Rewards of Risk

Secrets to scoring big money grants for innovative, out-of-the-box research

| 7 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
7:00
Share

Charles Lieber, 2008 National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award WinnerPHOTO BY STU ROSNER PHOTOGRAPHY

Charles Lieber was ready to do something new. A renowned nanoscientist at Harvard, he had developed a number of nanoscale materials for electronic and computing applications, but had long wanted to try his hand at biological problems. He imagined building nanoscale sensors to detect biomarkers and nanowires to probe individual cells, but he had no funding to pursue these ideas.

Then in August 2008, Lieber learned that a short grant application he had filed was going to pay off in a big way: he was to be awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award, a $2.5 million, five-year grant designed for high-risk research projects. According to NIH, these awards fund high-impact ideas that are dubbed too novel, that span too diverse a ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Megan Scudellari

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
TS Digest January 2025
January 2025, Issue 1

Why Do Some People Get Drunk Faster Than Others?

Genetics and tolerance shake up how alcohol affects each person, creating a unique cocktail of experiences.

View this Issue
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino
New Approaches for Decoding Cancer at the Single-Cell Level

New Approaches for Decoding Cancer at the Single-Cell Level

Biotium logo
Learn How 3D Cell Cultures Advance Tissue Regeneration

Organoids as a Tool for Tissue Regeneration Research 

Acro 

Products

Artificial Inc. Logo

Artificial Inc. proof-of-concept data demonstrates platform capabilities with NVIDIA’s BioNeMo

Sapient Logo

Sapient Partners with Alamar Biosciences to Extend Targeted Proteomics Services Using NULISA™ Assays for Cytokines, Chemokines, and Inflammatory Mediators

Bio-Rad Logo

Bio-Rad Extends Range of Vericheck ddPCR Empty-Full Capsid Kits to Optimize AAV Vector Characterization

Scientist holding a blood sample tube labeled Mycoplasma test in front of many other tubes containing patient samples

Accelerating Mycoplasma Testing for Targeted Therapy Development