November 3, 2021
Diversity is inextricably tied to the success of the NIH mission, thus ensuring diversity within the extramural biomedical research workforce is of utmost importance. We are aware that NIH’s recent decision to rescind a “Notice of Special Interest” (or NOSI) – intended solely to call attention to the presence of a specific funding opportunity announcement and encourage researchers from underrepresented groups to apply – may have caused some to question this commitment. While the spirit of the NOSI was laudable, it may have led to an impression that by linking demographic characteristics to grant proposals, applications supporting scientists from underrepresented groups would be automatically prioritized for funding. Read on for more.
October 28, 2021
In this notice, NIH reaffirms its commitment to supporting a sustainable and diverse biomedical research workforce. Diversity within the NIH-supported scientific workforce fosters innovation, enhances global competitiveness, improves the quality of research and research outcomes.
June 1, 2021
In a previous post, we looked at the gender distribution of designated principal investigators (PI’s) of R01 and RPG applications submitted before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we look at NIH R01 and RPG application patterns for January 1 through April 8 over the past 6 years; these applications patterns may well reflect longer-term pandemic effects.
April 13, 2021
NIH has extended the deadline for your organization to respond to NIH’s Request for Information (RFI) to receive feedback on our effort to end structural racism in biomedical research through the UNITE initiative. Comments can be submitted through the submission website and must be received by 11:59 pm on Friday, April 23, 2021.
March 15, 2021
In this NIH All About Grants episode, Dr. Paula Goodwin with the NIH Office of Extramural Research discusses the Diversity Plan, why it is required for conference grant applications, some things to consider when putting a plan together, how reviewers will assess it, and more.
March 8, 2021
On March 1, NIH Director Francis Collins announced NIH’s broad-based initiative, UNITE, to end structural racism and racial inequities in biomedical science. This is a recognition of the need for urgent, sustained effort on many fronts across the research enterprise, including in all parts of the NIH’s extramural processes, to change culture. While the NIH Institutes and Centers will examine their programmatic priorities and discretionary funding practices, here at CSR, we are committed to pushing ahead with efforts to protect the peer review process from the systemic biases that exist in all areas of the scientific community.
March 1, 2021
I am proud to join my NIH colleagues today in reaffirming our commitment to fostering a diverse biomedical research workforce and ending structural racism at NIH, the institutions we support, and anywhere where NIH research activities take place. Working together, we can continue identifying and dismantling any policies, practices, or other impediments that may harm our supported workforce and science. We encourage you to join us in this effort. Please take a moment to read the statement below from the NIH Director on achieving racial equity in biomedical research and visit our new webpage, which includes more on the UNITE initiative. You are also welcome to share your thoughts and ideas to our Request for Information directly with us here.
February 22, 2021
Applications for conference grants now require a diversity plan. A recent Guide Notice announced that reviewers will be asked to evaluate the plan and factor it into the overall impact score.
January 22, 2021
At NIH, we have and continue to focus not just on gender equity but on ensuring greater diversity in all aspects of the biomedical workforce. This means, that along with women, members of racial and/or ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are also included. To help ensure that the nation remains a global leader in scientific discovery and innovation, NIH needs the richness and breadth of varied perspectives that comes from having a pool of highly talented scientists from diverse backgrounds.
In that spirit, today we released a guide notice (NOT-OD-21-053) that updates guidance for NIH R13/U13 Conference Grant applicants and recipients.
October 23, 2020
An automatically generated Trainee Diversity Report will replace the manual report that signing officials are required to submit with RPPRs for most institutional training, career development awards and research education grants, effective October 30, 2020. The automated report will leverage existing electronic demographic data entered by trainees in the Personal Profile of eRA Commons to minimize the need for manual data entry by recipients and reduce their burden.
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