The National Institutes of Health (NIH) April 2 released a request for information (RFI) on optimizing funding policies and “other strategies to improve the impact and sustainability of the NIH-funded biomedical research enterprise.”
The RFI states that NIH’s goal of supporting a diverse research portfolio is “particularly challenging in the present fiscal environment in which many excellent research applications are not funded, and talented investigators struggle to maintain their laboratories or choose to pursue other career paths.” NIH is soliciting input on potential solutions to these issues from researchers, academic institutions, professional societies, and other stakeholders, and is particularly interested in identifying strategies that will:
- maximize the productivity and creativity of the biomedical research workforce it funds, and
- ensure funding for a broad and diverse group of investigators studying a wide range of important questions
An April 2 blog post by NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Sally Rockey, Ph.D., and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Director Jon Lorsch, Ph.D., reviews several recently created policies and programs meant to maximize the impact and sustainability of NIH-funded research. The post also notes that responses to the RFI will be used to inform the efforts of an NIH-wide working group chaired by Dr. Lorsch on strategies to sustain the research enterprise.
Comments are due to the NIH by May 17, 2015. The AAMC intends to submit comments.