Research Funding for Scientific Breakthrough. Tokyo, May 27, 2015

Transcription

1 Global Research Council-2015 Annual Meeting Summary of the European position concerning Research Funding for Scientific Breakthrough Tokyo, May 27, 2015

2 Definition of Breakthrough Research (I) Introducing novel paradigms: Paradigm-changing research involves provocative working hypothesis. Such research, either part of a dedicated programs or not, aims to unravel novel mechanisms, processes or concepts. If successful, this research can lead to truly transformative results; yet usually their successes are appreciated mostly in retrospect. Gurdon & Yamanaka: Reprogramming of mature cells Karplus, Levitt, Warshel: Multiscale modeling of complex chemical systems Pauling: Nature of the chemical bond Ciechanover, Hershko, Rose: Discovery of the ubiquitin system Englert and Higgs: Origin of mass of sub-atomic particles Crick, Watson, Wilkins: DNA structure

3 Definition of Breakthrough Research (II) Development of enabling technologies: The development of novel, state-of-the-art methodologies and technologies can also pave the way toward powerful experimental approaches yielding results hitherto unattainable by more conventional means. Shimomura, Chalfie, Tsien: Discovery & development of GFP Mullis: invention of PCR Merrifield: Chemical synthesis on solid matrix Golbert and Sanger: DNA sequencing Ernst: NMR spectroscopy Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura: Blue light-emitting diodes Ruska: Electron microscope

4 Funding and Enabling Scientific Breakthroughs Taking the road less travelled by Transformative research involves, ideas, discoveries, or tools that radically change our understanding of an important existing scientific.. concept.. or leads to the creation of a new paradigm or field. such research challenges current understanding or provides pathways to new frontiers U.S. National Science Foundation 2007 Normal science does not aim at novelty but at clearing up the status quo. It tends to discover what it expects to discover Ian Hacking, preface to the 50 th Anniversary Edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Khun

5 The common practice of research foundations re. funding of scientific breakthroughs Do funders wish to be revolutionaries? Attempted revolutions often fail are funders willing to have an appetite for the risk of failure and, will taxpayers, trustees or stakeholders share that appetite for failure? True revolutions are relatively rare are funders willing to be patient capital and/or portfolio investors of sufficient scale to give them a chance of funding rare but important revolutions? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will watch that revolutionaries get the support they need? Peer review committees and referees drawn from numerically dominant, normal science?

6 Funding and Enabling Scientific Breakthroughs: when is the good time to act? Launching specific programs: aiming at supporting high risk high gain projects with apparent potential for conceptual or technological breakthrough. Funding should be allocated to such projects, despite the high probability for failure, and on the basis of limited preliminary results. Supporting potential breakthrough highlighted by unexpected results: ongoing, traditional research, often yields fortunate, yet unexpected results, radically different from those predicted in the original working hypothesis. Such surprising results should not be ignored since they often lead to genuinely transformative, high-impact research. Special attention to unexpected results is in line with the famous quote from Louis Pasteur: Fortune favors the prepared mind.

7 GRC s role in promoting Breakthrough Research GRC participants are committed to promote Breakthrough Research either through the establishment of special programs, aiming at the identification of research proposals of high likelihood to yield transformative research, or by the identification of unexpected results in more traditional research, which have a high potential to lead to major breakthrough.

8 GRC s role in developing of proper research environment Include sustainable, stable funding support, possibly from multiple sources, both public and private; Foster trust between the funding bodies and the funded researchers; Promote a definition of success in the context of Breakthrough Research, that tolerates possible failures; Build the educational capacity, enabling cutting-edge scientific training, supporting researchers at all stages of their career to realize their potential as per the GRC Statement of Principles and Actions for Shaping the Future: Supporting the Next Generation of Researchers (2014); Establish and ensure access to excellent and sustainable core facilities and infrastructure.

9 GRC s role in the development of stable career pathway GRC Participants recognize the need for researchers to have stable research positions and career paths, given that choosing a career in science is, in and of itself, a risky endeavor.

10 GRC s role in fostering Freedom and Flexibility in research Freedom to enter high-risk endeavors, accommodating for serendipity and the exploration of turning points in the research, providing Flexibility and lowering the administrative and excessive reporting requirements for researchers. GRC Participants schemes should offer both Freedom and Flexibility to researchers.

11 Peer review, fostering Freedom and Flexibility in research Identifying and selecting highly committed review panel members; Fostering in-depth, informed panel discussions to evaluate all proposals (including those of a multidisciplinary nature); Building on GRC Statement of Principles for Scientific Merit- Review (2012) and investigating novel and creative processes for peer-review, such as blind peer-reviewing, reciprocal peerreviewing, and pitch-to-peers. Novel peer review methods should be explored by GRC Participants in their attempt to reduce conservative bias and identify and evaluate both bright persons and bright ideas.

12 Examples from the: Israel Science Foundation: FIRST program High-risk research: Innovative original research directions that do not constitute extensions of conventional research approaches. The intents to fund potentially trailblazing research that might open up new horizons, novel areas of study, or unexplored directions in an existing area. Furthermore, the applicant will not only describe how the proposed research goes beyond state-of-the-art in these areas, but add its expected scientific implications, should the research succeed. Enabling technologies: Development of techniques or technologies that would enable scientists/researchers to overcome critical barriers in the research area. Within this type of proposal, the following should be specified: present barriers, limits of existing technologies, and in what ways the new development would help to overcome these limitations.

13 Examples from the: Medical Research Council, MRC Focussing investments on people as much as projects Providing long term awards with the flexibility to depart from the specifics of the original application Provide supportive research environment to foster highly innovative methods and ideas Separate out translational awards Create the capacity to make large, atypical awards (i.e. not processed by the usual grants committee). More:

14 The European message: Summary Aiming at supporting high risk high gain projects Support and follow up of unexpected results Support development of enabling technologies Foster the development of proper research environment Develop stable career pathways Encourage intellectual Freedom and Flexibility

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