NIGMS continues to support a broad range of scientific topics and investigators within its research portfolio, including support for investigator-initiated research project grants (RPGs) at institutions throughout the country. As part of its commitment to transparency, NIGMS examines and publishes data on annual trends reflected in its RPG portfolio. In this post, we review and describe investigator-level trends associated with competing R01/R01-equivalent RPGs including those in the Institute’s R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program.
NIGMS Investigator-Level Trends Research Grants
In order to focus on supporting a broad group of investigators, we monitor two statistics that describe our investigator pool: the number of early stage investigators (ESIs) funded each year and the cumulative investigator rate. Continued support for ESIs is integral to the success of the biomedical research enterprise and is a priority for the Institute. Figure 1 illustrates the number of ESIs who received their first competing NIGMS R01-equivalent grants each year between fiscal year 2014 (FY14) and FY23. In FY23, NIGMS awarded R01-equivalent grants to a total of 313 ESIs: 26 investigators received R01 awards, 272 investigators received R35 (MIRA) awards, 13 investigators received NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards (DP2s), and 2 investigators received U01 awards. Thus, NIGMS continues to maintain robust support for ESIs, 88% of which constituted R35 MIRA awards in FY23.
NIGMS ESIs Awarded R01-Equivalent Grants
Figure 1. Number of NIGMS Competing R01, R35, and DP2 ESI Awardees, FY14-FY23. Illustrated are the number of unique ESIs receiving their first major competing R01 (blue-striped bars), R35 (solid gray bars), and DP2 (solid black bars). While U01 ESI awardees are not included in this figure, one investigator received a U01 award in FY19 and two investigators received U01 awards from NIGMS in FY23.
The cumulative investigator rate is another measure of investigators’ success in receiving NIGMS funding. The rate represents the number of investigators who receive funding (competing or noncompeting) in a given fiscal year compared to the number of investigators actively seeking funding at some point in that fiscal year or in the previous 4 fiscal years. In other words, it measures the percentage of investigators who want NIGMS funding compared to those who receive funding. Figure 2 shows the number of investigators who submitted R01 and R35 applications, those who received competing or noncompeting awards, and the cumulative investigator rate from FY14-FY23. In FY23, we saw a decrease in the number of investigators seeking funding (9,440 investigators in FY22 to 9,378 in FY23) mirroring a downward application trend across NIH. This, in addition to more investigators having support, is likely a driving factor in the increase of 1.3% in the cumulative investigator rate from the prior fiscal year.
NIGMS Competing R01/R35 Applicants, Awardees, and Cumulative Investigator Rates
Figure 2. Number of NIGMS R01/R35 Applicants, Awardees, and Cumulative Investigator Rates, FY14-FY23. Applicants (blue dashed line with circles; left axis) represent the number of unique investigators who had been actively seeking NIGMS R01 and/or R35 support in the indicated fiscal year or in the previous 4 fiscal years. Awardees (green solid line with squares; left axis) are the number of unique applicants who received competing or noncompeting NIGMS R01 and/or R35 support in the indicated fiscal year. NIGMS funded 4,384 distinct individuals in FY23, an increase from the 4,285 individuals funded in FY22. The cumulative investigator rate (gray dotted line with triangles; right axis) represents the number of funded NIGMS investigators in a given fiscal year divided by the number of investigators actively seeking funding at some point in that fiscal year or in the previous 4 fiscal years. There was an increase in the cumulative investigator rate between FY22 and FY23 (from 45.4% to 46.7%).
NIGMS Competing Research Project Grant Trends
In addition to the above metrics, NIGMS annually measures its application-level RPG success rate, or the number of applications funded relative to the number of distinct applications received. Figure 3 illustrates the number of competing NIGMS applications and awards and the associated success rates for RPGs from FY14-FY23. The success rate in FY23 was 36.3%, a slight increase from 35.8% in FY22. Note that success rates are contingent on multiple factors such as the number of incoming applications, overall budget, existing commitments to noncompeting awards, and funding policies. The lower number of applications in FY23 (3,368 RPG applications in FY22 to 3,166) continues the trend in recent fiscal years that mirrors the drop in investigators submitting applications (Figure 2). As previously mentioned, this trend is consistent across NIH-wide research grant applications (73,317 in FY21 to 64,541 in FY23). More information on this and other FY23 NIH statistics can be found in the NIH data book. We suspect that similar factors contributed to this observed trend as mentioned in the FY22 application and funding trends post. Continuing changes are expected in the trend of RPG applications as MIRA becomes an increasingly larger percentage of the Institute’s portfolio (described below). More information on the RPG types that NIGMS supports can be found in this post.
NIGMS Competing RPG Applications, Funded RPGs, and Success Rates
Figure 3. Number of NIGMS Competing RPG Applications, Funded RPGs, and RPG Success Rates, FY14-FY23. The blue dashed line with circles (left axis) represents the number of NIGMS RPG applications submitted in the indicated fiscal year. A total of 3,166 applications were submitted in FY23, compared to the 3,368 applications submitted in FY22. The green solid line with squares (left axis) represents the number of NIGMS-funded competing RPGs in the indicated fiscal year. NIGMS funded 1,150 competing awards in FY23, a decrease from 1,207 awards in FY22. The NIGMS RPG success rate (gray dotted line with triangles; right axis) is the percentage of unique reviewed project proposals that received funding. To calculate the success rate, applications for the same project submitted more than once in the same fiscal year are counted only once. The success rate of 36.3% in FY23 is an increase from that of FY22 (35.8%).
In the following figure, we illustrate R01 applications and award distributions across the percentile range for FY23. At or below the 23rd percentile, 50% or more of applications were funded, whereas applications receiving above the 27th percentile had progressively decreased funding percentages. This trend is in line with the longstanding NIGMS practice of not using a percentile cutoff (“payline”) to make funding decisions. Instead, decisions are made in accordance with NIGMS funding policies and include factors such as the breadth of the Institute’s research portfolio, the priority of the research area for the Institute’s mission, ESI and at-risk investigator status, and the amount of other research support available to the principal investigator, in addition to the review scores, reviewer comments, and the summary of the review discussion.
NIGMS Competing R01 Funding Distribution by Percentile, FY23
Figure 4. Funding Distribution of NIGMS Competing R01 Applications by Percentile, FY23. Applications submitted in FY23 with percentile scores between the 1st and 23rd percentiles were funded most frequently (solid green bars), with some exceptions for higher percentile applications. Unfunded applications (striped bars) constitute the remainder of applications in the higher percentiles.
NIGMS MIRA Award Trends
Figure 5 compares the number of R01 and MIRA investigators funded each year from FY15-FY23. The representation of MIRA relative to R01 awardees continues to steadily increase each year, and in FY23 MIRA represented 54% of the NIGMS R01-equivalent awardee pool, an increase of 7 percentage points from the prior fiscal year. NIGMS awarded MIRAs to 2,413 investigators, and 2,035 investigators received other R01-equivalent awards (including DP2 awards) in FY23. This trend indicates that investigators are increasingly applying for and receiving MIRA funding and demonstrates that NIGMS is on track toward its strategic plan target of growing the pool of MIRA-supported investigators to at least 60% of the Institute’s R01-equivalent portfolio by FY25.
NIGMS Trends in R01 / MIRA R35 Awardees
Figure 5. Number of NIGMS R01 and MIRA Awardees, FY15-FY23. The blue-striped bars (left axis) represent the number of R01 awardees, while the orange bars (left axis) represent the number of MIRA awardees. NIGMS supported 2,413 principal investigators with R35 MIRA awards and an additional 2,001 investigators with R01 awards in FY23. The black solid line with circles (right axis) represents the share of MIRA awardees relative to the overall number of R01 and MIRA awardees. In FY23, MIRA represented 54% of the NIGMS R01-equivalent awardee pool, an increase of 7 percentage points from the previous fiscal year. Distinct awardees refer to unique funded investigators in a given fiscal year. Supplements are excluded.
Finally, we explore MIRA applications and awards from established investigators (EIs) and ESIs and their overall impact scores for FY22-FY23. The overall success rate for ESI MIRA applications in FY23 was 44.5%, and EI MIRA success rates were 53.0% for new applications and 83.1% for renewal applications. These data are consistent with MIRA application trends and renewal rates from previous years. When investigating award status and review scores, it is worth noting that MIRA applications receive only overall impact scores and are not percentiled. MIRA applications shift emphasis away from specific aims toward the importance and potential impact of the overall research questions proposed.
Although the MIRA program now comprises over half of the NIGMS R01-equivalent awards, EI and ESI MIRA funding opportunities, when analyzed separately, possess smaller numbers of competing applications and awards than our overall R01 portfolio. To ensure similar sample sizes among all funding curves, we have combined FY22 and FY23 in the subsequent figures for each funding opportunity. Figure 6 shows the distribution of overall impact scores in FY22-FY23 for EI MIRA applications. Most applications with an overall impact score of 48 or under were funded, whereas many applications receiving scores over 48 weren’t funded. These data mostly align with the trends observed for funding in the MIRA program in prior years.
EI MIRA Applications: FY22-FY23
Figure 6. Number of Funded and Unfunded EI MIRA Applications by Overall Impact Score, FY22-FY23. The solid green bars represent the funded applications, and the striped gray bars represent the unfunded applications. Most applications with an overall impact score of 48 or under were funded while a majority of those above 48 were not. Applications with an overall impact score greater than 60 were not included on this chart.
Figure 7 shows the impact scores of ESI MIRA applications for FY22-FY23. ESI and EI MIRA applications are reviewed separately from one another so that each group of investigators can be reviewed relative to their career stage. As illustrated in this figure, most ESI MIRA applications with overall impact scores at or below 50 were funded.
ESI MIRA Applications: FY22-FY23
Figure 7. Number of Funded and Unfunded ESI MIRA Applications by Overall Impact Score, FY22-FY23. The solid green bars represent the funded applications, and the striped gray bars represent the unfunded applications. Most applications with overall impact scores at or below 50 were funded. Applications with an overall impact score greater than 60 were not included on this chart.
This post, along with prior posts on NIGMS funding and application trends, reaffirms our commitment to transparency. NIGMS remains dedicated to communicating data and analyses of trends in the Institute’s RPG portfolio. We will continue to provide such updates in the future via our Feedback Loop blog.