Problem. We must fund intellectual infrastructure for the long term › Funding intellectual infrastructure using research grants › Unquantified impact of intellectual infrastructure [013K]

Funding is, as a rule, devoted to projects that promise (1) significant and (2) essentially predictable intellectual contributions. Intellectual infrastructure typically does not yield a direct intellectual contribution, but when neglected for too long can impede these intellectual contributions in invisible ways. Funders of research grants are, however, reluctant to fund what they cannot quantify.