Who's buying your science?

In the Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush famously posited that “scientific progress… results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in a manner dictated by their curiosity.” In a characteristically generative piece, Ben Reinhardt suggests that the reign of this framework, which has shaped science policy and practice since WWII, was a historical anomaly that is nearing its end. In its place, Ben calls for researchers to think more deeply about who their customers are, and why those customers would want to “buy” their science. This is not simply a call for shifting research up the TRL scale; reasons for buying research can include not just health or profit, but “wonder, status, guilt, and existential dread” – what’s important is figuring out what it is you’re selling and to whom. This mindset applies not only at the level of research agendas, but also research ecosystems, and Ben highlights the need for the independent research ecosystem (think coordinated research programs, FROs, BBNs) to more carefully define and cultivate its own value proposition for the set of potential customers. Realistic options for what independent research could offer its customers seem to include: superior quality, clear ownership over outcomes, and status; the first seems most compelling to me (and seemingly Ben), so let’s do what we can to prove that one out.