‘Use-Inspired’ Insight

Have you heard the news?

In a recent Dear Colleague Letter, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced the topic for its Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (FEC) program: building capacity towards use-inspired research.

But what does it mean to conduct use-inspired research? Here’s some context to consider.

The NSF glossary vaguely defines this approach as “work whose rationale, conceptualization, and directions are inspired by potential use cases.” Hmmm? What are use cases?

The Dear Colleague Letter mentioned above defines use-inspired research as “any topic that advances research and innovation for breakthrough technologies and solutions to national and societal challenges.” This definition makes it sound more like applied research.

Another NSF FAQ gives more detail. It says “use-inspired research is basic research strongly motivated by the need to create knowledge or knowhow to help develop practical solutions to address societal challenges.”

Okay, now we’re getting some clarity.

Use-inspired research can include basic (or foundational) research, where scientists observe phenomena, analyze data, and gather information. But that’s not all.

The work needs a bigger purpose than just knowledge creation. Use-inspired researchers must be motivated by a societal challenge or national need.

Take climate science for example. It is not enough to seek to satisfy one’s curiosity about the forces driving climate around the world. As explained in this NOAA study, “Climate-related science is more likely to be useful if the efforts of science producers are informed by the actual needs and practices of consumers.”

Ultimately, having an intentional, results-oriented approach, informed by real-world needs and cultural context, will carve pathways to outcomes that are useful and usable for society. This is the goal of use-inspired research.

Finally, there are myriad challenges facing our society. Which challenge should researchers address in the upcoming FEC proposals? NSF encourages proposals in priority areas for national key critical and emerging technologies.