More Early Stage Investigators Supported in FY 2022

Over the past two years, we supported 1,412 early stage investigators (ESIs) in fiscal year (FY) 2020 and 1,513 in FY 2021, which were both all-time highs. These ESIs were first-time Principal Investigators (PIs) designated on type 1 (new) R01-equivalent awards. Today, we are pleased to announce that even more ESIs were supported in FY 2022 as part of our continued Next Generation Researchers Initiative (NGRI) efforts.

Table 1 shows we supported an additional 1,609 ESIs in FY 2022 (a 6.3% increase over FY 2021). As there were 5,435 total applicants, this makes the ESI funding rate 29.6% (Table 2). 63.8% of the ESI applications were discussed in peer review, referred to as the discussion rate (Table 2).

We were also able to support 61 more At-Risk Investigators in FY 2022 (2,087) compared to the previous year (2,026) (Table 1). This group consists of researchers that received a prior substantial NIH award but to the best of our knowledge, would have no funding the following fiscal year if they were not successful in securing a competing award. Their funding rate rose to 27.0%, from 25.4% last year.

Table 1: PIs on Type 1 R01-Equivalent Applications and Awards by Career Stage: FY 2016 to 2022

	Early Stage Investigators			New, Not Early			At-Risk			Established
Fiscal Year	Applicants	Awardees	Awardees (% Change)	Applicants	Awardees	Awardees (% Change)	Applicants	Awardees	Awardees (% Change)	Applicants	Awardees	Awardees (% Change)
2016	4149	978	NA	5862	942	N/A	7687	1664	NA	7294	2086	NA
2017	4286	1045	6.9	6148	916	-2.8	7629	1630	-2.0	7889	2255	8.1
2018	4720	1287	23.2	6745	1215	32.6	7948	2153	32.1	9048	2992	32.7
2019	4746	1316	2.3	7193	1295	6.6	7916	2163	0.5	9614	3007	0.5
2020	5106	1412	7.3	7323	1301	0.5	7821	2108	-2.5	10140	3340	11.1
2021	5410	1513	7.2	7694	1280	-1.6	7985	2026	-3.9	11010	3392	1.6
2022	5435	1609	6.3	7241	1257	-1.8	7736	2087	3	11045	3598	6.1

Table 2: Discussion and Funding Rates for PIs on Type 1 R01-Equivalent Applications and Awards in FY 2022 by Career Stage

Career Stage	Applicants	Discussed	Awardees	Discussion Rate (%)*	Funding Rate (%)
Early Stage	5435	3466	1609	63.8	29.6
New, Not Early	7241	3750	1257	51.8	17.4
At Risk	7736	4570	2087	59.1	27.0
Established	11045	7847	3598	71.0	32.6

* The Discussion Rate is a person-based metric that is the percent of applicants (actually people designated as PI’s on an application) who had at least one application make it to the discussion stage of peer review.

The next set of tables present aggregate data for sex/gender (Table 3), race (Table 4), ethnicity (Table 5), and disability status (Table 6). The researchers voluntarily self-reported this demographic information on their eRA profiles. Please keep the following in mind:

• We use the White House’s Office of Management and Budget Minimum Standards for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data (see also this Nexus article for more).
• These demographic data are used for statistical purposes only and not linked to consideration of funding of individual grant applications.
• Applications are received from, and awards are issued to institutions, not individual scientists. Institutions designate scientists who serve as principal investigators on applications and awards. Thus, when we say that an application was received from a male researcher, what is meant is that an application was received from an institution who designated a male researcher as principal investigator.  

When focusing on FY 2022, there were more applications received from and awarded to male researchers than female researchers across all career stages (Table 3). We are seeing upward trends in the numbers of female ESI applicants and awardees compared to FYs 2021 and 2020. Female ESIs, New, Not Early, and At-Risk applicants in FY 2022 had slightly higher discussion rates, compared to males. Also, female researchers across all career stages had higher funding rates than male researchers.

Table 3:  FY 2022 Data by Gender for PIs on Type 1 R01-equivalent Applications and Awards

Career Stage	Sex/Gender	Applicants	Discussed	Awardees	Discussion Rate (%)	Funding Rate (%)
Early Stage	Female	2447	1597	748	65.3	30.6
	Male	2732	1731	798	63.4	29.2
New, Not Early	Female	2474	1380	496	55.8	20.0
	Male	3570	1847	589	51.7	16.5
At Risk	Female	2480	1503	686	60.6	27.7
	Male	5164	3017	1382	58.4	26.8
Established	Female	3484	2462	1144	70.7	32.8
	Male	7398	5271	2403	71.2	32.5

The number of Black/African American ESIs was higher in FY 2022 compared to FYs 2021 and 2020. The discussion rate was lower for Black/African American researchers across all career stages in FY 2022 compared to their White and Asian counterparts (Table 4). The Black/African American group did have higher funding rates in the New, Not Early and At-Risk stages. Though progress is being made in some areas, the absolute number of Black/African American applicants and awardees remains markedly lower than white and Asian researchers.     

Table 4: FY 2022 Data by Race for PIs on Type 1 R01-equivalent Applications and Awards

Career Stage	Race	Applicants	Discussed	Awardees	Discussion Rate (%)	Funding Rate (%)
Early Stage	Asian	1464	933	422	63.7	28.8
	Black or African American	232	128	54	55.2	23.3
	White	3141	2026	944	64.5	30.1
New, Not Early	Asian	1757	931	291	53.0	16.6
	Black or African American	255	123	50	48.2	19.6
	White	3535	1898	643	53.7	18.2
At Risk	Asian	1944	1125	510	57.9	26.2
	Black or African American	157	84	45	53.5	28.7
	White	5037	3015	1365	59.9	27.1
Established	Asian	2949	2076	952	70.4	32.3
	Black or African American	222	150	65	67.6	29.3
	White	7035	5018	2313	71.3	32.9

Hispanic or Latino researchers in the later career stages saw a higher discussion rate than their non-Hispanic or Latino counterparts (Table 5). The funding rate for Hispanic or Latino researchers was higher across all career stages (except for the New, Not Early group) than Non-Hispanic or Latino researchers.

Table 5:  FY 2022 Data by Ethnicity for PIs on Type 1 R01-equivalent Applications and Awards

Career Stage	Ethnicity	Applicants	Discussed	Awardees	Discussion Rate (%)	Funding Rate (%)
Early Stage	Hispanic or Latino	330	210	98	63.6	29.7
	Not Hispanic or Latino	4706	2998	1395	63.7	29.6
New, Not Early	Hispanic or Latino	430	214	77	49.8	17.9
	Not Hispanic or Latino	5178	2786	942	53.8	18.2
At Risk	Hispanic or Latino	335	211	100	63.0	29.9
	Not Hispanic or Latino	6711	3985	1821	59.4	27.1
Established	Hispanic or Latino	536	389	190	72.6	35.4
	Not Hispanic or Latino	9675	6864	3143	70.9	32.5

Less than 2% of PIs in each career group reported having a disability (Table 6), which is similar to what we have blogged on previously. Disabilities include hearing, mobility/orthopedic, visual, or multiple disabilities. The discussion and funding rates were generally lower for PIs who identified as having a disability compared to those who did not.

Table 6: FY 2022 Data by Disability Status for PIs on Type 1 R01-equivalent Applications and Awards

Career Stage	Disability Status	Applicants	Discussed	Awardees	Discussion Rate (%)	Funding Rate (%)
ESI	Yes	93	50	18	53.8%	19.4%
	No	5159	3299	1540	63.9%	29.9%
	Unknown/Withheld	183	9117	51	63.9%	27.9%
NI NON-ESI	Yes	76	34	<12	44.7%	10.5%
	No	5965	3203	1083	53.7%	18.2%
	Unknown/Withheld	1200	513	166	42.8%	13.8%
AT RISK	Yes	119	54	28	45.4%	23.5%
	No	7154	4265	1946	59.6%	27.2%
	Unknown/Withheld	463	251	113	54.2%	24.4%
ESTABLISHED	Yes	135	87	38	64.4%	28.1%
	No	10391	7400	3396	71.2%	32.7%
	Unknown/Withheld	519	360	164	69.4%	31.6%

We are pleased to see the large number of ESIs continue to be supported through NIH programs. Such programs include the Katz Award where no preliminary data is required, Pathway to Independence Award where someone can go from graduate school into a faculty level position, and NIH director’s new Innovator award that incentivizes early career researchers to come into the NIH system. We have made some progress, but we still have a ways to go, paraphrasing what Dr. Lawrence Tabak, NIH Acting Director, mentioned at a Senate appropriations hearing in May. The hypercompetitive funding environment for instance, which was one of the reasons we launched the Next Generation Researchers Initiative, still exists and continues to affect researchers early in their career. As we move forward, our focus will remain working towards expanding opportunities like these that support and prioritize researchers early in their career and further diversifying the future research workforce.