Paying for science is not always as exciting as the science itself, unless we’re using science to figure out how to pay for it. (Just don’t get caught in a recursive loop.) And so we have a proposal for a new economic model for science funding along with some simulation studies to demonstrate how it would play out under different conditions. The current system involves a lot of time spent on writing grants, most of which are unsuccessful, and on reviewing those grants, creating expensive overhead even under the best circumstances. Actual circumstances might not be the best, since new investigators are having increasing difficulty getting funded, and since the review process can be complicated by questions like how to get a fair and thorough review in small fields where the qualified reviewers might all be competing for the funds in question. Hence the interest in alternatives.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: Universal Science Income