As associate professor and first - author Johan Bollen writes in an e-mail to Science Careers, they wanted their new system to «enable scientists to set their own priorities, fund scientists... not projects, avoid
proposal writing and reviewing, avoid administrative burdens, encourage all scientists to participate collectively in the definition of scientific priorities, encourage innovation, reward scientists that make significant contributions to data, software, methods, and systems, avoid funding death spirals (no funding - > no
research - > no funding) but still reward high levels of productivity, create the
proper incentives for scholarly communication (publishing to communicate, not to improve bibliometrics), enable funding of daring and risky
research, and so on.»
Janet Dutch, who leads the authority's
research into the
proposal, said that «used incorrectly, sludge can not only be a nuisance to the public but also has the potential to pollute and damage trees...» But with
proper care it can be a valuable fertiliser, she said.