Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research
Abstract
Innovative fundamental basic science research is traditionally done by young people. This makes the steady fall in the number of younger US basic scientists a serious concern. Our analysis suggests that this happened mainly due to a bias against younger applicants, with more money going to older principal investigators (PIs). We also find a large number of postdoctoral scholars and research associates, a rapid rise in number of PIs over 71, and a steady shift of NIH funds away from R01 grants. NIH is attempting to deal with some of these issues.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- June 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1609996114
- Bibcode:
- 2017PNAS..114.6498L