallance, the UK government has been explicit that it is keen to take a more focused and targeted approach to research spending.

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In March, UK Research and Innovation began recruiting a number of Research and Development Mission Programme directors to  around the government’s five missions: clean energy, economic growth, the NHS, equality of opportunity and tackling crime.

Underlining the importance of research impact, the study also found that there is a greater emphasis on sharing research findings with the wider public – an activity undertaken by 66 per cent of respondents, up from 57 per cent in the 2022 survey.

Public outreach is most prevalent in North America (where 74 per cent of respondents did some outreach) and lowest in Asia-Pacific (60 per cent of respondents undertook some activity).

The latest Elsevier study also polled researchers about peer review – which 74 per cent of respondents deemed trustworthy.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com