I don't think I should have said 'that's exactly right' - I should have said 'that's partially right'. The funding climate right now is very competitive, and t

I don't think I should have said 'that's exactly right' - I should have said 'that's partially right'. The funding climate right now is very competitive, and the ability to obtain funds is more important than it's ever been. For another example, here is Peter Higgs (the guy who developed the theory that predicted the boson) discussing modern science: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-.... As far as quantitative data about trends in scientific funding - we have lots of data showing that the funding climate is the worse it's ever been, but I wouldn't even know how to quantitatively prove that being 'strategic' is more important now than it was in the past.