# Professors have long term relationships with their NSF program officers [[NSF Program officers can have multi-decade tenures]] so there’s often one person who controls grants in a certain area for a significant chunk of a professor’s career. ### Related * [[All the incentives in research drive towards conservatism]] <!-- #stub --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Professors+have+long+term+relationships+with+their+NSF+program+officers) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Professors+have+long+term+relationships+with+their+NSF+program+officers)