Good Funding

MAKE FUNDERS ACCOUNTABLE TO SCIENCE

Funders should continuously test and improve their models, adapt to new evidence, and abandon legacy systems that stifle innovation. Their mission must stay focused on advancing understanding, not protecting old structures.

VALUE DEPTH, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND CAREER PATHS

Funders should reward meaningful contributions over volume. They must also invest in shared resources—instrumentation, core facilities, datasets, software—and in the people who sustain them, including staff scientists, data scientists, and statisticians.

EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY

Breakthroughs often start as unpopular ideas. Funding systems should support curiosity-driven work and bold new directions, not just projects that promise safe success.

REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN

Scientists spend too much time navigating compliance, reporting, and bureaucracy. Streamlining these tasks would free up time and energy for research, and make funding more equitable across institutions.