It may be beyond the intended scope of the mod, so I completely understand if this is not something you’d consider. However, would it be possible to introduce some form of progression system? "Tiered" nature of "Normal Quality Level" option is something that could be explored in-game. I do not know if it is possible to change stats of entities at runtime (without restarting the game), however, it would be possible to add optional "dummy" technologies that require some decent amount of science that could signal the player to increase "Level" by one.

For example, player could start at 0, set to 1 after 1 000x red and green science (similar to quality module research), to 2 with 5 000x yellow and purple science, to 3 with 10 000x space science, to 4 with 10 000x Gleba science, to 5 with 25 000x Aquilo science, and to 6 with 50 000x promethium science.

I'll look into this as an option. Kind of like an alternative to the quality module research, instead just make it more expensive and upgrade the entire base stat. I'll have to test if it works without reloading the game though.