Don’t compete, collaborate: why collective funding applications are the future

A new perspective published in Nature on June 9, 2026, argues that collaborative grant applications among scientists with diverse expertise represent the future of scientific funding. This approach, the authors contend, is crucial for identifying interdisciplinary knowledge gaps and accelerating scientific progress. The article highlights that while individual grant applications are the norm, a shift towards collective funding proposals can foster a more holistic understanding of complex research problems. By bringing together researchers from different fields, such as artificial intelligence and biology, or physics and medicine, these collaborative efforts can uncover novel connections and drive innovation more effectively than siloed research. The authors emphasize that current funding systems, however, often do not adequately incentivize or support such collaborative endeavors, necessitating systemic changes to promote this model. These changes could include revised peer-review processes and funding structures that explicitly reward interdisciplinary teamwork. The piece suggests that embracing collective funding applications is not merely an alternative but a necessary evolution for tackling the grand challenges of the 21st century.