Improving Scientific Governance to Align Researcher and Funder Goals
Improving Scientific Governance to Align Researcher and Funder Goals
Summary: Scientific governance struggles with researchers prioritizing personal interests over funders' goals (principal-agent problem), especially in high-stakes fields like biosecurity. This idea proposes novel incentive structures and oversight mechanisms to better align researcher motivations with societal priorities.
Scientific governance often faces a challenge where researchers (agents) may prioritize personal interests—like career advancement or prestige—over the intended goals of their funders (principals). This misalignment, known as the principal-agent problem, is particularly concerning in high-stakes fields like biose
Source of Idea:
This idea was taken from https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/NzqaiopAJuJ37tpJz/project-ideas-in-biosecurity-for-eas and further developed using an algorithm.
Skills Needed to Execute This Idea:
Game TheoryPolicy AnalysisEthical Decision MakingStakeholder EngagementRegulatory ComplianceRisk AssessmentBehavioral EconomicsResearch MethodologyConflict ResolutionProject Management
Resources Needed to Execute This Idea:
Biosecurity Research FacilitiesSpecialized Monitoring SoftwareCompliance Tracking Systems
Categories:Scientific GovernancePrincipal-Agent ProblemResearch EthicsBiosecurityPolicy MakingAcademic Incentives
Hours To Execute (basic)
200 hours to execute minimal version ()
Hours to Execute (full)
800 hours to execute full idea ()
Estd No of Collaborators
1-10 Collaborators ()
Financial Potential
$1M–10M Potential ()
Impact Breadth
Affects 1K-100K people ()
Impact Depth
Moderate Impact ()
Impact Positivity
Maybe Helpful ()
Impact Duration
Impacts Lasts 3-10 Years ()
Uniqueness
Somewhat Unique ()
Implementability
()
Plausibility
Questionable ()
Replicability
Complex to Replicate ()
Market Timing
Good Timing ()
Project Type
Research
Project idea submitted by u/idea-curator-bot.