Articles by Bruce Silver

When a medical institution needs to build a new wing or start a new research project, its officials can turn to a wide range of grantmakers for financial support. Finding funds for general operating expenses, on the other hand, can be very difficult. Most granting agencies will not provide monies for the expensive supplies, equipment, and staff required for day-to-day operations. According to the Foundation Grants Index, issued by the New York-based Foundation Center, general operating support

In 1984, the department of earth sciences at St. Cloud State University, Minn., was lacking an electron microprobe. At the time, the instrument, used to analyze the com- position of rock samples, was selling for about $200,000. Gary Anderson, a professor in the department, knew that there was no way to justify the expense. "A small department like ours, in a public school such as St. Cloud State, can't afford [to spend that much money] on a single piece of equipment," he says. By being at the

While an undergraduate at Princeton University, Darren Orbach found himself faced with a dilemma. He had always envisioned being a physician, yet at Princeton he had also become fascinated by theories about the mind, which led him to an interest in investigating the workings of the brain's visual cortex. But how was he to pursue a career in basic research and be a physician, too? Like many aspiring researchers who feel a pull in the clinical direction, Orbach chose to enter a joint M.D.-Ph.D. p

For countless scientists, it's a vicious cycle. They need funds to turn their exploratory research into more viable projects, yet the National Institutes of Health tends to reject grant applications for investigations that are still in the early stages. So what's a researcher to do? The answer may be to turn away from the large, national agencies and toward small, local ones, a prime example of which is the Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based W.W. Smith Charitable Trust. George Preti, organic chemist and sen