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The National Institutes of Health on Thursday said it was scrapping a proposal to cap the number of grants a researcher can hold in order to provide more funding to early- and midcareer investigators.
Caps would have been calculated as part of a tool called the Grant Support Index. The idea received some cautious support from researchers. But NIH Director Francis Collins said on his website that the agency also heard "significant concerns" about the methodology of the index and potential negative impact of the cap on team science, complex research trials and support of infrastructure and training.
Instead, NIH is launching an effort called the Next Generation Researchers Initiative that will direct funds from the agency's base budget to researchers struggling to win grants now. The effort will receive $210 million in support this year and increase to $1.1 billion after five years.
Darrell G. Kirch, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, praised NIH's focus on supporting young and midcareer researchers.
"Research funded by the NIH is vital to deepening our understanding of human health and disease, and supporting the next generation of researchers is key to sustaining the biomedical research work force and advancing the exploration of new ideas and topics," Kirch said. "We are thankful for the NIH’s responsiveness to the research community as we work together to address opportunities to strengthen medical science. As these efforts progress, we invite the NIH to work with our nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals to identify strategies to maximize the opportunities for talented investigators in the research enterprise at every career stage."
