Research Universities
Despite their focus on institutional research excellence, US research universities are well down a path of eroding public value and research prowess. University leadership needs to shift attention from chasing prestige to crafting strategies for long-term success.
Pluralistic Intelligence
To respond to challenges in society, sustainability, and governance, universities must first deal with the mismatch between how knowledge is actually generated and what academia recognizes and teaches.
Space Policy
Maintaining the United States’ leadership in space requires discipline, continuity, and a clear division of responsibilities between government and industry.
The Ongoing Transformation
The Ongoing Transformation
Grand Challenges
As research budgets tighten, priorities evolve, and new funding models emerge, the grand challenge framework can restore coherence, direction, and shared purpose across the scientific enterprise.
Tech Sovereignty
Today’s emerging economies need to carefully manage tradeoffs to achieve technological sovereignty and a globally competitive position.
The Ongoing Transformation
Newark, New Jersey is working to build a new, inclusive tech innovation ecosystem. Fay Cobb Payton and Lyneir Richardson share how Newark is pioneering data-led innovation with a diverse group of entrepreneurs.
Engineering Culture
Restoring US manufacturing leadership requires a culture shift in how engineers, technologists, and technicians translate ideas into production.
Digital Infrastructure
To ensure the nation’s leadership in artificial intelligence, cloud computing infrastructure must be regulated to encourage competition and enable innovation, building on lessons from other sectors.
Regulatory Burden
The current policy environment offers a unique opportunity to act swiftly on the longstanding issue of burdensome research regulations.
The Ongoing Transformation
Technical standards are the “the invisible infrastructure of modern life,” underpinning public safety, consumer protection, interoperability, and innovation. Laurie Locascio explains how standards enable innovation, and why more researchers should be involved with the standards community.
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Vol. XLII, No. 3, Spring 2026
There are big, open questions about the changing relationship between science and society: How should the public fund science, and what kind of science should it fund? What should society expect in return for its support? What is the role of research universities in the scientific ecosystem? And the relationship between science and society looks very different at the local, or even personal, level—and the questions are different too: How can research improve the quality of life in my community? Should I be worried about the refinery in my neighborhood? Is my town able to assist the most vulnerable when the power goes out during a storm? The essays in the Spring 2026 Issues explore all these questions to better understand how the social contract with science is evolving.
Browse the Issue
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Subscribe to the Print EditionIn response to essays published in Issues, our readers weigh in on critical topics in policy related to science, technology, and society.
Spring 2026
A Discussion of
Responses By
Winter 2026
A Discussion of
Responses By
What happens when a technology moves from groundbreaking scientific discovery to mass consumer product? Gunnar Anderson’s story explores a mysterious new discovery that breaks the bounds of physics as we once understood them. But quickly, scientific awe morphs into commercial prospecting—with little regulation and horrifying consequences.
Even inventions with the loftiest of goals can be commandeered for unscrupulous—or nefarious—ends. Where does that leave the inventors?
Response
An Indian actor in a future Mumbai has authorized politicians, entertainers, and businesses to use his likeness. When he discovers his image is being used as a tool for repression—and when two kids he’s close to disappear—the actor is forced to confront what he really gave away.
Moira Shourie returns to Mumbai, the city she once called home while working at MTV India. She reflects on how a culture of celebrity, rampant inequality, and complex urban design divide some residents and bring others together.
Response
How will artificial intelligence transform warfare? Andrew Liptak’s story brings us to the front lines to see how a glitchy combat AI deals with the tricky task of balancing the demands of a mission with the unpredictability of the battlefield.
What happens as AI systems become embedded in military operations? Candace Rondeaux explores how command structures are already reorganizing around AI black boxes—and what it would look like to design decisionmaking structures that combine technical capacity with human expertise.
Response
If the public funds science and gives it autonomy to govern itself, then benefits such as economic growth, innovation, and national security will follow. This unwritten social contract was long thought to underpin policymakers’ relationship to the scientific enterprise, but recent events suggest those days are over.
Why has the idea of an implicit social contract between society and science had a hold on scientists’ imaginations for so long? And what does it mean now that the relationship has frayed?
American research universities have unleashed an age of massive technical innovation—but they’ve failed to innovate their own designs to meet the changing needs of society.
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson spent five decades in public service, during which she ushered through landmark science and technology legislation and helped to advance opportunities for all Americans.
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