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Research Funding: the Case for a Modified Lottery
Ferric C Fang1, Arturo Casadevall2
1Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA fcfang@uw.edu.
Mbio
|April 14, 2016
Summary
Scientific funding is broken. A modified lottery system, using peer review to identify top proposals then selecting winners randomly, could reduce bias and increase diversity in research grants.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical research funding
- Grant allocation mechanisms
- Scientific peer review
Background:
- Current scientific peer review for research funding is ineffective due to inability to accurately rank proposals.
- Reviewer bias significantly influences funding decisions, exacerbated by low paylines.
- The research funding system has lacked fundamental reform despite a prolonged crisis.
Discussion:
- Proposes a modified lottery system for research fund allocation.
- Peer review would identify meritorious proposals, with final selection via lottery.
- This approach aims to overcome limitations of the current ranking system.
Key Insights:
- A modified lottery could mitigate bias in research funding.
- Enhances diversity among grant recipients (seniority, race, gender).
- Offers a potential solution to the persistent research funding crisis.
Outlook:
- Further exploration of modified lottery models for equitable research funding.
- Investigating the practical implementation and impact on scientific innovation.
- Potential for broader adoption to reform grant allocation processes.
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