What is ‘high-risk research’? Comparing the social sciences and humanities and the natural sciences

Abstract Although high-risk research is a key concern for research policy and science studies, there is little knowledge about what funding agencies or researchers mean by risks. This paper draws on 80 grant proposals from the social sciences and humanities (SSH) and the natural sciences (NSC) that have been submitted to the Reinhart Koselleck funding program of the German Research Foundation. The qualitative analysis shows both similarities and differences in how applicants in the two fields claim risks: in both fields, the most prominent notions refer to results and methodologies. While results at risk are interpreted similarly, methodological risks differ between the two fields. The analysis also reveals a greater variety of different risks in the SSH compared to the NSC. The paper suggests that research policy and science studies should avoid treating “riskiness” as a given and consider different notions of risk across a disciplinary spectrum that includes the SSH.