[Insight-users] NIH new Web page : Resources for New Investigators

[Luis Ibanez]

<http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/index.htm>

A quote from the link above:

"Statement of Commitment to New Investigators

New investigators are the innovators of the future – they bring fresh
ideas and technologies to existing biomedical research problems, and
they pioneer new areas of investigation. Entry of new investigators into
the ranks of independent, NIH-funded researchers is essential to the
health of this country’s biomedical research enterprise. NIH’s interest
in the training and research funding of new investigators is
understandably deep and longstanding. Over the years, special programs
to assist new investigators in obtaining independent research funding
have been created – for example the New Investigator Research Award
(NIRA or R23), in 1977, and the First Independent Research Support and
Transition (FIRST or R29) Award, which superceded the NIRA in 1986. Both
of these special programs were discontinued because neither was able to
significantly and positively affect the overall ability of new
investigators to obtain independent research support (see Report of the
Working Group on New Investigators). In spite of these and other
efforts, the average age at which an investigator first obtains R01
funding has increased by five to six years (to 42 for PhD degree holders
and 44 for MD and MD/PhD degree holders). In addition, although the
overall numbers of new R01 investigators has increased, the proportion
of R01 grants going to new investigators has remained at approximately
6% of the total R01s awarded throughout the doubling of the NIH budget.

Currently, NIH encourages new investigators to self-identify by checking
a box on the face page of their R01 applications so that they can be
given special consideration. Peer reviewers are instructed to focus more
on the proposed approach than on the track record, and to expect less
preliminary data than would be provided by an established investigator.
In addition, many NIH institutes and centers give new investigators
special consideration in their selection for funding, and in some cases
provide five years of support instead of the four that is the NIH
average duration for a grant.

We at NIH remain committed to identifying and attracting new independent
biomedical researchers and will continue to explore novel ways to
accomplish this. However, we cannot do it alone. Institutions – our
partners in this venture - must continue to look for ways to reduce the
duration of graduate and postdoctoral training and find new ways to
enable new investigators to compete successfully for extramural funding.
I would welcome your ideas in this regard.

Norka Ruiz Bravo, PhD, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, NIH"