ON THE COST OF CHASING RESEARCH DOLLARS

Most researchers face the chore of seeking funding. Competitive grants are increasingly the norm for funding, even in large national researc h organizations. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the direct costs of grant-seeking behavior in the context of Canada's nat ional forest research organization. Unit costs of obtaining additional research dollars from a particular competition are derived. The avera ge cost is found to be 22 cents per research dollar received. However, this result is heavily contingent on assumptions about the opportunit y costs of researchers' time.