How Many Researchers? …Revisited…the FY 2018 NIH’s Cumulative Investigator Rate

In March 2018, we showed data suggesting that, despite still being in a state of hyper-competition (as described in this post), the severity may be lessening. The number of unique applicants for NIH research project grants (RPGs) appeared to stabilize after many years of uninterrupted growth. Furthermore, a person-based metric, called the cumulative investigator rate, started to rise in fiscal year (FY) 2015 for RPGs after declines in previous years. With FY 2018 grants information now available in the NIH Data Book, we wanted to see if this positive trend continued. As in my March 2018 blog, the FY 2018 cumulative investigator rate data discussed in this post were acquired on all NIH RPGs as well as specifically for R01-equivalent, P01, and R21 grant types for FYs 2003 to 2018. Investigators designated on awards (referred to as “awardees” in this post) were only counted once per FY. Investigators designated on applications regardless of being funded (referred to as “applicants” here) were counted once in the current FY plus the four preceding FYs. The Cumulative Investigator Rate represents the proportion of these awardees over applicants in a particular FY. Let’s start by looking at the number of RPG applicants and awardees over time (Figure 1). As noted last year, the number of unique applicants over a 5-year window (line with green triangles) gradually increased between FYs 2003 (the end of the NIH doubling) to 2015 from 56,758 to 87,838. The number ...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike cumulative funding rate Funding data Source Type: funding