Reimagining the Recipe for Research and Innovation: The Secret Sauce of Social Science

A new report by the Academy of Social Sciences has emphasised the vitally important, yet often poorly-understood, role of the social sciences to the UK’s current research, development and innovation system. ‘Reimagining the recipe for research and innovation: the secret sauce of social science’, sets out four distinct ingredients the social sciences contribute to enable world-leading and future-focused UK research, including on new and emerging technology. Using an array of examples and informed by analysis of data from the Digital Science ‘Dimensions’ database, the report’s findings demonstrate a symbiotic relationship between social science and STEM research, with collaborative work across both spheres often being more useful to policymakers. The report presents four themes that the social sciences contribute to the UK’s research and innovation system which are summarised as: Social sciences enable whole-systems thinking; Social sciences are critical for good policy development; Social sciences underpin smart and responsible innovation; and Social sciences are essential to international collaboration and tackling shared global challenges.