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Abstract:
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To assist new scientists in the transition to independent research careers, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implemented an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) policy beginning with applications submitted in 2009. During the review process, the ESI designation segregates applications submitted by investigators within 10 years of completing their terminal degree or medical residency from applications submitted by more experienced investigators. Institutes/Centers can then give special consideration to ESI applications when making funding decisions. One goal of this policy is to increase the probability of newly emergent investigators receiving research support. Using direct matching algorithms to generate comparable groups pre- and post-policy implementation, generalized linear models were used to evaluate the ESI policy, comparing the probability of funding for ESI flagged applications from 2011 to 2015 to applications from 2004 to 2008 with similar characteristics. This paper addresses the statistical necessities of public policy evaluation, finding that the ESI policy stabilized the proportion of NIH funded newly emergent investigators. In the absence of the ESI policy, 54 percent of newly emergent investigators would not have received funding.
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