Hosted by the Wellcome Trust and attended by about a hundred people from research institutes, universities and foundations, the third annual Forum on Philanthropy and Scientific Research Funding took place in London on 2-3 December. Under the general title ‘Philanthropy: a growing asset for research’, the focus was on three key subjects: how foundations have developed innovative funding models for research; how evaluation can be used to improve the quality of research and decision-making; and how foundations and universities can work together to produce better research.

The three subjects were developed in parallel sessions moderated by David Lynn (Wellcome Trust), Ingrid Wünning (Robert Bosch Stiftung) and Thomas Estermann (European University Association). Particularly enlightening were the contributions of two scientists, Neil Turok and the Nobel Laureate Tim Hunt, who explored the scientists’ point of view.