Project description
Deciding the future of big science
Today’s scientific experiments are bigger, more complex and costlier than those a half-century ago. Major breakthroughs involve thousands of researchers, mountains of data and massive instruments. With limited funding, deciding which projects to pursue has become a critical challenge. The ERC-funded DECIDE project aims to explore how scientists should make these choices. It will trace the history of collective decision-making in astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology; it will also examine its impact on science and develop a philosophical framework for judging which experiments are worth pursuing and collectively agreeing on this. The goal is to move beyond simple budgets and develop a new philosophical framework. This is an essential look at how scientists can make better, fairer decisions about the next frontier of human discovery.
Objective
Since World War II, we have entered the era of ‘big science’. Experiments in the natural sciences today can involve hundreds or thousands of scientists, they generate enormous amounts of empirical data and they require ever larger instruments. The associated cost of experiments has unsurprisingly also soared. Personal research funds or smaller research grants no longer suffice to fund certain experiments; instead, they require significant financial support from multiple government agencies over a long period of time. Because of this increase in costs, scientists have had to change how they decide what experiments to pursue. The central research question of this project is therefore: how can scientists make optimal decisions about what future experiments to pursue, given the scale of experiments and the limited available resources?
To answer this research question, the project will follow the approach of integrated history and philosophy of science. Through a careful study of the history of one of the most influential procedures for scientific funding decisions, the US Astronomy Decadal Survey, this project will: (i) trace the origins of current procedures for collective decision-making in science; (ii) investigate how these procedures have impacted the development of scientific research, specifically on the post-World War II history of astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology; (iii) formulate a novel philosophical account on what makes an experiment pursuitworthy; and (iv) apply current insights from social epistemology on collective knowledge-making and values and science to a new context, collective setting of research priorities.
Aside from its impact in history and philosophy of science, this project will have implications for the natural sciences by recommending revisions to current strategies for the setting of future research priorities. More broadly, this project will establish the nascent discipline of philosophy of astronomy and astrophysics in Europe.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy epistemology
- humanities history and archaeology history modern history
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrophysics
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy history of astronomy
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy physical cosmology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
10691 Stockholm
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.