Ed Boyden proposed an institute where later success funds new high-risk research

Ed Boyden proposed an institute where later success funds new high-risk research

In a recording of his “Incentives in Science” talk published on July 23, neuroscientist Ed Boyden described an independent organization for long-term basic research. It would support early ideas, help develop promising tools, and ask successful participants to contribute money, time, or mentorship to the next group.

On July 23, Boyden published a recording of a talk in which he proposed bringing the full path from a high-risk idea to its practical use within a single organization. For twenty years, his laboratory has developed ways to map the brain and control neural activity. Such tools require sustained work before they attract interest from grant funders, investors, or users.

Boyden proposes starting with graduate students and researchers who have built early prototypes and are willing to tackle fundamental problems. Each participant makes a commitment upon joining: if the work eventually brings success, the participant will give the next group a share of their future capital, time, or mentorship. This commitment applies regardless of the particular path the project ultimately takes.

At the next stage, a successful tool is put to use and expanded. It may be developed by a startup or by a focused research organization created to address one major problem. Those whose work eventually achieves later success then fulfill their commitment to researchers beginning new projects. The money and experience return not to a single project, but to the next round of attempts.

Boyden bases this proposal on the paths taken by two methods developed in his laboratory. Optogenetics uses light to control nerve cells, while expansion microscopy physically enlarges a sample within a polymer network so that a conventional light microscope can resolve small structures. A tool created for one scientific problem can outlast that problem and become the basis for work on another. Under this model, that later success pays for the next early attempt.