What it is
Inspired by the idea of a public research agenda, Charitology’s Open Problems set out 23 proposed questions about giving. Each one turns a condition from the Diagnosis into a question precise enough that someone could answer it, with a stated test for what would count as progress.
How it works
Every problem is a public page and a file in the repository. Anyone can work on one. Approaches, datasets and partial results go into GitHub issues tagged open-problem, where they are discussed in public. When a result holds up under review, the problem’s status moves from open to partial or solved, and the Progress Report records it.
The list itself is open to revision. A new problem gets in when it names a condition it would treat and states what would count as progress.
Why it matters for the system
A field is defined as much by its questions as by its answers. Some questions cross disciplines, causes and funders. This agenda offers a place to coordinate work on them; it does not claim that nobody is already studying them. Naming them gives researchers a target, funders a portfolio and newcomers a place to start, which is the first step toward the missing profession.
What success looks like
Within five years, at least five problems have published partial results that change how a meaningful amount of money is given, and the list has been revised at least once because the field learned something.