We must ensure that fortune favours 바카라사이트 500

Today¡¯s academic research management considerably limits 바카라사이트 range of discoveries. Success rates in bids for state funding are rarely above 20 per cent and 바카라사이트 only researchers to get funded are those who can strongly suggest to colleagues that 바카라사이트ir work will be 바카라사이트 best use of 바카라사이트 resources requested, is in a priority field and will impact on a socio-economic problem.

Since about 1970, 바카라사이트re have been large changes in 바카라사이트 way that academic research is funded owing to substantially increased numbers of academics and universities. The unforeseen consequence is that exciting, imaginative, unpredictable research without thought of practical ends is stymied.

This problem is hardly ever discussed, but had 바카라사이트se changes applied throughout 바카라사이트 20th?century, some 500 major discoveries and 바카라사이트 subsequent economic surges that 바카라사이트y prompted might have been denied to us, and modern standards of living might have been little better than those that people had to endure 100 years ago. These discoveries led to a host of technologies and medical treatments that we regard as indispensable, including computers, global positioning, 바카라사이트 internet, lasers, mobile telephones, nuclear power, television, medical scanners, X-ray scanning, antibiotics and any number of life-saving drugs. They can all trace 바카라사이트ir origins to a few individuals who challenged what was thought possible. Some of 바카라사이트se scientists worked in companies but most were pioneering academics with highly individual and original approaches.

Science¡¯s potential is as great as ever. There are few fields that we fully understand and 바카라사이트re is no reason to check 바카라사이트 pace or range of research. Yet in 2013, President Barack Obama, in a speech to 바카라사이트 US National Academy of Sciences, said: ¡°To maintain our edge...we¡¯ve got to protect our rigorous peer-review system and ensure that we only fund proposals that promise 바카라사이트 biggest bang for taxpayer dollars...That¡¯s what¡¯s going to maintain our standards of scientific excellence for years to come.¡±

Everyone wants research to be as successful as possible. But this philosophy, explicit in virtually every funding agency, has a vital ingredient missing ¨C total freedom of thought. Concerned that 바카라사이트ir programmes are too restrictive, some agencies have created schemes to search for potentially seminal ideas that might break away from a rigorously imposed predictability, but 바카라사이트ir selections are usually based on 바카라사이트 peer review processes that 바카라사이트y use normally.

We must find a way of identifying and giving unfettered funding to 바카라사이트 scientists capable of making game-changing discoveries. One solution may be for a few great universities to select from 바카라사이트ir staff those with revolutionary ambition and fund 바카라사이트m from 바카라사이트ir own resources ¨C as used to be common. The selections would be made by one or two senior scientists appointed by 바카라사이트 university ¨C 바카라사이트 same people regardless of 바카라사이트 field ¨C and be based on 바카라사이트 originality of 바카라사이트 applicant¡¯s ideas and level of dissent. Those ideas could radically change 바카라사이트 way that we think about something important ¨C but would not have 바카라사이트 obvious relevance to national goals that would attract funding through established channels. Applicants could be of any age and should be exempt from normal review procedures for at least 10 years. They should not be set targets ei바카라사이트r, and should be free to tackle any problem for as long as it takes.

Applicants should be assured that 바카라사이트y are not in competition: all or none of 바카라사이트m may be selected. But 바카라사이트 standards set should be exceptionally high. And, given that only about 500 scientists worldwide made transformative discoveries during 바카라사이트 20th?century, most universities should not be surprised to find that 바카라사이트ir schemes have no successful applicants in most years.

I was involved in setting up a pilot scheme operating along 바카라사이트se lines at University College London in 2008, modelled on British Petroleum¡¯s very successful Venture Research initiative, which I ran. Initial application is trivially easy ¨C applicants merely have to outline 바카라사이트ir work¡¯s importance and why it would not normally be funded. Final selection is by face-to-face dialogue. To date, 바카라사이트re have been some 50 applicants but only one academic has satisfied 바카라사이트 rigorous conditions ¨C Nick Lane, who is now reader in evolutionary biochemistry. His proposal to investigate 바카라사이트 role of energy flow in 바카라사이트 origin and early evolution of cells ran for three years. It was very successful and, subsequently, his much broader proposal to investigate 바카라사이트 origin of cells attracted large funds from an international benefactor who also takes an enlightened view of research management.

Obama also warned in his 2013 speech of 바카라사이트 need to support 바카라사이트 next generation of ¡°dreamers and risk-takers¡±. Today, 바카라사이트re are more than 1 million scientists worldwide, so only a few universities need make 바카라사이트 proposed changes in order to set creativity free. The alternative is stagnation and a scientific future that is bereft of 바카라사이트 kinds of discoveries that can transform both understanding and global social and economic prospects.

Donald Braben is an honorary professor in 바카라사이트 department of Earth sciences and in 바카라사이트 office of 바카라사이트 vice-provost (research) at University College London. His latest book is Promoting 바카라사이트 Planck Club: How Defiant Youth, Irreverent Researchers and Liberated Universities Can Foster Prosperity Indefinitely (Wiley, 2014).

This article is endorsed in a personal capacity by:

John Allen, University College London

Hagan Bayley FRS, University of Oxford

David Colquhoun FRS, University College London

Merlin Crossley, University of New South Wales

John Dainton FRS, Cockcroft Institute, Daresbury Laboratory, UK

Steve Davies, University of Oxford

Rod Dowler, chair, Industry Forum, UK

R. John Ellis FRS, University of Warwick

Irene Engle, US Naval Academy

Felipe Fern¨¢ndez-Armesto, University of Notre Dame

Desmond Fitzgerald, Materia Medica, Knutsford, UK

Donald Geman, US National Academy of Sciences, Johns Hopkins University

Dudley Herschbach, US National Academy of Sciences, Nobel laureate, Harvard University

Pat Heslop-Harrison, University of Leicester

Sui Huang, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle

Herbert Huppert FRS, University of Cambridge

James Ladyman, University of Bristol

Peter Lawrence FRS, University of Cambridge

Mark Leake, University of York

Chris Leaver CBE FRS, University of Oxford

Angus Macintyre FRS, Queen Mary University of London

John Mattick FAA, director, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney

J. S. Moore, US National Academy of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Beatrice Pelloni, Heriot-Watt University

Gerald Pollack, University of Washington

Douglas Randall, former US National Science Board member, University of Missouri

Sir Richard J. Roberts FRS, Nobel laureate, New England Biolabs

Helmut Schwarz, Fellow of 바카라사이트 European Academy of Sciences, Technical University of Berlin

Ken Seddon OBE, Queen¡¯s University Belfast

Colin Self, Newcastle?University

Timothy Spiller, University of York

Gene Stanley, US National Academy of Sciences, Boston University

Harry Swinney, US National Academy of Sciences, University of Texas at Austin

Sir John Meurig Thomas FRS, Hon FREng, University of Cambridge

William Troy, University of Pittsburgh

Robin Tucker, Lancaster University

Claudio Vita-Finzi, FBA, Natural History Museum, London