The pandemic veneer: COVID-19 research as a mobilisation of collective intelligence by the global research community.

The global research community responded with speed and at scale to the emergence of COVID-19, with around 4.6% of all research outputs in 2020 related to the pandemic. That share almost doubled through 2021, to reach 8.

Where next for partial randomisation of research funding? The feasibility of RCTs and alternatives.

We outline essential considerations for any study of partial randomisation of research funding, and consider scenarios in which randomised controlled trials (RCTs) would be feasible and appropriate. We highlight the interdependence of target outcomes, sample availability and statistical power for determining the cost and feasibility of a trial. For many choices of target outcome, RCTs may be less practical and more expensive than they at first appear (in large part due to issues pertaining to sample size and statistical power).

A science superpower in the wings?

Declaring oneself-or aspiring to become-a global superpower sits uneasily with a British tendency towards self-deprecation. Rather, in this post-Elizabethan, post-Brexit chapter of the United Kingdom's story, public debate is undercut by fear of decline. References to Britain's imperial past are often sidestepped or accompanied by apologies.

Why should we promote public engagement with science?

This introductory essay looks back on the two decades since the journal Public Understanding of Science was launched. Drawing on the invited commentaries in this special issue, we can see narratives of continuity and change around the practice and politics of public engagement with science. Public engagement would seem to be a necessary but insufficient part of opening up science and its governance.