Short Abstract

This panel explores how emerging funding formats—lotteries, prizes, participatory and hybrid schemes—reshape the sociotechnical imaginaries of fairness, excellence, and innovation in research policy across Europe.

Description

Across Europe, the landscape of research funding is changing. Policymakers, funders, and scientific communities are experimenting with new formats—from randomized and hybrid selection procedures to challenge prizes, mission-oriented calls, and participatory evaluation schemes. These initiatives respond to critiques of traditional peer review and the perceived crisis of meritocracy, efficiency, and trust in science funding. Therefore, as AI systems increasingly support or automate decisions about grant approvals or project selections, decision-making may become less transparent. Criteria once shaped by human judgment could be replaced by algorithmic models whose logic is difficult to interpret. When algorithms take on central roles, new power structures and dependencies may emerge — for instance, favoring certain types of proposals or topics that reflect biases in training data. This raises challenges related to transparency, legitimacy, and human accountability in funding decisions. Yet they also enact new sociotechnical imaginaries of what counts as good research, fair allocation, and responsible innovation.

This panel invites contributions that investigate the future of research funding through the analytical and conceptual tools of Science and Technology Studies (STS). We ask:

• What imaginaries of excellence, fairness, or societal impact underpin emerging funding models?

• How might the increasing use of AI in funding agencies transform decision-making processes in areas such as grant approval and project selection?

• In what ways do national and European funding agencies differ in their experimentation with such formats—and what can be learned from cross-country comparisons?

• How can STS contribute to designing more reflexive, democratic, and resilient funding systems?

We particularly welcome empirical studies of funding organizations, comparative policy analyses, and conceptual reflections on the governance of uncertainty and innovation in funding. The panel seeks to bridge academic research and policy advice by critically examining the politics of fostering the future: how funding practices not only support science but also shape collective visions of desirable futures.

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