Risk-Taking in Science: Unveiling the Institutional and Cultural Drivers Behind Scientific Breakthroughs

• Project/Area Number: 25K05281
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07080:Business administration-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Mattson Pauline 東京大学, 未来ビジョン研究センター, 客員研究員 (20998546)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 柴山 創太郎 東京大学, 未来ビジョン研究センター, 教授 (30609285)
• Project Period (FY): 2025-04-01 – 2028-03-31
• Project Status: Granted (Fiscal Year 2025)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000); Fiscal Year 2027: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2026: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2025: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: risk in science

Outline of Research at the Start

Scientific breakthroughs play a crucial role in addressing many of our societal challenges. However, recent research indicates that breakthroughs are becoming increasingly rare and the role of science in innovation is diminishing. A key reason appears to be the lack of incentives for risk-taking in science. The project investigates how different institutional settings affect risk-taking and breakthroughs and the potential ramifications these settings might have on the scientific behaviour of researchers, employing a multi-method research approach that combines bibliometrics and survey data.