NSF awards $400K in stimulus funding to study the impact of stimulus funding on science.
Researchers at the University of Virginia get $199,951 to study the impact of stimulus funding on employment in science and engineering fields, while the University of Michigan receives $199,988 to develop a database of the investments in and outcomes of social science projects funded by the ARRA.
But no one is asking the real question. Who will study the impact of funding these two groups on science? Huh?
If they’re only going to spend $400k to study the impact of the (roughly) $8B there is no motivation to apply for the (approximately) $20 to study the impact of the $400k.
Though when I was a grad student I would have done it for a turkey sandwich.