Scientific research thrives in environments that encourage freedom of enquiry and open exchange. At the same time, there are important responsibilities for scientists and scientific institutions that need to be respected in order to maintain societal trust and the licence to operate freely and autonomously. These include, most importantly, the need to uphold scientific integrity, comply with good ethical practices and respect established scientific norms.

Openness and transparency are important for ensuring trust - between scientists, across national borders and between science and society. In this context, policies to promote open science – including open access to scientific publications, data and software, as well as engagement with society – are important. At the same time there is concern in some countries about foreign interference and misappropriation of research and so scientific integrity and security are also high on the policy agenda.

From the World Wide Web to COVID-19 vaccines, there are numerous examples where long term-public investment in discovery research has led to new knowledge and technologies that have transformed society. Scientific excellence and discovery depend on long-term investment in people and infrastructure.

Innovation depends on the translation of scientific discoveries into desirable products, which are often then made available via market mechanisms. Appropriate science policies can help promote knowledge transfer and innovation.

There are many different scientific disciplines, which individually and collectively generate insights that can inform public decisions and policy making. Both STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and SSH (social sciences and humanities) are required to address complex societal issues. Hence, science policy needs to support broad research portfolios that encompass a range of disciplines and research methods.

Transdisciplinary research that integrates different disciplines with insights from outside of science is important for finding solutions to complex challenges. Specific policy measures and incentives are required to support this approach. 

Science has a critical role to play in understanding the cause and evolution of a crisis, whether that be climate change, biodiversity loss or a health pandemic. Scientific knowledge can inform the policy response to a crisis and effective mitigation and adaptation measures, including technological interventions.

Hence the effective mobilisation of scientific capacity is fundamental to crisis response. This capacity needs to be built prior to a crisis and the policies and mechanisms need to be in place to ensure that it can be effectively mobilised. Different actors within science systems need to be connected via national and international networks. Most importantly the interface between science, policy/politics and the public needs to operate effectively. Policies are required to support co-operation and build trust between different actors at different scales.