Design+problems+and+solutions

The way that some governments approach public spending also creates challenges for researchers. In particular, researchers often find it difficult to attract public funds for more than one year as public finance in Indonesia is wedded to a one-year budget cycle, meaning that the purpose for which a research grant is made needs to be completed within 12 months. ….. If it does not, the researcher is likely to have to return the money.

Twelve month grants are a major disincentive and should be extended, possibly in several phases to take account of risk. Government planners must put themselves in the shoes of the researchers and product developers. There is much global experience to be drawn upon to design grants, matching grants, soft loans, and equity/quasi-equity funds both good and bad. In Kazakhstan one funding agency proposed that if the research carried out under a government grant did not go as planned and did not produce the expected results, the grant money should be returned. This kind of weirdness should be avoided.