THE SUPPORT OF BASIC RESEARCH 



project method of support handicaps the scholar who wants 

 freedom to explore a new area. 



These characteristics of project grants are by no means 

 altogether bad or disadvantageous. The author of such a re- 

 search proposal must think and plan in advance what it is that 

 he intends to do. His proposal must survive the scrutiny of 

 informed and critical scientists from other institutions. Un- 

 doubtedly this process eliminates the trivial and the more poorly 

 conceived research proposals. The risk is that it also eliminates 

 the newer and more imaginative ones. And the certainty is that 

 it costs everyone involved a great deal of time. There is a tre- 

 mendous overhead of proposal writing, panel meetings, con- 

 ferences, discussions, and decisions in selecting the projects 

 which can be supported by a limited research budget. 



The vigorous criticism of project grants by symposium 

 participants was made with full realization of two facts that 

 place them in a better light than the criticisms would indicate. 

 First, since World War II, project grants have constituted a 

 major and an effective method of financing a large amount of 

 research. Second, the administrators of federal scientific agencies 

 are aware of the shortcomings of project grants, and are work- 

 ing to reduce the difficulties and to develop other, longer-term, 

 and less specific means of supporting research. 



University Funds 



Nevertheless, dissatisfaction remains, and quite naturally 

 there were a number of suggestions that it would be better to 

 support universities or departments as a whole than to support 

 individual research projects. These proposals have merit, but 

 before this kind of support can be widely adopted, the persons 

 responsible for making block or unrestricted grants to depart- 

 ments or institutions must learn how to meet the practical diffi- 

 culties and pressures that they will inevitably encounter. 



Under the usual method of making project grants, a foun- 



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