# Research grants incentivize waste Funders' grant-making decisions are driven by two overarching goals: * Sponsoring research that aligns with their individual organizational mission * Awarding grants to scientists and projects that will provide a safe return on investment Funding organizations invite scientists to apply for research grants and distribute financial awards based on the perceived quality of a grant application towards achieving the aforementioned goals. Typically, funders dedicate upwards of 5% of their operating budgets towards administering this process. Determining if a project aligns with an organization’s mission is relatively straightforward. Unfortunately, no objective metrics exist to judge the value of the scientific knowledge produced by any given research output. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.researchhub.com/welcome/the-problem/research-grants-incentivize-waste.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.