Editor's Summary
13 September 2007
Turn off the tap
The current system of biomedical research funding by the US National Institutes of Health is founded on the notion that the more researchers the universities can produce, the better for all concerned. Brian C. Martinson argues that sheer numbers should not be the goal. Instead, existing researchers should be given more time, space and freedom to ask questions in new ways, to take risks, and to innovate. Reducing the intensity of competition for NIH funds is one way of making this happen.
Commentary: Universities and the money fix
Funding woes plague US biomedical researchers. But calls for more funding ignore the structural problems that push universities to produce too many scientists, argues Brian C. Martinson.
doi:10.1038/449141a
