NCSU’s Dr. Kevin Gross and his colleague recently published a fascinating article in PLoS One that explores the efficiency of the scientific funding process. They ask the questions: “To what extent does the community’s aggregate investment in proposal preparation negate the scientific impact of the funding program? Are there alternative mechanisms for awarding funds that advance science more efficiently?”
Really thought-provoking work. Their paper is titled “Contest models highlight inherent inefficiencies of scientific funding competitions” and you can read it HERE.
Figure image taken from: Gross K, Bergstrom CT (2019) Contest models highlight inherent inefficiencies of scientific funding competitions. PLOS Biology 17(1): e3000065. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000065