What we should do is make a tech tree, I believe. Make lesser techs cost less with less risk, and you have to build your way up. What is cool about this is you and your rival could take different routes in the technology trail, once you research a tech you can't research the other techs adjacent to it.
For example, if I made a tech tree as follows ("1's" would be the top of the tree, "2s" the next part, etc.):
1)Stem Cell Research
2) Organic Industry
3) Carbon Freezing
3) Organic Re-engineering
2) Bioengineering
3) Cloning
3) Artificial Lifeforms (requires "AI")
1)Global Connection and Internet Research
2)Instant Communication
3) Hive Mind (Requires "Organic Re-engineering")
3) Instant Transportation (Requires "Nuclear Power")
2)Virtual Reality
3) Virtual Matrix (Requires "Nuclear Power")
3) Sentient Programming (Requires "AI")
1)Robotics
2) Organic Replacement
3) Cyborg Technology (Requires "Organic Re-engineering")
3) Super Mind (Requires "Sentient Programming")
2) Artificial Intelligence
3) A.I. Robots
3) Brain Reconstruction [brain propoganda] (Requires "Bio-engineering")
1)Nuclear Science
2) Nuclear Fission
3) Nuclear Power
3) Nuclear Bombs
2) Nuclear Fusion
3) Artificial Sun
3) Hyper-Space (Requires "Carbon Freezing")
I just made that up off the top of my head, there are errors. Now, I could research all of the origional techs, everything labelled "1." But I could only choose one "2" and one "3" in each path, making the technology each civilization origionally gets distinct. We give each technology a benefit and players choose with Social, Science, etc path they take. Will you be a robot-harboring fascist state or a super-brain society of democrats?
Now, to get OTHER technologies you need to either trade technologies with another player, giving both of you the right to research the technology traded, or you can steal technologies using spies. Either way, you still have to pay the origional cost in addition to trading or stealing technology secrets.
Finally, I think that there should be a risk in technology, but not in researching it directly, but having it. For example, if you have robotic AI in your society, you need to pass a roll for every system, if you fail that roll, your robots are rebelling in a sector of your habitable planet. If you researched nuclear power, pass a roll to make sure that there aren't meltdowns. We can comeup with a tree like the one above pretty easily, with descripitions of benefits and risks.
I guess that wasn't finally. I think that each technology should take a certain amount of time to research. If you stole or traded for the technology ability, this time should be cut in half because you already know the secrets to success. This put quick players at the disadvantage of the real world--the first people to develope something always take the longest to do so.