Sneak Preview: NIH Seeks Ideas To Improve Postdocs’ Training, Future

(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) Stakeholders now have an opportunity to provide feedback to the National Institute of Health (NIH) on its federal support of postdoctoral research training and career advancement at academic centers and within biomedical research in general. In a recent request for information (RFI), NIH is asking for feedback on the challenges in recruitment, retention and quality of life of postdoctoral trainees.

In November 2022, NIH announced the creation of a new working group to the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), an advisory group that provides advice to NIH concerning the conduct and support of biomedical research, medical science and biomedical communications. The most recent concerns surrounding postdoct training involve numbers — the number of postdocs and the number of available tenure-track faculty positions. Toward this end, the ACD Working Group on Re-envisioning NIH-Supported Postdoctoral Training has been studying the postdoctoral training system to identify and understand critical factors contributing to the perceived decline in the number of postdoctoral trainees, and provide recommendations as appropriate (see box).

The working group’s goal is to evaluate and assess the following:

• evidence to support the perceived decline and shortage in Ph.D.s seeking U.S. postdoc training positions, and document trends in Ph.D.s choosing nonacademic post-graduate employment;
• factors influencing the scope and persistence of the issue, including COVID-19, the economy and inflation, trends in academic job markets, time to publish, immigration policy, and the growing biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries;
• mechanisms, effects and relevance of other approaches to postdoctoral training (e.g., in other countries, other systems); and
• ways to increase support and retention of postdoctoral trainees on key issues related to quality-of-life and work-balance concerns.

NIH supports postdoctoral training through extramural and intramural research training programs. NIH can support postdocs and graduate students through the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program, which offers fellowship (“F awards”) and training (“T awards”) that are limited to U.S. citizens. However, most NIH support for postdocs and graduate students comes from non-NRSA research project and research center awards.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)

Join us for our following Thompson Grants events:
Nonprofit Legal, Finance, and Grants Conference | April 6-7, 2023 | Washington, D.C.
Federal Grants Forum | June 28-30, 2023 | Portland, Maine