There Must Be a Better Way

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant represents the gold standard for research independence across the United States. The barrier to entry for this grant mechanism is extremely high, with <10% of grants being funded. Interestingly, after this tremendously high barrier, there is very little accountability for the grantee to accomplish the aims that were originally proposed. While there is certainly value to requiring investigators to provide a logical and compelling research plan, excessive grant writing creates a large inefficiency. Thus, a "fail quickly" model, which is not without cost, should be considered. Such a model involves a much lower barrier to entry and much higher short-term accountability so that more aims can be tested in less time at lower cost.