Specifically:
I’d first look at what promising approaches to post-Einsteinian science were we induced to abandon by Quantum Gravity/StringTheorists. I’d spend the first 1/2 million dollars simply destringifying the last 42 lost years.
Then I would look at all the major ideas without ANY refereeing input from string theory/m-theory:
Chern Simons
Asymptotic safety
GU
Einstein Cartan
McDowell Mansouri
Spin connections
Strings
Gravitational Amplitudes
Etc.
Then based on that assessment, I would allocate grants to push for the spacetime successor.
But the first allocation is to destringification. We need to stop being brainwashed by 5 people and their misinterpretation of Ken Wilson.
We need to realize that the real physics that we would need to travel the cosmos got nerfed. By string theory.
The first task is undoing the murderous anti-scientific lie and culture of TOGIT as spread by Witten, Susskind, Greene, Kaku, Gross and company.
Just undoing that and making it viable to do theoretical physics without their fingers around our throats would bring us far closer to post Einsteinian engineering.
Gravitational physics has become a lie under quantum gravity.
How exactly do we ‘allocate’ it?
It’s not like saying yes when asked “do you want guac with your Chipotle bowl?”
If you were Elon, how would you do it? Specifics please.