Focused Research Organizations

A Focused Research Organization (FRO) is a new model of special-purpose organization created solely to solve scientific or technological challenges that cannot be efficiently addressed by the existing organizational structures of academia, industry, or government.

FROs enable major advances in areas that (1) require levels of coordinated engineering or system-building inaccessible to academia, and (2) benefit society broadly in ways that industry cannot rapidly monetize. 

Each FRO aims to produce a well-defined tool or technology, a key scientific dataset, or a refined process or resource that can dynamically accelerate progress within a technological or scientific field. 

FROs operate as tight-knit, fast-moving, mission-driven organizations, led by a CEO, and with a culture akin to the best startups. FRO teams take risks on “moonshot” projects but stay true to systematic, first-principles technology roadmapping. Mission goals are always paramount, and teams are shielded from both academic and for-profit incentives. At the conclusion of an FRO, transition plans are executed, and, when necessary, new startups created.