NSF Ideas Lab Turns the Scientific Grants Process on its Head

Imagine being thrown together with a group of strangers and coming up with a fundable scientific proposal in less than a week. That’s the basic nuts and bolts of the National Science Foundation Ideas Lab, a relatively new mechanism for encouraging big thinking in science and out-of-the box interdisciplinary collaborations. Interesting idea, but does it work? Matt Wachowiak, Ph.D., USTAR professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Utah relays his experience, and his views on whether this will become the norm for scientific funding.