Biophysical Newsletter - March 2014

5

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

MARCH

Public Affairs

success rates for R01 grants have declined, the average size of research project grants (RPG) has decreased, and the total number of RPG applications received by NIH decreased as well. The NIH also saw a decline in incoming applications for the first time since 2009. Read the full post at: http://nexus.od.nih.gov/ all/2014/01/10/fy2013-by-the-numbers/. The NIH Data Book may be found at: http://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/index.aspx 2014 Appropriations Trend Upwards Three months after the start of the FY 2014 bud- get, Congressional Appropriators finally agreed on how the discretionary funds should be divided. On January 13, they released the 1,500 page appropriations package, called the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2014. The bill includes a partial elimination of sequester cuts. For science funding, it was a move in the right direction, albeit a small move for NIH. While the NSF, DOE, NIST, and NASA received increases over their 2013 spending levels ranging from 4.2%-11.2%, NIH received a 3.5% increase over its 2013 level. In constant dollars, the NIH budget is approxi- mately 15% lower than in FY2004. For a general agency breakdown, see chart below. President Obama is scheduled to release his FY2015 budget on March 5.

NIH Workforce Diversity Chief Named

NIH appointed Hannah Valentine to the posi- tion of NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity on January 30. According to the NIH press release, Valentine “will lead the NIH’s efforts to diversify the biomedical research workforce by developing a vision and comprehensive strategy to expand recruitment and retention, and promote inclusiveness and equity throughout the biomedical research enterprise.” Valentine joins the NIH from Stanford University Medical Center, where she served as the Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Leadership and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine. NIH Data Book Shows FY 2013 Decline The NIH Data Book, which shows basic summary statistics on extramural grants, grant applications, NIH supported trainees and fellows, the US bio- medical workforce, and more, has been updated with FY 2013 data. In her January 10 blog, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Sally Rocker reported that

FY 2014 Appropriations for Science Agencies (in billions)

Agency

FY 2012

FY 2013 with sequester cuts

FY 2014

NIH

30.046

28,604

29.63

NSF

5.614

6,884

7.172

DOE Office of Science

4.463

4,621

5.071

NASA Science Office

5.399

4,78

5.15

NIST Science & Tech Labs

5.55

5.80

6.51