Several movements have emerged related to the general idea of promoting ‘openness’ in science. Research councils are key institutions in bringing about changes proposed by these movements, as sponsors and facilitators of research. In this paper we identify the approaches used in Canada, the US and the UK to advance open science, as a step towards understanding how policy in this area is evolving. The findings highlight three broad patterns across the countries, showing that open science is supported not only be the activities of individual research councils, but also through government mandates and inter-council cooperation. These patterns involve efforts to create a digital infrastructure for open science, to foster open access, and to support open data initiatives.
International collaboration is a rapidly growing aspect of university research and a priority of research funding agencies. This article investigates the rationales that underlie Canadian federal research councils' support of international research collaborations. Such support has deep roots in Canadian science and technology policy but has taken on a new importance in the past decade. Even in a context of increasingly costly scientific activity and fierce competition for resources, four sets of goals and associated arguments underpin investments in international collaboration: (1) creating economy of scale, (2) developing human resources, (3) advancing economic and scientific competitiveness and (4) solving global problems. Overall, international research collaborations are today a key policy target in Canada, sought for a variety of reasons but not without challenges.
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