Gaining expertise in a field takes time and onerous reporting requirements can sap valuable energy, so HHMI believes it is imperative to provide stable, flexible funding. The Institute intervenes only at critical points—for example, to review agreements for consulting or other industry interactions. With freedom and flexibility come high expectations for intellectual output. HHMI demands creativity and innovation. We expect our investigators to work at the frontiers of their chosen field, to ask fundamental questions, and to take risks. HHMI prizes impact over publication volume in its merit-based renewal of investigator appointments and recognizes that some areas of research will proceed more slowly than others.

The core principles that guide HHMI's research program extend beyond the individual investigator and laboratory. As an organization, HHMI maintains a diversified research portfolio by taking a broad view of the fields that contribute to progress in the biomedical sciences. We are pleased that so many chemists, engineers, computer scientists, and physicists applied for the general competition. We strive to avoid incremental additions to research areas already well funded by the federal government—the opposite of "living easy." HHMI seeks a healthy dynamic equilibrium by supporting excellent scientists independent of their location while maintaining a presence at numerous geographically dispersed, outstanding research institutions. We hope to create a diverse community of research scientists who are fully engaged at their home institutions and with their HHMI colleagues as collaborators, teachers, and leaders.

With all the care and thought that goes into identifying 65 new HHMI investigators, my colleagues and I won't be slowing down any time soon. Yet these competitions—and the opportunity to reflect on how core beliefs about research might guide our future plans—make it possible for the Institute to "spread [its] wings and take to the sky."

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