Great article. I should note that it actually has nothing to do with slow and boring research — it’s about the importance of scientists practicing good communication and public engagement to facilitate fundraising from non-governmental sources.
As federal research funding shrinks, scientists are looking to other sources of support. Can they learn to sell their work without selling out?
Since the middle of the twentieth century, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have embodied an imperfect social contract: Federal agencies would fund basic research at scale, and in return, that research would serve the public good through medical advances, technological progress, and economic growth.
For scientists, this system created a reliable pathway: Do good work, write strong grants, and federal agencies would keep your lab running. It was never a perfectly fair system, but it was predictable enough that you could build a life around it. If your work was solid and your grants were strong, the system would fund you.
