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Science Policy and Infrastructure

We fund the development of – and advocacy for – tractable ideas to change how government agencies allocate funding and regulate research and data-sharing, how scientific achievement is measured at all levels, and how journals and other institutions influence scientists’ incentives. We also support some public goods that we hope will facilitate discovery and information sharing.

Science Policy and Infrastructure is one of six portfolio areas within Scientific Research.

Our Work

Blog Post 4/2015
Science Policy and Infrastructure
by Holden Karnofsky

One way to respond to gaps and deficiencies in the current system for supporting scientific research would be to try to improve the system directly, by funding the development of - and advocacy for - proposals for structural changes.

Grant 2/2018
Mamoreruinochi wo Mamorukai — Legal Aid for Scientists in Japan
$40,000

Mamoreruinochi wo Mamorukai, which translates roughly as Protect the Lives Protectable, is a Japanese organization that protects science journalists and scientists from attacks, insults, and litigation.

Grant 1/2018
Princeton University — Rescuing Biomedical Research (2018)
$409,112

The goal of Rescuing Biomedical Research is to address systemic problems in U.S. biomedical research, particularly in relation to funding structures and career paths.

Grant 12/2017
protocols.io — Platform Improvements
$200,000

Many research papers are published with insufficient detail and are not updated, which creates problems related to scientific reproducibility. Protocols.io seeks to provide a free, up-to-date, crowd-sourced repository of science methods.

Grant 7/2017
Future of Research — Exit Grant
$150,000

This grant represents a renewal of our previous two-year grant to support Future of Research's mission to "improve the scientific research enterprise."

Press 1/2017
The new face of US science
from Nature

Our grantee says Census data shows how the biomedical workforce is fundamentally different to those of past generations and suggests that academia should study the trends, and adapt.

Press 5/2016
Grassroots Future of Research group makes it official
from Science Magazine

The Future of Research, a network of postdoc volunteers named 2015 People of the Year by Science Careers, is now a full-fledged nonprofit organization complete with a full-time executive director. Open Philanthropy has provided funding.

Grant 4/2016
Future of Research — General Support
$300,000

This volunteer association of early-career researchers advocates for policies that prepare students for careers, remove the competition between staff scientists and students, and make life sciences a more attractive field.

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