Reply #25: Yes, to get a research grant your research needs to benefit a corporation. [View All]

[ThomCat]

So all research in this country tends to be something that improves a product, or creates a new product, or improves a method of production. It's all based on what corporations need.

In other countries research grants can be more based on what scientists think is interesting just for the sake of science, or they can research what might be in the public's interest. You aren't going to get nearly as much of that in this country.

Even if you do get research like that in this country, if a major corporations buys up the rights to your patents they can suppress your research if it might cut into their profits. No oil company is going to want your promising research into green energy going into development, for example. Or, perhaps you develop a way to "grow" a paper substitute from bacteria, but it's not yet quit cheap enough to replace real paper, a paper manufacturer might buy you out and prevent any further research so that you can't ever cut into their market. They have too much invested in their current way of doing business, after all.