New way to fund research

The US-based National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) board of directors has approved a new mechanism for companies and organisations to fund applied scientific research and have the unbiased results published in scholarly journals.

 

NSPF has developed a program that allows manufacturers and organisations to donate targeted research funds through the NSPF to fund such research. Manufacturers often wish to have unbiased researchers verify potential product benefits or to understand key issues. Some examples of the types of manufacturers who may wish to validate performance of either their products or their product class include filtration, heating, chemical treatment products, fixtures, pumps, motors and construction design.

 

Universities are often hesitant to accept industry funding due to the perception that their study would be biased in the manufacturer’s favour. Manufacturers are often hesitant to donate funds for unbiased university research because the research publications acknowledge the donating manufacturer. As a result, the studies are often discredited or received sceptically from the scientific community based on the link to the manufacturer.

 

This program creates ‘blind studies’ that will raise standards and prevent inappropriate industry influence. Once the general ‘research problem’ is defined, and the donation is made to NSPF, the manufacturer/donor has no contact with the university. It is a ‘hands off’ philosophy, says CEO Tom Lachocki. Upon completion of the research, the university researcher will submit the paper to publications to go through a peer-review process. It will then be published in scholarly literature. Manufacturing donors will not see the study results until they are published.

 

The details and guidelines for funding industrial-focused research can be downloaded from www.nspf.org under the “research” tab. Industry members who wish to donate targeted grant money should contact Tom Lachocki at tom.lachocki@nspf.org.