The Review Panel's Down the Hall From the Sword-Swallower

At Slate, Amanda Schaffer writes that the prospect of stimulus funds has "shaken the slow-moving world of research and whipped scientists into a near-paralytic frenzy." She also says that "the lure of stimulus funding has aroused such a carnival-esque atmosphere that many biomedical scientists have ceased doing much actual research" as researchers busily write new grants, particularly Challenge Grants. She says that Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Washington University are submitting, respectively, 300, 400, and 300 Challenge Grant applications.