Has Anyone Seen the Superglue?
12/09/11 16:39 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Submitted by S. Pelech - Kinexus on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 15:39.
On the one hand, government organizations and the general public expect academic university-based researchers to improve the translation of their research into economically useful outcomes. On the other hand, the current grant-funding system does not really facilitate innovative research. Low risk research proposals get what little funding is available, and from my own observations, grant panel peer review does not take kindly to applicants that may have not have purely academic aspirations. Moreover, government laboratories and universities have become increasingly concerned with even more onerous guidelines about conflict of interest and actively discourage their faculty from starting or working with commercial enterprises. Most biotech companies are actually founded by such entrepreneurs that have the knowledge, vision and resolve to bring their ideas to the market place. Industry provides most of the life sciences jobs available for university graduates.
Link to the original blog post.
On the one hand, government organizations and the general public expect academic university-based researchers to improve the translation of their research into economically useful outcomes. On the other hand, the current grant-funding system does not really facilitate innovative research. Low risk research proposals get what little funding is available, and from my own observations, grant panel peer review does not take kindly to applicants that may have not have purely academic aspirations. Moreover, government laboratories and universities have become increasingly concerned with even more onerous guidelines about conflict of interest and actively discourage their faculty from starting or working with commercial enterprises. Most biotech companies are actually founded by such entrepreneurs that have the knowledge, vision and resolve to bring their ideas to the market place. Industry provides most of the life sciences jobs available for university graduates.
Link to the original blog post.