GP essay question guide
Is expensive science worth public funding?
Judge expensive research by uncertainty, spillovers, public access, opportunity cost, and the value of knowledge. Not every benefit is immediate or commercial.
Unpack this question first: 'Expensive' and 'worth' set a cost against a benefit, so name your test for 'worth'. 'Public funding' means taxpayers' money, which has other uses. Lesson: Reading an essay question: terms and scope
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Topics: Science and Technology, Economics, Politics and Governance
Three argument directions
Create long-term capability
Large public projects can develop tools, data, skills, and cooperation that benefit later research.
Qualification: Possible spillovers do not justify every project or budget.
Fund uncertain public knowledge
Government can support basic research that private investors avoid because returns are distant or shared.
Qualification: Projects still need transparent priorities and independent review.
Compare opportunity costs
Funding is strongest where benefits, access, and strategic value exceed credible alternatives.
Qualification: Some scientific and cultural value cannot be reduced to a short-term cost-benefit figure.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
Expensive science is worth public funding when it produces knowledge that private firms will not pay for, though not every large project passes that test. Basic research rarely earns a quick profit, so markets underfund it, yet its uses can be large and unexpected. Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web at CERN in 1989 so that physicists could share information, and it now carries much of the world's business. That benefit was never part of CERN's case for funding. The same argument, however, can be stretched to defend any project. Money spent on a new particle collider is money not spent on hospitals or schools, so big projects need clear aims, independent review and partners who share the cost. Expensive science deserves public money when its likely value is judged openly against what else the money could do.
How it is built
- Stand: worth it under a test (knowledge markets will not fund).
- Case: the Web, an unplanned spin-off from CERN.
- Limit and judgement: opportunity cost, so judge each project openly.
Six examples to compare
Euclid Releases Its First Survey Data
ESA's Euclid mission released its first survey data in 2025, including a catalogue intended to support research into galaxy structure and the dark universe.
Possible essay use
public investment in fundamental science produces knowledge first and practical benefits later, if at all, so it must be justified on more than immediate returns
Limitation
Early data demonstrate scientific capacity, not immediate social or commercial benefits, and the full mission remains long term.
Case or source date: 2025-03-19
Source: European Space Agency
CERN Completes a Future Circular Collider Feasibility Study
CERN released a feasibility study for a possible Future Circular Collider as input to later scientific and political decisions.
Possible essay use
very large science projects force governments to weigh uncertain discoveries decades away against certain costs today
Limitation
A feasibility study is not an approval, and projected scientific benefits must be weighed against cost, environmental impact, and alternatives.
Case or source date: 2025-03-31
Source: CERN
Bennu Samples Reveal Ingredients Relevant to Life
NASA reported that returned Bennu samples contained organic compounds and evidence of an ancient salty-water environment.
Possible essay use
NASA reported that returned Bennu samples contained organic compounds and evidence of an ancient salty-water environment.
Limitation
The findings illuminate chemical possibilities but do not show extraterrestrial life or guarantee near-term applications.
Case or source date: 2025-01-29
Source: NASA
Singapore Completes Sequencing for the SG100K Study
The SG100K programme is building a large Singapore research cohort linking genomic information with health and lifestyle data.
Possible essay use
The SG100K programme is building a large Singapore research cohort linking genomic information with health and lifestyle data.
Limitation
Large cohorts can improve locally relevant research but require durable consent, privacy, security, representation, and clinical validation.
Case or source date: 2024-11-01
Moon Rush: Space Race 2.0 Reshapes Power
Nations and private firms like SpaceX race to the Moon, driving tech innovation but sparking geopolitical tensions over resources and control. (Artemis Program, Chandrayaan-3)
Possible essay use
In April 2026 Artemis II flew four astronauts around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flight since 1972.
Limitation
Artemis dates have slipped repeatedly; check NASA's latest schedule before citing a landing year.
Case or source date: 2026-04-10
Source: NASA
Quantum Leap: Power, Peril, Politics
The global race for quantum computers promises breakthroughs in science and tech, but also brings security risks and geopolitical shifts.
Possible essay use
In October 2019 Google claimed quantum supremacy with Sycamore; IBM disputed it, estimating a supercomputer could do the task in about 2.5 days.
Limitation
Benchmark tasks used in these claims have no practical use; no quantum computer has yet solved a useful real-world problem faster than classical computers, and speed claims are often disputed.
Case or source date: 2024-12-09
Source: Fortune