Paul Nurse: The Single Most Important Factor in Deciding Research Funding... the Individual Behind the Research. (January 22, 2013)

Paul Nurse (63), 2001 Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology, first and current  Director and Chief Executive of the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, and current President of the Royal Society, told a Melbourne University audience: “The objective is not to simply support those that write good quality grant proposals but those that will actually carry out quality research.”

Kylar Loussikian writing in The Australian reports that Professor Nurse believes that the best indication of researchers' effectiveness was their immediate past progress and he advocates face-to-face interviews in determining the quality of application, and while he doesn't mention a mechanism such as "Second Life" to facilitate interviews, perhaps the Royal Society might consider looking into the approach.

It is worth noting that Paul Nurse was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize together with  Leland Hartwell and Timothy Hunt for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division (duplication) of cells in the cell cycle (mitosis). In Professor Nurse's case, his research was undertaken beginning when he was in his mid-twenties.

As to the question of where research funding should be directed, it could be resolved by allowing politicians to decide on budgets, letting researchers evaluate specific funding proposals, but allow researchers doing the research to decide how they spent their awards.

If that sounds familiar, it's an approach (sans politicians) that has been followed overtly by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) since its inception, and surreptitiously in some of the best research establishments.