You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Why we need biomedical engineering
While I agree, I think a rigorous grant process is vital to producing good ideas. The construction of good ideas during writing followed by constant criticism during review is an excellent way to get more from the grant money being spent. The harder it is for us scientist, the more we rise to expectations.
I think it's important to find the right balance, maybe they could start introducing funding rounds that support pilot studies to prove feasibility of high risk/high reward studies, I know there are already a few programs like this in the US, unfortunately they are still too few. I think review and planning are important but sometimes you don't know what results you will get until you try. Otherwise the risk is that they will continue to fund projects that are very conservative and just slightly different from previous studies.
Ahh, I see what you're hitting on. This is true and similar to the difference between established businesses and startups. One makes incremental improvements and the other tries to go from zero to sixty with the risk of a crash. Personally in my lab we are taking a lot of risks and allowing a lot of pet projects. This increases total productivity, but decreases productivity towards our funded goals. It's a balancing act, I guess.
I agree, balance is key