Next Generation Researcher Policy Announcement – Coming Soon

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In June, NIH announced plans for a new initiative to provide additional support to the next generation of researchers. We will be announcing policy details this month. Stay tuned to the notices published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. We will also include an announcement here on the NIH Extramural Nexus & Open Mike blog site, when the policy is published.

7 Comments

  1. Bring back the GSI. That would really help redistribute in a fair way. If you’re going to do something else please make sure that it helps mid-career investigators in danger of losing the grants that support their labs. If the new mechanism is skewed to early investigators (as I have read it will be skewed) then that will only compound the mid-career problem of good labs closing for good.

    1. Yes! Any implementation of a policy to increase funding to ESIs and mid-career researchers without capping resources for the most well funded faculty will be stealing from the poor to give to the poorest, with little long-term gain. Elimination of the GSI was due to a small number of loud voices who care only about their labs/institutions, not the generation of innovative knowledge and sustainment of research in the US. Too many senior researchers are hoarding funding and not producing as much per $ as smaller/younger labs.

      I do hope the NGRI policies have teeth. I’ve heard from many that they’ll believe it when they see it. I cannot imagine how ICs that are currently funding ESIs at the 12th percentile will get even near the 25th.

  2. I think you should just bring back the limit of 3 R01 or equivalent grants. Too many large labs with lots of funding waste their resources that could be more efficiently spent by spreading the wealth around more. Instead, you all caved to the big boys who complained and gave one or two very minor examples of how the new policy could potentially hurt them (and ignoring the greater amount of good it would do). The days of the big labs with 20 postdocs are over, as well they should be. Good science is best done with smaller groups.

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