Professor Tony Jorm argues against gifting of research funds by politicians.

In an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, Professor Tony Jorm has called for an overall of direct funding of research by grants that are given at the discretion of government ministers. While most health and medical research in Australia is funded through competitive grants based on peer review, such as through the National Health and Medical Research Council, there is an increasing trend for researchers to directly lobby politicians for funding. Professor Jorm argues that this type of ‘gifted’ funding bypasses peer review and undermines the quality of research. He calls for reform of funding mechanisms to ensure that public funds allocated to research are always subject to competition and peer review.

The article can be found at: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/3/other-source-government-funding-medical-research-needs-reform