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> That is the kind of thinking that we need to change. Instead, NIH should have considered selecting a subset of investigators and applying a cap to them, and t
by jrochkind1 4y ago
> That is the kind of thinking that we need to change. Instead, NIH should have considered selecting a subset of investigators and applying a cap to them, and then compared results a decade into the future with those that were left to accumulate more traditional funding.
If you are one of the researchers who is in the experimental group with lifetime capped funding (or at least a decade of capped funding, until the study is up), your career is going to be really impacted, isn't it?
I can't believe the OP suggested this with a straight face, it's obvious why it wouldn't fly, and why NIH was considering only doing it universally, to at least treat all researchers equally, right?
But yes, I understand the argument for how an experimental approach would help us determine the best funding models... although it's not really clear to me how this experiment works. Even assuming that we know how to measure which group did "better" after 10 years... wait, what are you expecting to see in the comparison between the research-capped group vs not in determining if it worked? I don't actually underestand this experiment.
Anyway, regardless, it's not a mystery why it's not going to happen, right? Experimenting with researchers careers.
- next_xibalba 4y ago> If you are one of the researchers who is in the experimental group with lifetime capped funding ... your career is going to be really impacted If you believe, as I do, that a functional "science" is the most important force in making the future better than the past, would not this be a worthy sacrifice? In terms of its impact on all of humanity, now and forevermore. I would also think that true scientists would at least be the most likely to be sympathetic to this rationale.
- unlikelymordant 4y agoOr theyd move overseas where they can get more funding.
- jrochkind1 4y agoDo you know many employed academic scientists? Why don't you ask them if they would be willing to accept a cap on their salary, to be excluded from the most prestigious and well-paying institutions, and to do less research than they otherwise would, for a period of ten years, because they will be participating in an experiment which, if it was designed and executed well, might result in findings that might help improve research funding. Perhaps very few actually practicing scientists are "true scientists".
- next_xibalba 4y agoI think it is a totally impracticable solution. I’m asking in more of a hypothetical sense. As another replied points out, scientists would just find a place where funding was available.
- lmm 4y agoIf you offered a floor as well as a cap, I suspect a lot of researchers would be willing to take that deal.