What 6,000 researchers think about the future of science

Perspectives on questions such as the availability of research funding and what leads to impactful science varied widely in the Nature Index survey. Credit: Evgeniy Shkolenko/iStock via Getty A leading research career is influenced by many factors: a researcher’s interests, yes, but also funding conditions, institutional expectations and the often-shifting priorities, policies and attitudes of wider society. Add into that mix the complexity and pressures of today’s interconnected global science system, and it’s clear that the research itself is just one aspect determining success — albeit by far the most important one. Against this background of institutional, structural and cultural influences, what is stopping researchers from reaching greater heights? Where would they like to see changes that enable them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow? And is there any divergence between their perceptions and the reality of current trends in research? Research Leaders survey white paper To examine some of these questions in more detail, Nature Research Intelligence, which manages the Nature Index database, surveyed more than 6,000 authors of articles published since 2020 in the high-quality natural- and health-science journals tracked by the index (see ‘Who was surveyed and how?’). …