Recently-released NIH data regarding applicants for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) reveal that NIH supported an additional 1,609 Early Stage Investigators (ESI) as Principal Investigators on new R01s. This marks the seventh consecutive FY where the number of ESIs supported on new R01s has increased. A total of 5,435 ESI applicants applied (funding rate: 29.6%) and 3,466 were discussed.
The data provide breakdowns by gender, race, ethnicity, and disability for ESIs, new (not early), at-risk, and established investigators. In FY22, more applications were received from and awarded to male researchers than female researchers across all career stages. There were more female ESI applicants and awardees in FY22 compared to FY21 and 20. The number of Black/African American ESI applicants was also higher in FY22 compared to FY21 and 20. However, the discussion rate was lower for Black/African American researchers across all career stages in FY22 compared to their White and Asian counterparts and the absolute number of Black/African American applicants and awardees remains markedly lower than white and Asian researchers.
Discussion rates were higher for Hispanic or Latino researchers in the later career stages compared to non-Hispanic or Latino researchers. Less than 2% of applicants reported having a disability. The discussion and funding rates were generally lower for PIs who identified as having a disability compared to those who did not.
