GESDA Science
Breakthrough Radar

The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® is GESDA’s yearly publication that provides an overview of science trends and breakthrough predictions at 5, 10 and 25 years in 42 science and technology emerging topics.

The latest edition of the Radar comprises 40 emerging topics spanning five Scientific Platforms. It presents the outcomes of four community-driven “pulses” on scientific emerging topics – the Pulses of Science, Diplomacy, Impact and Society.

The Pulse of Science details 348 anticipated breakthroughs at 5, 10 and 25 years from now. In addition, it contains three “lenses” on philosophy, geopolitics and science discussing anticipated advances from the perspective of three fundamental questions about the future of humanity, society and our planet. 2,100 scientists from 87 countries have contributed to the Pulse of Science since the Radar’s creation in 2021.

The Pulse of Diplomacy provides an overview of 11 topics related to anticipatory science and diplomacy as discussed at the GESDA 2023 Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit, building upon insights from 89 speakers and over 800 participants.
The Pulse of Impact includes an analysis of 30,114 companies worldwide and patents in over 50 jurisdictions.

The Pulse of Society includes an analysis of over 10 million social media posts and 1.3 million articles in mainstream media in order to capture people’s opinions about the emerging scientific topics over the five Scientific Platforms.

The next edition of the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar will be released in October 2025.

High-level Review

As the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® reaches its fifth edition, we are conducting a High-Level Review to assess how well its content reflects the views from science and research, how successful it is in its mission to identify and inform on anticipated scientific breakthroughs, and how it should be further developed in the future to maximise impact.

For this purpose, we have established a High-Level Review Committee  composed of distinguished members of the scientific community, leaders of research institutions as well as from the private sector, and those holding positions at the interface between science, science advice and society. The Committee is chaired by Professor Stephen Toope OC FRSC LLD, President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).