posted about 3 days ago
I can share a story I heard first hand about this issue;
In my field there is a well known professor that received a 8 million euro grant a few years back
As part of the grant his research group has published a lot of high quality papers that have redefined the topic
This professor has won awards based of his research groups work
When you talk with the professor you will realise he doesn't understand the basic chemistry
The professor did not write the proposal
Before the grant one of his PhD student got sidetracked and his research went into a different field
The PhD student wrote his thesis on a topic outside the professor's main field
The PhD student became a postdoc and wrote the 8 million euro proposal based on his PhD project
When they won the grant the postdoc became a lecturer and virtually ran the research group
The professor only did the paperwork and occasionally did presentations on the project
Both the professor's and the PhD student's names are on every journal paper
The original PhD student is now a professor
The original professor still doesn't understand the chemistry
Everyone is happy
The original PhD student had a great idea but he personally could not get funding. So by using his supervisors name on the proposal the great idea got funding. The PhD student and the professor both got something out of the arrangement.
