This panel presents new research findings on dilemmas and issues of how best to manage human and financial resources for science to raise opportunities and chances for successful and high impact breakthroughs. A critical component of the national innovation system in each country is public research organizations. In the United States, federally funded research organizations are at the forefront of tackling many global problems, including research on climate change, renewable fuels, and developing new kinds of materials. But the question remains as to what is the optimal size? Have they become so large that processes have been set in motion that are counterproductive to their main mission of innovative research? Such questions are also raised at a global level, as national research sponsors increasingly target their resources to focus on enhancing scientific impact and commercial spillovers in strategic emerging technologies. But what are the relationships between research sponsorship and publication impacts and outcomes? Does it matter who funds research? And, what can be learned from the strategies and practices of sponsors who more frequently fund high impact research? As problems become more complex, large research teams have to be constructed with diverse competences, some of which do not exist in the research organization. What are the costs of seeking collaborations externally, and how should more complex networks of projects be coordinated?