---
title: "Science policy"
chunk: 3/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_policy"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:30:20.702150+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Brazil ===
In Brazil, two important research agencies are the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Portuguese: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), an organization of the Brazilian federal government under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Portuguese: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), a public foundation located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

=== European Union ===
The science policy of the European Union is carried out through the European Research Area, a system which integrates the scientific resources of member nations and acts as a "common market" for research and innovation. The European Union's executive body, the European Commission, has a Directorate-General for Research, which is responsible for the Union's science policy. In addition, the Joint Research Centre provides independent scientific and technical advice to the European Commission and Member States of the European Union (EU) in support of EU policies. There is also the recently established European Research Council, the first European Union funding body set up to support investigator-driven research.
There are also European science agencies that operate independently of the European Union, such as the European Space Agency, and the European Higher Education Area, created by the Bologna process.
The European environmental research and innovation policy addresses global challenges of pivotal importance for the well-being of European citizens within the context of sustainable development and environmental protection. Research and innovation in Europe is financially supported by the programme Horizon 2020, which is also open to participation worldwide.

=== Germany ===
German research funding agencies include the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, which covers both science and humanities.

=== India ===
Research funding by the Government of India comes from a number of sources. For basic science and technology research, these include the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), and University Grants Commission (UGC). For medical research, these include the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), CSIR, DST and Department of Biotechnology (DBT). For applied research, these include the CSIR, DBT and Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC).
Other funding authorities include the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF).

=== Ireland ===
Irish funding councils include the Irish Research Council (IRC) and the Science Foundation Ireland. The prior Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) and the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) were merged to form the IRC in March 2012.

=== Netherlands ===
Dutch research funding agencies include Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) and Agentschap NL. In 2016, the Netherlands began trials for Self-Organized Funding Allocation (SOFA), a novel method of distributing research funds which proponents believe may have advantages compared to the grant system.

=== Pakistan ===
The Government of Pakistan has mandated that a certain percentage of gross revenue generated by all telecom service providers be allocated to development and research of information and communication technologies. The National ICT R&D Fund was established in January 2007.

=== Russia ===
Under the Soviet Union, much research was routinely suppressed.
Now science in Russia is supported by state and private funds. From the state, funding institutions include the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation (www.rfh.ru), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (www.rfbr.ru), and the Russian Science Foundation (rscf.ru).

=== Sri Lanka ===
Science and Technology Policy Research Division (STPRD) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which was established as a statutory body, through an Act of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, is engaged in providing evidence based policy recommendations for policy formulation on science, technology and other fields ensuring the research/innovation eco-system of the country. Accordingly, the Division undertake science, technology and innovation policy research in the areas of importance to make recommendations for policy formulation.
Besides NSF, the national experts, researchers, public universities and non-governmental bodies like National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka (NASSL), also provides expert advice on policy matters to the Government.

=== Switzerland ===
Swiss research funding agencies include the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the innovation promotion agency CTI (CTI/KTI), Ressortforschung des Bundes, and Eidgenössische Stiftungsaufsicht.

=== United Kingdom ===
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is the ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom responsible for helping to encourage, develop and manage the United Kingdom's scientific, research, and technological outputs. Additionally, the Government Office for Science advises the Government on policy and decision-making based on science and long-term thinking.
In the UK, the Haldane principle that decisions about what to spend research funds on should be made by researchers rather than politicians is still influential in research policy. UK Research and Innovation is a non-departmental public body that directs research and innovation funding in accordance with this principle. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency is an additional body which was set-up to fund high-risk, high-reward research.

=== United States ===

The United States has a long history of government support for science and technology. Science policy in the United States is the responsibility of many organizations throughout the federal government. Much of the large-scale policy is made through the legislative budget process of enacting the yearly federal budget. Further decisions are made by the various federal agencies which spend the funds allocated by Congress, either on in-house research or by granting funds to outside organizations and researchers.
Research funding agencies in the United States are spread among many different departments, which include:

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
United States Department of Energy Office of Science
National Institutes of Health: biomedical research
National Science Foundation: fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
Office of Naval Research