Artificial Intelligence Reveals Unbalanced Sustainability Domains in Funded Research

Abstract

To meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) must receive adequate and balanced funding support. This study applies artificialintelligence to analyze research proposals accepted between 2015 and 2022 in theEuropean Union and the United States, focusing on datasets from the EuropeanResearch Council and the National Science Foundation, respectively. Despite thegrowing application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various domains, there remains alack of comprehensive analysis applying AI to examine funding allocation across SDGsand gender disparities in scientific research. This study addresses this unmet need byusing AI to uncover imbalances in funding distribution, offering insights into the currentfunding instruments. We reveal critical coverage disparities across the SDGs, with bothfunding instruments prioritizing SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure),highlighting a potential overemphasis on this goal. Additionally, we documentpronounced gender imbalances among principal investigators across nearly all SDGs,except for SDG 5 (Gender Equality), where female researchers are comparativelybetter represented. Our results flag an urgent need for more inclusive and balancedapproaches to achieve sustainable development, starting with research fundingallocation. By providing a nuanced understanding of funding dynamics and advocatingstrategic reallocations, this research offers actionable policy design and planninginsights, aiming to foster a more equitable and