Editing Funding of science (section)

{{Short description|none}}
{{Science|expanded=Society}}
'''Research funding''' is a term generally covering any funding for scientific [[research]], in the areas of [[natural science]], [[technology]], and [[social science]]. Different methods can be used to disburse funding, but the term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and only the most promising receive funding. It is often measured via Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD).

Most research funding comes from two major sources: corporations (through [[research and development]] departments) and government (primarily carried out through universities and specialized government agencies; often known as ''research councils''). A smaller amount of scientific research is funded by charitable foundations, especially in relation to developing cures for diseases such as [[cancer]], [[malaria]], and [[AIDS]].

According to the [[OECD|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), more than 60% of [[research and development]] in scientific and technical fields is carried out by industry, and 20% and 10% respectively by [[universities]] and government.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-science-technology-and-industry-scoreboard-2015_sti_scoreboard-2015-en |title=OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2015: Innovation for growth and society |publisher=OECD |year=2015 |isbn=9789264239784 |page=156 |doi=10.1787/sti_scoreboard-2015-en |via=oecd-ilibrary.org |archive-date=2022-05-25 |access-date=2016-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525063455/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-science-technology-and-industry-scoreboard-2015_sti_scoreboard-2015-en |url-status=live }}</ref> Comparatively, in countries with less GDP such as [[Portugal]] and [[Mexico]], the industry contribution is significantly lower. The government funding proportion in certain industries is higher, and it dominates research in [[social science]] and [[humanities]]. In commercial research and development, all but the most research-oriented corporations focus more heavily on near-term commercialization possibilities rather than "[[Blue skies research|blue-sky]]" ideas or technologies (such as [[nuclear fusion]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=R.A. |year=2012 |title=Socioeconomic impacts of heat transfer research |journal=International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer |volume=39 |issue=10 |pages=1467–1473 |doi=10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2012.09.007|bibcode=2012ICHMT..39.1467T }}</ref>