It would appear that funding agencies are starting to look for new and novel ways to either raise revenue for their grants and/or to help cover the administrative costs associated with reviews and stuff. I’m guessing this is also to help reduce the number of applicants.
Huh? I hear you type.
Yep. The American Heart Association has added a small but very significant line to its blurb about the benefits of becoming a member:
No word yet on how much this fee will be. It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out, particularly as membership fees are often paid by the PI out of her own pocket because institutions will not cover them. So who is going to pay the application fee? Publishing costs are one thing but paying to apply for a grant?
Discuss.
No different from journals that have nonrefundable submission fees (e.g.: http://www.jneurosci.org/site/misc/ifa_fee.xhtml). I don't like those, either.
That is totally fucked up. What a weird way to strong-arm folks into joining your association. Ugh.
Zen-I get publication fees. But submission fees? Really? I would just send the paper somewhere else. Of course with grants that is less of an option
Seth Godin often writes about the value of friction:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/05/friction-saves-the-medium.html
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/09/if-craigslist-cost-1.html
He's right in principle, though the implementation in these cases is debatable.
Holy shit. Fuck bastards!
How are you supposed to pay for either memberships or applications WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE FUNDING?!
Gaah!
What if the fee is $5? Is that so steep that you wouldn't be willing or able to pay for it out of pocket?
What if there's a waiver if you can demonstrate no funding?
We don't know what the fee is intended to achieve (Increase society membership? Reduced review load?) or how they will implement it. It might not be so bad if they do it right.
I sat on the American Heart Association Research Committee a couple of years ago when this idea was first proposed. The sad fact is that donations have been down for a few years and the number of grant applications has risen, so the submission fee is viewed as a means of covering a small portion of the administrative costs of processing & reviewing applications. Otherwise, even less $ available to fund research and fewer grants awarded.
BTW, I suspect that the fee will be similar to the cost of submitting an abstract to a national scientific meeting....
Interestingly, some groups (i.e American Diabetes Association) require those awarded grants to be members -- and the membership fee/dues cannot be paid from those grant funds. Personally, I think that we should be supporting these nonprofit granting agencies by being members and volunteering our efforts on their behalf. Why would I expect a nonprofit to support my research if I am not willing to routinely support their efforts by reviewing grants, participating in fundraising events, etc? Scientists should not view nonprofit associations simply as sources of grant support. It's a two-way street: these groups require our support, as well!
I'd offer them that I'll pay the fee if I get the grant.
Ouch re: submission fees for a grant application. But if I'm honest I had to pay these when I subscribed for some grants back when I was doing my doctorate.