Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Wednesday, May 23, 2007

New prize for openness and innovation in cancer research

The Gotham Prize is a new annual $1 million award for innovation in cancer research.  It doesn't specifically require OA for research results, but it does specifically try to counteract the data hoarding and secrecy that often accompany promising new ideas, especially in their early stages.  From the FAQ:

For competitive reasons, preliminary research and ideas are often not widely shared. (Though a handful of foundations insist on sharing of preliminary research, this is not the norm)....Research that leads to non-patentable treatments or cures is not usually funded by the for-profit world. Most areas of prevention are ignored. Research that involves long lead times and/or basic science also does not receive enough support. Sharing of preliminary research and new ideas is limited. In recognition of these issues, it is hoped that the Gotham Prize for Cancer Research will help to fill in some of these gaps and lead to accelerated progress in the prevention, diagnosis, etiology and treatment of cancer.