Great article Alex! Do you think there's an argument to make for even larger groups and common research directions in biomedical research to counter the burden of prestige? The idea would be that you don't have to fight for the limited funding/prestige to start your own lab and can instead join a larger organization.
I ask because from my experience in theoretical physics and computer science, it's much cheaper to fund a bunch of people trying very different things. As you write in your essay though, biomedical research is expensive. It seems like having a bunch of small labs doing different (maybe overlapping) things would be ideal, but isn't once you factor in funding. With consolidated groups, you would relieve some of the big costs in running experiments and getting the appropriate equipment, right?
Great article Alex! Do you think there's an argument to make for even larger groups and common research directions in biomedical research to counter the burden of prestige? The idea would be that you don't have to fight for the limited funding/prestige to start your own lab and can instead join a larger organization.
I ask because from my experience in theoretical physics and computer science, it's much cheaper to fund a bunch of people trying very different things. As you write in your essay though, biomedical research is expensive. It seems like having a bunch of small labs doing different (maybe overlapping) things would be ideal, but isn't once you factor in funding. With consolidated groups, you would relieve some of the big costs in running experiments and getting the appropriate equipment, right?
I think there's a good argument for that. I'm a fan of the big industrial R&D lab model (https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-american-rd-lab/) in particular. Pharma used to do a lot of in-house research (some still do e.g. NIBR), but much of it was shut down as the industry moved to an externalised model (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_Institute_of_Molecular_Biology).
I like the employment of metaphors. It's a different style from most scientific writing, and it offers a fresh perspective.