Facing a budget cut of nearly one percent over the remainder of this fiscal year – from $31.2B to $30.9B – the National Institutes of Health has announced that all its institutes and centers face budget cuts in the grants to be issued. Overall, funding for new applications will drop by one percent over the past year – with the National Cancer Institute facing a three percent drop. Over the past decade, success rates of NIH applications have fallen more than 10 percentage points, and success rates for new applications have fallen for three straight years and are now estimated at 17 percent. These new budget changes are likely to see the drop continue. Grants that have already been awarded for 2011 may be impacted. Spared from these cuts are grants targeted at early career investigators – Career Awards, the Ruth L. Kirschstein – National Research Service Award, Individual Fellowships, and Training Grants – as well as the Small Business Innovation Research program, funds earmarked for the early stage commercialization of research discoveries by small biotechs.
In NIH Budget Cuts, Only Early Stage Researchers and Small Business Grants are Spared
