The research funding landscape is evolving. We are seeing shifts in the balance of funding coming from different sectors, as well as the emergence of both new opportunities and potential inequities. These areas were topics of discussion during a June 4 webinar hosted by the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR), the oldest roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The webinar, “Philanthropy and Basic Research: Partnerships and New Pathways for Sustainable Funding,” brought France Córdova (President, Science Philanthropy Alliance), Tom Skalak (Senior Advisor to the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation), and Shirley Tilghman (President and Professor Emerita of Princeton University) together in conversation. A recording and slides are available here. 

Dr. Córdova spoke about forming the Science Philanthropy Alliance as a response to flat federal funding for basic research and a growing need for the contributions of sources like philanthropy. She shared key takeaways from the Alliance’s Science Philanthropy Indicators Report, including how nonprofit and university funds, which include current philanthropy and endowments derived from philanthropy, are a growing source of support for basic research. She said the Alliance is working to improve data collection around philanthropy’s contribution to research funding. 

In a wide-ranging discussion, the speakers considered where philanthropy is poised to make a difference in research, highlighting the scale of available capital on the sidelines and an ongoing hesitancy to take on “all of society” challenges. Featured areas of specific opportunity included climate science and oceanography, clean energy including solar, and AI systems built to serve society. 

Dr. Skalak shared his perspective on the standard framing of philanthropy as a good fit for high-risk novel research, where investment in knowledge creation is one of the surest bets for impact. “If one wishes a legacy impact through one’s philanthropy and one wishes to improve the world and advance civilization in the long run, then funding basic research and new knowledge creation is the surest pathway to do that,” he said, pushing back against what he sees as a venture mindset focused on short-term deliverables. “It’s a virtuous and productive cycle when philanthropy can invest significantly upstream in basic research,” he said, and pointed to the ways this initial investment drives the later commercial success and revenue to reinvest in research. Skalak said it requires a “spirit of adventure” from philanthropists to discover what no one has seen before. 

Also focusing on knowledge creation, Dr. Tilghman highlighted the importance of the nation’s research institutions. “If fundamental research is not being done by the research institutes of this country, it will not be done, period,” she said, emphasizing that industry is thinking quarterly, not on the kind of timelines required to do curiosity-based research to understand the principles of the natural world. She pointed to the decline of federal funding and acknowledged that philanthropy can complement but not compensate for this decline. 

Other key takeaways from the conversation included: 

• Philanthropy can be an important partner with other entities to seed and sustain ‘big science’ projects (see ‘further reading and resources’ for examples).
• One of the basic research enterprise’s strengths is its heterogeneity. Spreading investments throughout the country, not just on the coasts, drives innovation and improves our ability as a nation to advance knowledge and, therefore, society.
• A pressing concern is that large gifts tend to go to a handful of coastal universities when excellent work is happening across the country. The challenges of this asymmetric investment are augmented when we consider how universities with long histories and large endowments are more internally resilient to dips in federal support.
• One solution to the rising cost of research is more partnerships. Regional centers of excellence (for example, in specialized instruments) that support many universities simultaneously can stimulate the scientific enterprise more broadly.

Before speakers turned to the audience for questions, they reflected on the current moment, including the role of industry, for which Dr. Skalak emphasized the power of partnering with universities and increased interest in the intersection of science and society. “We are living in a time where the trust in science has declined,” Dr. Tilghman said. “This is an incredibly important moment for us to restore greater confidence in science and trust that those of us who are engaged in the scientific enterprise care deeply about making the world a better place.” She pointed to collaborative efforts by philanthropy to move society through science storytelling.

A highly engaged audience representing all sectors of GUIRR asked about how universities can increase philanthropic support, the thought processes behind open requests for proposals, impactful investment with limited funds, and more. Dr. Skalak encouraged being “generous with ideas” and facilitating authentic shared partnerships. Roadblocks disappear, Dr. Tilghman said, “when a philanthropist has confidence that they’ve found someone [a possible grantee] who shares their vision and has the expertise to do it well.” Although there were more questions to answer than time allowed, the many submitted inquiries related to research institutions will assist the Alliance as we develop our programming for our 2025 virtual Research Institutions Meeting. Summary information for our 2023 meeting can be found on our resources page for research institutions.

We are grateful for GUIRR’s collaboration in bringing this important topic to a broad audience and for the ongoing engagement of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics team as we benefit from their rigorous data collection and analyses. 

Further reading and resources:

• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is a multi-university survey of the universe as we know it. It is funded by the Sloan Foundation and NASA, NSF, DoE, and funding agencies in Germany and Japan. Sustained, long-term support from Sloan has proven critical.
• The Simons Observatory is a large-scale project in Chile funded jointly by Simons, partner universities, and the NSF. It was recently featured in The New York Times and Nature.
• Civic Science Fellows is a joint program across multiple philanthropy foundations to “ensure that the story of science is being told more effectively”
• The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group and the NSF are celebrating a new partnership on the science of microorganisms. A press release is here.
• The Science Philanthropy Alliance formed an infectious disease working group to explore areas of opportunity for funders at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• The Wu Tsai Performance Alliance combines cross-disciplinary expertise to deepen our understanding of human performance. Partners include public and private universities, the NFL, MLS, WNBA, IOC, UNESCO, and the UN.
• NSF programs like the Estab­lished Program to Stim­u­late Com­pet­i­tive Research (EPSCoR) and the more recently announced Regional Innovation Engines serve to expand the geographic diversity of research and innovation
• “Science The Endless Frontier,” a 1945 report by Vannevar Bush to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, laid the foundation for the federal government’s expanded role in research funding
• In April 2024, a new AI-driven drug design biotech startup launched with $1B in committed funding. The protein design technology underpinning this record-breaking valuation for a biotechnology start-up company was supported by philanthropic gifts to a public university (University of Washington) for early-stage fundamental research. Read more in TechCrunch.