Public money should not buy private silence

Ruqi Lab receives public funding because the public has an interest in the research. That interest does not end when a grant is signed. It includes the right to read the results, inspect the methods, and benefit from the tools that public money helped build.

We have therefore adopted a short policy. We do not accept research funding that includes a publication veto, a requirement to delay results beyond a standard patent-review window, or an exclusive license to publicly funded software. We do not accept classified work. We do not allow funders to review press statements before publication, though we will always correct factual errors.

This policy costs us money. We have declined two grants in the past three years. We think it is worth stating publicly, because the alternative — quietly accepting restrictive terms while describing the lab as open — is a form of false advertising.

Our full funding policy and a list of current funders are available on the About page. If you are a program officer and these terms are a problem, we would rather have that conversation early.