The costs of competition in distributing scarce research funds

Gerald Schweiger*, Adrian Barnett, Peter van den Besselaar, Lutz Bornmann, Andreas De Block, John P.A. Ioannidis, Ulf Sandström, Stijn Conix

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Research funding systems fundamentally influence how science operates. This paper aims to analyze the allocation of competitive research funding from different perspectives: How reliable are decision processes for funding? What are the economic costs of competitive funding? How does competition for funds affect doing risky research? How do competitive funding environments affect scientists themselves, and which ethical issues must be considered? We attempt to identify gaps in our knowledge of research funding systems; we propose recommendations for policymakers and funding agencies, including empirical experiments of decision processes and the collection of data on these processes. With our recommendations, we hope to contribute to developing improved ways of organizing research funding.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2407644121
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume121
Issue number50
Early online date2 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Keywords

  • competitive funding
  • funding decision processes
  • research funding
  • science of science

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