Research Overheads

[Alexander Berezin]

Bert: Canadian NSERC quotes that its administrative 
costs are ca. 4 % of the budget ( 3.7 % in 1994 report).
What I am saying, is that such figures are highly
misleading and, actually, hypocritical. If so many
researchers are saying that they spend up to 50 % of
their time for the grantsmanship (Nobel laureate 
Leon Lederman recently quoted 40 % as a typical figure
for younger physicists), then ALL THIS TIME is the 
overhead, as it is taken (stolen) from the productive
research. (add to this also the reviewing of
"proposals" - for the most part, exercises in 
futurology).  

In terms of (academic) salaries paid for this time
it certainly measures in billions.

We have to realize, that the responsibility for the
creating and maintaining this wasteful and 
overcompetitive system is primarily ours, not that
of the bureaucracy, as WE (and not the "administration")
have created, developed and cherish the funding apartheid
based on uncontrolled and unaccountable peer review, 
mythology of excellence enforcement, and other 
fundamental aberrations.
 
As for the bureaucrates, from the beginning of the
world, they primarily suck on those who conveniently
allow them to do so.

Alex Berezin    



On Sat, 17 Jun 1995, Bert Gold wrote:

> 
> Alex,
> 
> You are wrong to assume that it is possible to get information
> on the costs of administrative overhead for Research Grants
> coming from the United States Government.
> 
> It is not possible to get this information.
> 
> I have tried.
> 
> We no longer live in a democracy.
> 
> Good luck with your research,
> 
> Bert Gold, Ph.D.
> Temple and Jefferson
> Philadelphia
>