Artificial intelligence reveals unbalanced sustainability domains in funded research
(2025) Results in Engineering — Vol. 25, p. 104367 (2025)
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- Authors
Varelas, Panagiotis 
- Abstract
- Intelligence (AI) in various domains, there remains a lack of comprehensive analysis that applies AI to examine funding allocation across SDGs and gender disparities in scientific research. This study addresses this unmet need by using AI to uncover imbalances in funding distribution, offering insights into current funding instruments. We reveal critical coverage disparities across SDGs, with both funding instruments prioritizing SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), highlighting a potential overemphasis on this goal. Additionally, we document pronounced gender imbalances among principal investigators across nearly all SDGs, except for SDG 5 (Gender Equality), in which female researchers are comparatively better represented. Our results indicate an urgent need for more inclusive and balanced approaches to achieve sustainable development, starting with allocation of research funding. By providing a nuanced understanding of funding dynamics and advocating strategic reallocations , this study offers actionable policy design and planning insights to foster a more equitable and comprehensive support system for sustainability-focused research endeavours.
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Citations
Varelas, P., Larosa, F., Hoyas, S., Conejero, J., Contino, F., Nerini, F., García-Martínez, J., Garibo-I-Orts, Ò., Parente, A., & Vinuesa, R. (2025). Artificial intelligence reveals unbalanced sustainability domains in funded research. Results in Engineering, 25, 104367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.10436710.1016/j.rineng.2025.104367 (Original work published 2025)