It took me far to long to realize this, but the incentive on research grants is not to deliver a final product. In many cases the individuals responsible for delivering would be rewarded by no longer having a career.
Hence, these programs tend towards infinite research proposals- the same is true in applied ml research in private corporations.
First Light isn't a research program funded by grants, it's a startup company attempting to develop a product. If they actually deliver before someone else makes them obsolete, they won't lose their careers, they'll make an absurd amount of money and be quite busy improving their reactors.
Comments
It took me far to long to realize this, but the incentive on research grants is not to deliver a final product. In many cases the individuals responsible for delivering would be rewarded by no longer having a career.
Hence, these programs tend towards infinite research proposals- the same is true in applied ml research in private corporations.
First Light isn't a research program funded by grants, it's a startup company attempting to develop a product. If they actually deliver before someone else makes them obsolete, they won't lose their careers, they'll make an absurd amount of money and be quite busy improving their reactors.