Posted on January 13, 2012 by Sally Rockey on the NIH Office of Extramural Research
Well, the numbers for 2011 (fiscal year) are in. Here are a few facts about the applications and people we supported in 2011.
| Overall success rates for research project grants fell compared to 2010. | 18% |
| Success rates for new investigators were equal to established investigators submitting new applications. | 15% |
| The representation of women NIH investigators remained the same as in 2010. | 29% |
| Women’s success rates were equal to men for new applications. | 15% |
| Our commitment to supporting the individual investigator remains strong, with R01s and R37s representing a significant percentage of all research grants. | 60% |
| The average size of R01-equivalent grants increased slightly compared to 2010. | $408,594 |
| The average size of a center grant fell by 6% compared to 2010. | $1,863,037 |
| Number of institutional training grant applications continued to decline, from a peak in 2005. | 686 |
You can find all of these data and more in the NIH Data Book, which was recently updated with 2011 data. The Data Book is the first place to check when you are looking for summary statistics on NIH awards. The data and charts are exportable, making for easier reports, presentations, or blog posts.
There are a few things I wanted to note about the success rate data. A number of factors contributed to the lower RPG success rates in 2011. One of the most obvious was an 8% increase in the number of competing RPG applications. We received a record 49,592 applications. It was a busy year for everyone in the extramural community!
The slow, but steady, increase in the representation of women among NIH-supported investigators continues, and their success in applying for new grants has been the same as men’s (albeit slightly lower for renewal awards). Despite these increases, their representation in the NIH-funded pool of investigators still has not reached their level of representation among U.S. citizen postdoctorates in the biomedical sciences (approaching 50%). See my April 27, 2011 blog for more of my thoughts on this topic.
Over the next few months, I’ll post more information about these data and others in the Data Book. In the meantime, take a look.
Filed under: Research Tagged: | Health sciences research, nih funding
