FROs are touted as a new way to quickly create new scientific tools. After launching in the US, the idea has reached Europe
FROs hope to create new scientific tools like AlphaFold, which has automated the prediction of protein structures. Photo credits: Burgstedt / BigStock
Over the past few years, a new type of institution has entered the scientific scene: focused research organisations (FROs), which try to build new scientific software, databases and other tools in a rapid, five-year timeframe.
So far, eight have been launched in the US, largely with the aid of donations from the ultra-wealthy, such as former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. And now, the idea is catching on in Europe, with the UK launching its own FRO this year.
The hope is that these FROs develop tools that overcome scientific bottlenecks, rather like AlphaFold, the protein-shape prediction model that has shaken up structural biology.
It might sound obvious that scientists need new tools and datasets to open up new vistas of discovery. But in the current funding system, there just isn’t the money available to create something like a FRO to build…
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