Five questions · about ten minutes

What's the one thing you'd do next, if the money showed up?

Nothing here has to be right. It has to be roughly true. Your answers assemble into a short paragraph at the bottom — send that back and everything else on the site gets easier to write.

What does one of these even look like?

Four made-up examples, so you're reacting to something instead of starting from nothing. None of these are real proposals. They're different in kind, not just size — pick the shape that feels closest, or argue with all four.

The thoracic line

MECHANISM-LED

Do thoracic cholinergic interneurons shape postural drive independently of locomotor rhythm?

One MSc student, existing rig, 18 months. Nobody's rehab changes as a result — it's groundwork, and that's allowed. Roughly $60–90k.

Sit tall

THE BRIDGE

Does the trunk-control circuit we can map in mice respond to transcutaneous stimulation in people with mid-thoracic injury?

Eight to ten participants, EMG and posturography, part-time engineering support, two years. For someone who transfers independently but can't hold a seated posture through a meal. Roughly $250–400k.

Manitoba spinal function registry

INFRASTRUCTURE

What actually changes, and in what order, across motor, sensory, and autonomic measures in the first two years after injury?

Not a study — a measurement capability every later study borrows, including other people's. Staff, protocol, governance, five years. Roughly $1.5–2.5M.

What the old data still knows

LEGACY ASSET

What do twenty years of fictive locomotion recordings predict about which circuits are worth stimulating in people?

Existing data, a computational trainee, two to three years. No new animals. Roughly $150–250k.

1 / 5

The finding you can't let go of

Not the most cited one. The one you'd bring up at dinner.

2 / 5

The complaint

Finish both halves. Complaining is easier than strategizing.

If I had
I could finally find out whether
3 / 5

How big, honestly

Pick the closest. Nobody is holding you to it.

4 / 5

Who it's eventually for

One real person. Not a population.

Someone who
5 / 5

Working name

A placeholder is fine. It only has to survive one email.

Your answer, assembling

Answer anything above and it starts writing itself here.

Send this to Stephen

Answers aren't saved anywhere. If you close the tab, they're gone — so send or copy before you go.