{"id":70636,"date":"2023-11-08T23:10:31","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T04:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=70636"},"modified":"2023-11-08T23:10:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T04:10:31","slug":"competing-does-not-give-better-results-is-science-being-funded-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/competing-does-not-give-better-results-is-science-being-funded-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Competing does not give better results: is science being funded well?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nProject-based research funding has no differential impact, compared to traditional institutional funding, in terms of the production of highly cited academic articles, nor a clear effect on the number of publications.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the conclusion reached by\u00a0<\/span>a study led by the University of Seville<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0The analysis is based on data from 10 countries and 148 European universities with a clear focus on research between 2011 and 2019. We have considered institutional and project funding at both national and university level and analyzed their effect on the amount and the quality of the publications.<\/span><\/p>\n

At none of the levels does there appear a differentiating effect between the two types of financing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Strong increase in funding per project<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The results contrast with the strong increase in research funding per project since the 1980s in the vast majority of European countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main justification for this evolution is based on the assumption, on the part of ministries and funding agencies, that the financing of research by projects\u00a0<\/span>represents an improvement in academic performance due to its fundamentally competitive nature<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under this modality, a group or an individual is funded to carry out a generally defined research activity on the basis of a proposal that describes the activities to be carried out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The selection of these proposals is based on a competitive process in which public agencies decide to finance based on a quality evaluation and based on a\u00a0<\/span>set of agreed criteria<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, institutional financing is defined as the financing of institutions without direct selection of projects to be carried out.\u00a0Under this model, the receiving institution (and not the funding organization) has discretion over which\u00a0<\/span>projects should be carried out<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

The arguments for and against competition<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Project financing is defended based on three fundamental arguments:<\/span><\/p>\n