New Science

What will the 21st century institutions of basic science look like?

[Alexey Guzey @alexeyguzey]

.@JacobTref runs the science program at Open Philanthropy, directing about $100m/year in philanthropic funding.

For @newscienceorg, we ended up talking about academia, peer review, grant-making; and also about love, the meaning of life, and our personal histories.

Enjoy!

Timestamps
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:01:11 - On Open Philanthropy's decision process
0:06:48 - Is it possible to make expected value calculations for basic scientific research?
0:16:27 - Non-profit funding vs for-profit funding
0:17:19 - Why the NIH rejects grants
0:19:39 - Jacob's "PhD" working side-by-side with biochemists for 5 years
0:25:22 - Today's system of federal funding are not supporting generalists
0:28:34 - How will AI affect the pace of scientific progress?
0:41:53 - AI Baumol Disease
0:54:41 - Can AI speed up aging research?
0:58:20 - The wisest people Jacob & Alexey know
1:13:31 - The future of science in academia
1:19:26 - How Open Philanthropy uses neglectedness to make funding trade-offs
1:35:16 - Jacob's advice for a talented 20 year old watching this
1:45:24 - Jacob's favorite joke

[New Science @newscienceorg]

A 2024 update from New Science!

New fellows, new writings, and updates from previous fellows and grantees...

https://t.co/g0Bv5xPZaL

[Richard Sever @cshperspectives]

"Peer review...for centuries the standard tool to determine an academic paper’s suitability for publication".

https://t.co/G7kuGKxTa5

No. The term is only a few decades old and Nature itself didn't it routinely until the 1970s. 1/3

[New Science @newscienceorg]

👀

[Alexey Guzey @alexeyguzey]

https://t.co/Oy4DY9MF1g 👀

[Laura 🌲 ⛰️ @LauraDeming]

I think if you're a v busy founder trying to learn technical topics, it's sooo silly not to use Anki - i.e. you have 10 hrs/week to learn stuff, and they're off hours (nights + partial recovery wknds)

(would love counterexamples / other suggestions!)

[alz @alz_zyd_]

OK one of my favorite interview questions, which trips up 95% of top undergrads from top schools that I interview, has fallen to Claude

[seemay chou @seemaychou]

Are you a recent college grad or early career researcher who is looking to get more mol bio/biochemistry experience in the lab? New role open for a Research Associate @ArcadiaScience, please share 🙏 https://t.co/YBombTvY7j

[Mark Lutter @MarkLutter]

Some thoughts on the recent SF election and the importance of coordination

[New Science @newscienceorg]

https://t.co/wegGXPuCti

[New Science @newscienceorg]

happy February from New Science! Our updates from January -- we launched our site for research results, shared bios + project descriptions of our most recent fellows, and a bit about where we are headed next. (link in thread)

[New Science @newscienceorg]

Our updates for September 2022, including new grants. 👀 https://t.co/mSRhtavUW6

[New Science @newscienceorg]

Can we tear chloroplasts from their eukaryotic hosts and enable them to flourish, on their own, once again?

This summer, a Fellow explored tools to transfer DNA into the organelle's genome, thus making progress toward a "free-living chloroplast."

https://t.co/2mMRyCbQbR

[New Science @newscienceorg]

Pathogens constantly evolve. We funded a fellow to design small peptides that target various sites on SARS-CoV-2 & fuse them to nanobodies. The goal is to build a "universal immunotherapy" that retains efficacy against new viral strains.

Our second essay: https://t.co/f9CoQmhrgb

[New Science @newscienceorg]

Studying organisms in isolation — as in cell culture — destroys the myriad signals, from neighbors and surroundings, that maintain a cell's identity.🧫

Our historical focus on individual cells has led to amazing discoveries, but we can do better. https://t.co/PwEOHi0jSw

[New Science @newscienceorg]

We funded five young scientists this summer. Each joined a lab in Boston or Berkeley. Their high-risk biology projects explored the potential for free-living mitochondria, universal immunotherapies, and more. This week, we're sharing their projects with you. 🎉

[New Science @newscienceorg]

To improve academic science, let's study the law. New essay by @NikoMcCarty explains how Consequences, Evidence, and Adversaries could all bolster reproducibility. #AcademicTwitter https://t.co/hfQaMe9mdr

[New Science @newscienceorg]

In the dozen years after solving DNA’s structure, all but one of the 18 scientists who received a Nobel Prize in molecular biology were supported by Rockefeller Foundation funds.

Learn more about their funding principles and history in our latest essay: https://t.co/lFRNZ1tP13

[New Science @newscienceorg]

Thanks for reading the essay, which can be cited using doi: 10.56416/480pmz. If you have ideas for an essay about the history of science, please email us: https://t.co/1QVEVdfsT5 // https://t.co/lFRNZ1KS33

[New Science @newscienceorg]

In the dozen years after solving DNA’s structure, all but one of the 18 scientists who received a Nobel Prize in molecular biology were supported by Rockefeller Foundation funds.

Learn more about their funding principles and history in our latest essay: https://t.co/lFRNZ1tP13

[New Science @newscienceorg]

This essay by @SamirUnni includes advice for modern science philanthropies, like @ArcadiaScience, @Convergent_FROs and ourselves. It draws directly from Rockefeller archives, program officer diaries, and a slew of other materials.