{"id":8156,"date":"2017-10-10T11:57:27","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T18:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/?p=8156"},"modified":"2017-10-10T11:57:27","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T18:57:27","slug":"transformative-research-unrealistic-predict-scientists-tell-granting-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2017\/10\/transformative-research-unrealistic-predict-scientists-tell-granting-agencies\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Transformative’ research unrealistic to predict, scientists tell granting agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research-funding agencies that require scientists to declare at the proposal stage how their projects will be \u201ctransformative\u201d may actually be hindering discovery, according to a study by Oregon State University ecologists in the Department of Integrative Biology.<\/p>\n

The requirement can result in decreased funding for the \u201cincremental\u201d research that often paves the way for paradigm-shifting breakthroughs, the OSU scientists assert.<\/p>\n

Their findings, as well as their recommendation for how to best foster transformative research, were published recently in Trends in Ecology and Evolution<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sarah Gravem<\/a>, postdoctoral scholar in integrative biology, was the lead author on the paper, titled \u201cTransformative Research is Not Easily Predicted<\/a>.\u201d The paper was co-authored with Integrative Biology Professor Bruce Menge as well as other researchers in the department.<\/p>\n

Gravem, Menge and the other collaborators note that the National Science Foundation, which funds roughly one-quarter of the federally supported research at U.S. colleges and universities, \u201chas made the pursuit of transformative research a top priority by asking for a transformative research statement in every major research proposal solicited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NSF defines transformative research as being \u201cdriven by ideas that have the potential to radically change our understanding of an important existing scientific or engineering concept or leading to the creation of a new paradigm \u2026 . Such research is also characterized by its challenge to current understanding or its pathway to new frontiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gravem says asking scientists to attempt to create new paradigms or fields in every proposal is unrealistic and potentially harmful.<\/p>\n

The OSU scientists argue that a better approach, and one that was suggested more than a decade ago by the board that oversees the National Science Foundation, would be to create a funding subset: a separate NSF-wide program to solicit and support transformational research proposals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board had been concerned that the U.S. was lagging behind other countries in scientific advances, concerned that creative and risky research was not getting funding,\u201d Menge said. \u201cIt concluded that what the NSF should do is set aside some funds for risky research proposals, those defined by reviewers as they may or may not work, the chances are sort of slim, but they could turn out to be pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the NSF did instead, Menge said, was require all proposals to show how the research being proposed would be transformative.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstructions to reviewers include the expectation that the reviewer will comment on how transformative the proposed research is,\u201d Menge added.<\/p>\n

The problem, the Oregon State collaborators say, is that it\u2019s rarely possible to know at the proposal stage whether a project will turn out to be transformative; their assertion follows interviews and surveys of 78 highly cited ecologists who began with incremental goals and only later realized the transformative potential of their work.<\/p>\n

Read the complete article:\u00a0http:\/\/bit.ly\/2wMPD7N<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Jane Lubchenco-Bruce Menge lab<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research-funding agencies that require scientists to declare at the proposal stage how their projects will be \u201ctransformative\u201d may actually be hindering discovery, according to a study by OSU ecologists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6617,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1507,641038,523],"tags":[650784,5614,37185],"class_list":["post-8156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-and-staff","category-ib","category-research","tag-school-of-life-sciences","tag-science-communication","tag-stem"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6vHeb-27y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4099,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/06\/scenes-2016-scholarship-dessert\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":0},"title":"Celebrating scholarship at our annual dessert","author":"Sharon","date":"June 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Our 2016 Scholarship Dessert brought together students, faculty, advisors, alumni and friends to celebrate our outstanding students and generous donors.","rel":"","context":"In "Biochemistry & Biophysics"","block_context":{"text":"Biochemistry & Biophysics","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/bb\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/06\/20160531_COS_HO-1541-225x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/06\/20160531_COS_HO-1541-225x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/06\/20160531_COS_HO-1541-225x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/06\/20160531_COS_HO-1541-225x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/06\/20160531_COS_HO-1541-225x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3215,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/01\/discover-research-highlights\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":1},"title":"Discover: Research Highlights","author":"nayaks","date":"January 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The College of Science has an extensive research portfolio that is globally recognized, providing our students enriching and life-changing experiences.","rel":"","context":"In "Biohealth Science"","block_context":{"text":"Biohealth Science","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/area\/biohealth-science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/02\/Skull.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/02\/Skull.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/02\/Skull.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2016\/02\/Skull.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7934,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2017\/08\/research-funding-continues-upward-trajectory\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":2},"title":"Research funding continues upward trajectory","author":"nayaks","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Science faculty received $18.7 million in research grants and awards in FY17, the second highest year since FY2013 and a 54% increase from last year.","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/news\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2017\/08\/cos-research-awards.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2017\/08\/cos-research-awards.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2017\/08\/cos-research-awards.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7344,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2017\/06\/the-class-of-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":3},"title":"The Class of 2017","author":"nayaks","date":"June 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The College graduated a record 629 students with baccalaureate degrees, 64 master's and 66 doctoral students in 2016-17.","rel":"","context":"In "Biochemistry & Biophysics"","block_context":{"text":"Biochemistry & Biophysics","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/bb\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2017\/06\/Shan-Lansing_lab-shot_thumb-225x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1512,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2015\/05\/new-ale-to-help-research-on-sea-star-wasting-disease\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":4},"title":"New ale supports research on sea star wasting disease","author":"nayaks","date":"May 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In collaboration with Oregon State University and PISCO, Rogue Ales and Spirits has released the Wasted Sea Star Purple Ale.","rel":"","context":"In "Integrative Biology"","block_context":{"text":"Integrative Biology","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/departments\/ib\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10950,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2019\/03\/support-boosts-momentum-for-aspiring-zoologists\/","url_meta":{"origin":8156,"position":5},"title":"Support boosts momentum for aspiring zoologists","author":"Katharine de Baun","date":"March 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Support from the John and Diane Howieson Scholarship is transformative for zoology students, who use the time that they would have spent working to engage in hands-on experiences.","rel":"","context":"In "Alumni and Friends"","block_context":{"text":"Alumni and Friends","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/category\/people\/alumni-and-friends\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2019\/03\/Heibel3-693x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6617"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8158,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8156\/revisions\/8158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}