Real Numbers

The current system for comparing universities relies entirely on arbitrary rankings. An analytical framework for comparison can help.

Issues ran a survey to gain a deeper understanding of the field of science and technology policy today, including career paths, motivations, activities, and opinions on how the field is changing.

Patterns are emerging in the various efforts to regulate artificial intelligence around the globe. Understanding these evolving AI norms could help govern this technology intelligently.

How can policymakers and education leaders build a more affordable and equitable path to higher education, particularly in STEM disciplines?

With a rigorous, sustainable approach to data collection and analysis, satellite data can improve our understanding of global food systems and prepare society to respond to the next crisis.

European research collaborations with China have not followed the same patterns as those between the United States and China; understanding the nuances of these relationships offers insights into the future of global science.

Understanding how scientific concepts become associated with conspiracy theories online can help determine which countermeasures might be effective.

If researchers want leaders to make evidence-based policies, they must develop ways to support the use of research in policymaking that are themselves based on evidence.

Discussions of STEM workforce policy have long featured unsubstantiated claims that the United States has a significant shortage of STEM talent. Better data—and more nuanced understanding of them—are needed to move the conversation forward.

Many local policymakers want to develop more informal collaborations with researchers, but to bridge the gap scientists and institutions will need to understand and accommodate their priorities.

Over the last three decades, foreign students have supported the bottom lines of US universities, technology companies, and communities. Now their numbers are falling.

A handful of companies have launched trial services, and there is a widespread expectation that drone deliveries will eventually become routine. This early point in the emergence of a new technology presents an opportunity to examine the complexity of public attitudes toward innovation.