Tenure in the NIH Intramural Program
Modified on February 9, 2001
Background
The concept of tenure in intramural research has evolved gradually over the years as a policy and process to ensure the highest attainable quality in the scientific staff engaged in intramural research and related medical care. The conferring of tenure in intramural research is a vote of confidence in the achievements and potential of the candidate, and the research support which is implied by that decision requires that it be made with maximum care.
In 1991, the Scientific Directors began working on a Tenure Program for the NIH; it was formalized in 1993 and updated most recently in 1996.
The need for a balance between (1) employment security to
drive long-term programs in the intramural program and also, in some
cases, to recruit or retain tenured scientists, and (2) programmatic
flexibility needed by scientific managers, has led to the following
modified, updated definition of tenure. The following definition
applies irrespective of the personnel mechanism used.
Tenure at the NIH is the commitment of salary to an independent
Senior Investigator who is granted tenure by the Central Tenure
Committee or SBRS Policy Advisory Board. Tenure conferred or approved
by earlier NIH-wide review bodies is considered equivalent. Tenured
Senior Investigators are granted independent resources (personnel,
budget and space) by their Institute, and are required to have
regular outside, expert review by Boards of Scientific Counselors.
Resources may be adjusted up or down by the Institute, based on
productivity and the quality of their work, as determined by these
and other reviews. The granting of tenure at the NIH will continue to
be a vote of confidence in the achievements and potential of the
Senior Investigator, and it is the policy of the NIH that such
scientists will be renewed in one or another of the five personnel
mechanisms available, and that long, stable, productive careers will
continue to be the rule.
There are four distinct personnel mechanisms
available for the employment of tenured Senior
Investigators:
A. Title 42
-- This is a personnel mechanism that
provides indefinite (i.e., no time limitation but not permanent)
appointments (Title 42 - 209f) for senior scientists. Salaries are
set and adjusted in a flexible fashion.
B. Senior
Biomedical Research Service -- This is a
personnel system authorized by Congress in 1990 to provide flexible
salaries of up to Executive Level I for outstanding researchers.
There is no distinction between physicians and Ph.D. scientists, but
the number of positions is limited.
C. Commissioned
Corps -- The Corps has for decades been
a mechanism of choice for physician scientist researchers, for
reasons including physician and dentist special pays and tax
advantages of the system. Higher pay is possible through longevity,
promotions, bonuses, tax advantages, and other benefits. Promotions
are restricted, the system is generally not flexible, and advantages
are greatest for physicians and dentists.
D. General Schedule
-- This Civil Service mechanism has been used for many
years to hire tenured scientists at the NIH. Positions are permanent,
but salaries are tied to the General Schedule; salary increases are
dependent on time-in-service and promotions, and are given in a
lock-step fashion. One-time or limited duration recruitment and
retention bonus incentives of up to 25% of base pay are available.
Use of Title 38 for physicians involved in direct patient care
provides for higher salaries dependent on the medical speciality.
The mechanism of the initial appointment is at the discretion of the
Institute, based on availability of positions and amount of salary
needed to recruit the scientist. A commitment to long-term support of
salary is made by an Institute when it tenures an individual as a
Senior Investigator. However, salary in all systems is merit-based
within the flexibility afforded by the particular system. For
example, the salary may be increased or reduced for Title 42
employees to reflect the level of their performance. It is the policy
of the NIH that a Title 42 salary in the intramural program will
generally not be reduced below that of a GS-14/Step 5, and that
downward adjustments should generally not exceed $20,000 per year,
with notice of intent to reduce salary being given in writing at
least one year in advance of the action (SD
Minutes Feb. 18, 1998). Performance that declines below that
acceptable for a GS-14 is grounds for non-renewal of the Title 42
appointment. Senior Investigators who reach the end of a personnel
mechanism, e.g., the Commissioned Corps, are moved to another
appropriate mechanism that meets programmatic needs of the Institute.
Salary reductions in other personnel mechanisms must follow the rules
of those individual mechanisms.
Removal of tenure is possible after
thorough scientific review, followed by review by the IC and the
Central Tenure Committee, with final approval by the Deputy Director
for Intramural Research. Any subsequent action, e.g., removal from
Federal employment or downgrading, must follow the rules of the
individual's personnel appointment mechanism.