Aaron, I have read your recommendations for improving science funding. I think you are taking a band aid approach to the problem. Peter Lawrence has suggested a much more fundamental change which would, if adopted, correct many of the faults addressed in your document and might be a viable alternative to the current system. See:
Lawrence PA (2009) Real Lives and White Lies in the Funding of Scientific Research. PLoS Biol 7(9): e1000197. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000197 The heart of research is sick: a conversation with Peter Lawrence. 2011. Lab Science No.2 pp. 24-31 I also think your dismissal of tenure is a fundamental threat to the university system. I have watched as administrative incompetence has damaged the careers of more than one young scientist. Tenure is the only bulwark protecting academic freedom and shared governance (both as defined by the AAUP) and it is vital for maintaining quality in higher education. These institutional values are, in many instances, the only means of making administrations accountable. Of course, with academic freedom and shared governance comes the responsibility to participate in governance. Although I have no data to back this up, I believe that I have noticed a tendency for scientists to feel that their only duty to their institutions is to get grants, do research, and mentor students. Committee assignments are denigrated as a waste of time. Tenure, for these scientists, is considered unnecessary as the ability to bring in grant money is the scientist's path to success. Anything that interferes with the time needed to play the grant game is waste. This attitude is short-sighted and wrong. We then must leave the institution in the hands of professional administrators. They are a valuable group but they often do not have sufficient expertise or experience to make good decisions on their own. Sure, tenure has problems but, like democracy, it is a system that persists in spite of its shortcomings because it is better than all the rest. Do not forget what was built by our academic ancestors with tenure as a fundamental building block. That which made it valuable then is still relevant today. Phil Ganter Tennessee State University
