A basic scientist’s reflections on research funding

Scientists are among the most enthusiastic people when it comes to talking about their work. Despite this, it seems that it is the funding system that Canadian scientists most often discuss these days, and not their findings and new ideas. Needless to say, research can only exist with good and secure funding, but when obtaining funding becomes a dominant part of investigators’ activity, the system has a problem. I am a cell biologist and physiologist recruited to Canada from Hungary. Generous funding helped me to complete my post-doctoral training here and to start my own lab a decade ago. The transition from post-doc was smoothened by one of the last Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Senior Research Fellowships that gave 2 years of postdoctoral funding and 2 years of new investigator salary support. I was extremely lucky to have this opportunity, which is no longer available to current post-docs. However, as my independent work started to produce results, I had to realize how difficult it was to maintain even a modestly sized lab (one technician and two students) within a research institute. As the reality of inevitable rejections of first grant renewal applications set in, I was swept away by the struggle for funding and the neverending cycles of reviewing. This experience, shared by many of us, shaped my views on the ills of the Canadian biomedical research funding system. I am sharing my thoughts on this important and complex topic, with the hope that it will be part of a fruitful discussion.