Using Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada (NSERC) statistics, we show that the $40,000 (Canadian) cost of preparation for a grant application and rejection by peer review in 2007 exceeded that of giving every qualified investigator a direct baseline discovery grant of $30,000 (average grant). This means the Canadian Federal Government could institute direct grants for 100% of qualified applicants for the same money. We anticipate that the net result would be more and better research since more research would be conducted at the critical idea or discovery stage. Control of quality is assured through university hiring, promotion and tenure proceedings, journal reviews of submitted work, and the patent process, whose collective scrutiny far exceeds that of grant peer review. The greater efficiency in use of grant funds and increased innovation with baseline funding would provide a means of achieving the goals of the recent Canadian Value for Money and Accountability Review. We suggest that developing countries could leapfrog ahead by adopting from the start science grant systems that encourage innovation.

Madness and Bureaucracy but that's ok because its Official

Accession Number: 24498536; KLEYN, DOMINIQUE 1; Email Address: d.kleyn@imperial.ac.uk; KITNEY, RICHARD 1; Email Address: r.i.kitney@imperial.ac.uk; ATUN, RIFAT A. 2; Affiliations: 1: Imperial College London, London, UK; 2: Department of Centre for Health Management, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, London, UK; Issue Info: Jun2007, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p323; Thesaurus Term: BUREAUCRACY; Thesaurus Term: INTELLECTUAL property; Thesaurus Term: PARTNERSHIP; Thesaurus Term: PHARMACEUTICAL industry; Thesaurus Term: TECHNOLOGICAL innovations; Thesaurus Term: UNIVERSITIES & colleges; Thesaurus Term: RESEARCH & development; Subject Term: BIOPHARMACEUTICS; Subject Term: LIFE sciences; Author-Supplied Keyword: Industry and university partnerships; Author-Supplied Keyword: life sciences; Author-Supplied Keyword: pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; Author-Supplied Keyword: innovation management and open innovation; Author-Supplied Keyword: R&D collaborations; Author-Supplied Keyword: contracting out; Author-Supplied Keyword: outsourcing; Author-Supplied Keyword: innovationmanagement and open innovation; Author-Supplied Keyword: R&Dcollaborations; NAICS/Industry Codes: 541710 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences; NAICS/Industry Codes: 325412 Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing; NAICS/Industry Codes: 611310 Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Number of Pages: 25p; Document Type: Article

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Dedicated to the preparation, propagation and study of bureaucrats and bureaucracies.