Our Work

Supporting Research and Development Means Fixing The System, Argues New Report from PPI’s Innovation Frontier Project

• September 16, 2021

As Congress prepares to boost public spending on domestic research and development (R&D), policymakers must simultaneously address mounting concerns regarding our scientific institutions, argues a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)’s Innovation Frontier Project. The report, authored by M. Anthony Mills and titled “Fix Science, Don’t Just Fund It,”  highlights inequities in the distribution of federal R&D funding, stifling bureaucratization across disciplines, and the “replication crisis” of integrity in the scientific enterprise.

“Thanks to revitalized support and interest from Congress, science agencies may soon benefit from a transformative increase in federal funding, signifying a critical first step in supporting American science and innovation. But, as M. Anthony Mills identifies in this must-read report, further action must be taken to address the interrelated issues plaguing the scientific enterprise if we’re going to advance innovation for generations to come,” said Jack Karsten, Managing Director of the Innovation Frontier Project at PPI.

Mills argues that most current proposals for supporting R&D involve substantial increases in federal spending — without institutional guardrails to address issues like highly concentrated distribution, a constraining bureaucratic apparatus, and the prevalence of scientific findings that cannot be independently confirmed.

Mills’ report suggests several proposals for helping policymakers better understand the problems concerning American R&D, including:

• The OMB should establish the Research Policy Board (RPB), as it was instructed to do in the 2016 Cures Act. The board is by statute set to expire at the end of this month.
• In addition to reauthorizing the RPB, Congress should consider expanding its scope and purview to include a multi-stakeholder assessment of best practices for R&D funding generally.
• Congress should direct science agencies to establish a “second look” program for federal science grants to experiment with alternative funding mechanisms.
• Congress should direct federal agencies to set aside a fixed percentage of new R&D funding for institutions of higher education for a block grant program.
• Congress should direct the NIH to grow and expand the scope of its Director’s Pioneer Award, Specifically, the program should be expanded to include researchers from basic scientific fields in the natural sciences.
• These new or expanded funding programs should be pursued in tandem, using a portfolio approach in order to gather evidence of effectiveness. To accomplish this, Congress should establish appropriate feedback mechanisms in coordination with relevant scientific agencies.

 

Read the report and the expanded policy recommendations here:

 

Based in Washington, D.C., and housed in the Progressive Policy Institute, the Innovation Frontier Project explores the role of public policy in science, technology and innovation. The project is managed by Jack Karsten. Learn more by visiting innovationfrontier.org.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

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Media Contact: Aaron White; awhite@ppionline.org