Metascience 2025 kicks off today

The world’s biggest summit on the science of science will take place over three days in London's Knowledge Quarter

From 30 June to 2 July, more than 840 researchers, funders, policymakers, and science system innovators from 68 countries are converging on London for the latest – and largest yet – edition of the biennial Metascience conference.

Hosted by the Research on Research Institute (RoRI) and Center for Open Science (COS) at University College London, Metascience 2025 brings together a diverse and growing community committed to using data, evidence and experimentation to improve how science works.

Since the first Metascience conference at Stanford in 2019, interest in metascience has grown rapidly across disciplines, countries, and sectors. This week’s programme features over 100 sessions and 300 speakers spanning everything from reforming research assessment to using AI in peer review.

Today’s morning plenary will start with the Opening keynote: “A Year in Metascience” — delivered by Lord Patrick Vallance, UK Minister for Science & Innovation, coinciding with the launch of a major UK government report of the same name, accompanied by a RoRI-authored annex on the past, present and future of UK metascience.

Other keynotes during the conference will be delivered by John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of the Wellcome Trust; Cassidy Sugimoto, Tom & Marie Patton Chair at Georgia Tech; Anna Koivuniemi, Head of the Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator; Anastasia Gamick, Co-founder and COO of Convergent Research; and Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council.

As metascience continues to grow in scale, visibility and influence, this year’s gathering marks an important moment for the field. By bringing together voices from across disciplines, sectors and continents, Metascience 2025 provides a unique space to reflect on how far the movement has come – and where it should go next. Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for live content from the conference.