Centers of Excellence are expected to deliver breakthroughs within their specific topic as described in their research plan. But what do center leaders do if they, or one of their early-career researchers, come up with a brilliant and bold idea for a project that does not obviously fit with the research plan? What do center leaders do if one of their core researchers with essential skills gets their own grant, drawing them away from the center? 

In both cases, the centers’ response is flexibility and encouragement. Center leaders are aware that the researchers will improve and be more motivated if they increasingly get to carve out their own niche, allowing for the evolution of the next generation of research leaders who pursue their own ideas. Center leaders often nudge post-docs to apply for grants to become research leaders in their own right while offering them continued guidance and supervision and keeping them close to continuously benefit from their expertise.