I can see your point, but that does beg the question: what niche does a nonacademic nonprofit fill? It seems to me that's it's not filling a particular niche at

I can see your point, but that does beg the question: what niche does a nonacademic nonprofit fill? It seems to me that's it's not filling a particular niche at all, but rather sitting somewhere between a corporate lab and a traditional academic lab. It's for those who are okay with trading off some of the freedom of academia for some of the resources afforded by industry.