"With this new system, scientists never have to write a grant application again"

"two researchers are proposing a radically different system that would do away with applications and reviews; instead scientists would just give each other money. “Self-organized fund allocation” (SOFA), as it’s called, was developed by computer scientist Johan Bollen at Indiana University in Bloomington...

Competition for funding has become too intense, especially for young scientists, Scheffer and Bollen say, and the current peer-review system is inefficient. It’s also unfair, they argue, because a few scientists get lots of grants—Scheffer is one of them—whereas many others get few or nothing...

In Bollen’s system, scientists no longer have to apply; instead, they all receive an equal share of the funding budget annually—some €30,000 in the Netherlands, and $100,000 in the United States—but they have to donate a fixed percentage to other scientists whose work they respect and find important... 

Last year, Scheffer convinced Eppo Bruins, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, to submit a motion calling for a pilot program at NWO, which the parliament approved in June 2016... But NWO is not obliged to carry out the proposal, and so far has shown little enthusiasm."

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/new-system-scientists-never-have-write-grant-application-again?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=neveragain-12382

The crowd is deeply imperfect, and this /bleeds/ of privilege and false perceptions of meritocracy, but it's an interesting idea that I've seen scientists view favorably. 

I think it might function in small networks where it is realistic for people to be transparent and aware of each other.