The following data, generated by Dr. James Deatherage, are related to the message from the NIGMS Director in the November 19, 2007, issue of the NIGMS Feedback Loop. Additional discussion of funding trends is also in this issue.
Figure 1. Fiscal Year 2007 GM R01 applications reviewed (white) and funded (black) are plotted against percentile. The graph counts all competing new and continuation (renewal) applications, including revisions.
Figure 2. The percentage of R01 applications funded is plotted against percentile for Fiscal Years 2000-2007. Also shown are the corresponding published success rates for these years. Funding trends underlying the shift of these curves from year to year are shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5.
Figure 3. The upper curve shows total GM spending on R01s during Fiscal Years 1995-2007. The lower curve shows the median individual GM R01 direct cost budget. This graph includes R37 Grants (MERIT Awards) and R29 grants (FIRST Awards, a now-discontinued award category).
Figure 4. GM-funded R01 grants during Fiscal Years 1997-2007. This graph also includes R37 and R29 grants.
Figure 5. GM R01 applications in Fiscal Years 1997-2007. The increase in the number of proposals against a background of level agency budgets contributed significantly to the decrease in success rates in Fiscal Years 2004-2005 (see Figure 2). In Fiscal Year 2007, the number of applications and the success rate both leveled off. The applications prior to Fiscal Year 2003 include R29 applications.
Figure 6. The lower curve shows the number of GM-supported R01 PIs. The upper curve shows the number of funded R01s, both competing and noncompeting. This graph also includes R37 and R29 grants and PIs.