I don't like research in GalCiv4. I understand that developers are trying to combat boredom and A-B-C-D research. But the system used in GalCiv4 is not the solution.

I'd like to see starting techs being determined by things like what type of race you are and what abilities and traits you have.

So the Drengin and like-minded folk would be able to research weaponry, war-stuff basically sooner than the Terran, who aren't that bloodthirsty.

The way I see it working, that makes what you can research easiest/quickest in any given game determined by what you choose in the start-up in terms of race, traits and abilities. That for me would make it varied enough to be interesting but not random which, as much as I don't really mind it, doesn't make a lot of sense.

So, if you are frustrated with the selection of research projects for GalCiv4 I suspect you are not using the “reselection” tool in the upper right corner often enough. The first playthrough I had I definitely felt powerless at the mercy of the RNG gods until I started using the shuffler.  

Now, for most of the game, if there is a research I really need to get NOW it takes usually one, rarely two and almost never three or more shuffles (because you get to focus the shuffle) to end up with the research you want, and it just makes the research a little more expensive. Not too much more, but a little punishment for being narrowly focused. 

I have absolutely been able to go A-B-C-D-E-F in games where I need to, often with no turn penalties for reselecting research because I had a little “waste/overage” versus base cost. I choose to shuffle maybe an average of every 3-4 techs. Given the research trees and the broad needs early game, the path is actually more like A-B-C/D-D/C-E-F/G-F2/G2-G/F-G2/F2 because, let’s be honest, often times there are 3-4 things you are going to need over the next 15 turns and their order is mostly interchangeable.

This should “broaden” your strategic thinking. “How badly do I need X, right now? Enough that it costs 20%, 40% more? Can I afford to research Y earlier than I wanted in the hope the X comes up next? Ooooo ZZ popped up and it’s very rare, if I don’t take it now, I won’t see it again for 3-4 cycles. I wanted X, but ZZ is a great benefit…” It leads to more interesting, less predictable gameplay. You already accept lots of RNG in this game, how much/how close Durantium/Promethium is to your starting system, whether or not the closest class 30+ world is one system away or 70 sectors away, leader stats, civilian stats… You are making a bigger deal of this than those things that arguably affect the game dramatically more and you ACTUALLY have control over your research. 

View it as an opportunity for growth and change. Remember, your AI opponents have to suffer under the same system too, and they are way dumber than you are….

I feel like a good solution here would be to have the option of spending CONTROL to force a specific technology to be researched.  (maybe even allowing you to skip a single level of dependency?) 

Lot's strategy there in balancing your decisions.

It also makes sense in the fiction  "I hereby command all scientists to research this advanced missile tech so we can win this war"

lol, i remember not noticing it either my first time playing, had to get the info from someone on forums too

the big difference between the current system and the one i mentioned above though is that sometimes people get really bad luck with it, and while you're supposed to be able to research just about anything within a few clicks of that button, ppl kept getting very bad luck from the RNG and were getting very frustrated that the research they wanted kept not coming up after many times of pressing that button, esp when the research they wanted was one of the "rare" ones. a system where everything is available, but random ones are discounted due to "breakthroughs", would solve this problem though, i think.

Call me contrarian, but I like the research system.  You can reroll and try to go rapidly up a specific line, or take what is offered and pay less in research.  Is an interesting trade off.