Does Your Institution Matter?

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In one of my recent posts, I looked at the question of whether the degree you hold makes a difference in your likelihood of achieving funding. You can click the link above, but the answer was, “not really.” For example, in 2011, investigators with a PhD had a slightly lower funding rate (24%) compared to those with an MD (26%) or an MD/PhD (27%), and this pattern is relatively constant when we look back at the past decade.

I promised last time that I would look at the breakdown by institution type.

RPG funding rates 1998-2011 for higher ed institutions

RPG funding rates 1998-2011 for hospitals

RPG funding rate 1998-2011 for medical schools

RPG funding rates 1988-2011 for research institutes

Interestingly, within a given type of institution, there are not significant, sustained differences between the groups, excluding, perhaps, independent hospitals. Medical schools, which as a group receive the greatest percentage of NIH funding, support investigators that are essentially indistinguishable when you look at their funding rates.

3 Comments

  1. Can you comment on the success rate for grant applicants who have a B.S. degree as a terminal degree. Thank you.

  2. The fact that there is no difference seems to indicate fairness. However, keep in mind that equal rates does not equate to fairness. MD-PhD programs are quite competitive and it would not be surprising if some selection occurred with higher rates of funding for MD-PhDs.

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