Two Years (or so) of “Open Mike”

Last year, as I reflected on finishing my first full year as NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, I noted five themes that reflected most of the content of this blog: applicant behavior, activity, and outcomes; peer review; basic science; biomedical research workforce and training; and scientific rigor, transparency, and research impact. Looking back on 2017, which was certainly a busy and active year, many of these themes continue to be at the forefront, though one in particular, the make-up and future of the biomedical research workforce, has been the center of much debate. On May 2, we posted a blog on “Implementing Limits on Grant Support to Strengthen the Biomedical Research Workforce” in which we proposed using a “Grant Support Index (AKA Research Commitment Index)” to cap the total support going to any one principal investigator. Our goals were to relieve the pressures of hyper-competition, particularly for early and mid-career investigators; we also sought to increase the number of independent early career scientists and to stabilize the career trajectories of those who do high quality work. The blog received 418 comments – by far the most number of comments for any one blog since we started in October 2015. The blog was not the only platform for debate – there were stories in the scientific press  and mainstream media. NIH chose to revise its approach, instead moving to NIH-wide targets for funding early career investigators, and seeking input fr...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike General Source Type: funding