American Academy of Arts and Sciences - ARISE

In 2008, the AAAS published a white paper entitled, ARISE (Advancing Research in Science and Engineering). The ARISE goal was to provide recommendations to Federal Agencies, Universities, and Private Foundations for investing in/supporting Early-Career Scientists and High-Risk, High-Reward Research. ARISE report

The AAAS assembled a committee of academic and business leaders to discuss and take action on 2 key issues central to the nations' research efforts:
1)   Support of early-career faculty, and
2)   Encouragement of high-risk, high-reward, potentially transformative research

EARLY-CAREER FACULTY

Recommendations for Federal Agencies include:
l   Create or strengthen existing large, multiyear awards for early-career faculty.
l   Pay special attention to early-career faculty during merit reviews of regular grant programs
l   Adopt career stage-appropriate expectations for grant funding.
l   Provide seed funding for early-career faculty to enable them to explore new ideas for which no results have yet been achieved.

Recommendations for Universities include:
l   Develop or strengthen mentoring programs to encourage early-career faculty.
l   Reconsider promotion and tenure policies for early-career faculty.
l   Address the needs of primary caregivers.

Recommendations for Private Foundations include:
l   Move away from windfall effects by spreading the wealth.
l   Cap the number of start-up and first awards made to a single investigator.
 

HIGH-RISK, HIGH-REWARD RESEARCH

Recommendations for Federal Agencies include:
l   Consider targeted programs, grant mechanisms, and policies (i.e. adapt existing grant programs) to foster transformative research; establish metrics with which to evaluate success
l   Strengthen the application and review processes. High-risk research proposals face even greater challenges in a stressed peer-review system not equipped to appreciate them.
l   Invest in program officers, who should be encouraged/expected to engage with the professional communities they fund. This requires an adequate administrative budget, which should not come at the expense of the research budget.
l   Establish new research programs only if they have enough critical mass to avoid fruitless grant-writing efforts. Grant programs that fund a very small percentage of applications are inefficient uses of money, time, and effort.
l   Collect/analyze demographic data on applicants and PI's in a uniform format to establish how well federal agencies support research.

Recommendations for Universities include:
l   Accept greater responsibility for salaries of faculty members. Expecting faculty to raise all of the funds for their own salaries, their student' stipends and tuition, and their research space puts a disproportionate burden on early-career faculty and discourages risk taking.
l   Shoulder a larger share of the cost of new facilities and programs. Campaign goals/funds for new buildings should include the continuing responsibility to maintain each facility and to support new programmatic activities.