In (qualified) defense of the research project grant

In a debate that has been building for years, a growing coalition of reformers has concluded that the research project grant (RPG) approach used by many science funders in the United States and based on competitive, investigator-initiated, and peer-reviewed proposals cannot support transformative science. Crystallizing this debate, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has just committed $1.5 billion over the next decade to X-Labs, independent and milestone-driven research organizations meant to bypass not only the RPG but also the universities that have long been its principal recipients. Although the reform impulse may warrant sympathy, the X-Labs prescription merits skepticism.