How Many Researchers: Positive Trends Continue in FY 2019

As we continue to explore the question of how many researchers NIH funds, we have been observing a positive trend over the last few years where the number of unique scientists seeking support on NIH research project grants (RPGs) is stabilizing along with a commensurate rise in the corresponding NIH cumulative investigator rate (see these posts from 2019, 2018, and 2016). Now with fiscal year (FY) 2019 data available on the NIH Data Book, let’s see if this trend continued. NIH’s cumulative investigator rate, as a reminder, is a person-based metric that looks at the likelihood that unique investigators are funded over a five-year window. To determine this, we take the number of unique principal investigators who were designated on an NIH RPG, activity or mechanism (simply referred to as “awardees” here) divided by the number of unique principal investigators who were designated on applications (simply referred to as “applicants” here) over a five-year period. This timeframe was chosen because most research grants last for more than one year and most applicants submit applications over a period of time measured in years, not just 12 months, that may overlap with their periods of funding, if they are funded. As this is an NIH-wide metric, if an investigator is designated on separate awards from multiple NIH Institutes or Centers in a particular five-year timeframe, they will still only be counted a single time across the entire period at the NIH level. Please...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike cumulative investigator rate P01 R01 R21 RPG Source Type: funding