When the best decision is no decision: the rise of randomization in grant funding0

• SCIENCE, Science / Health, Science Mission Directorate, scientists, Space, Space Communications & Navigation Program, Space Launch System (SLS), Space Telescope, space-x-ipo, SpaceX
• August 11, 2026

Randomizing parts of grant decision-making increases diversity and reduces costs, argue some researchers.Credit: Andrew Angelov/Alamy Rachel Heyard’s job was to find a signal in the noise, but the trouble was how often there wasn’t one. As a biostatistician in the data team at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in Bern, Switzerland’s main public research