The National Institutes of Health's Biomedical Workforce Working Group (PDF) spent a year examining available data on the number and fate of biomedical researchers through different stages of their careers, and last week it released its report(PDF). The recommendations of this subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director include providing supplements to training grants that help graduate students prepare for alternatives to academic careers, capping how long a graduate student can receive NIH funding, and shifting graduate student funding out of investigators' grants to training grants and fellowships. Frustrated by the lack of comprehensive data, the panel also recommends that NIH require institutions receiving NIH funds to report on the career outcomes of both graduate students and postdoc researchers, and that it work more closely with other federal agencies to create and coordinate data collection efforts. A second report, this one from the Diversity in Biomedical Research Working Group of the ACD, was released the same day. Its recommendations include increasing attention to tracking, reporting, and evaluating the outcomes of trainee activities; exploring efforts to determine and combat real or perceived biases in the NIH peer review system; piloting implicit bias and diversity awareness training for reviewers and program officers; and appointing a chief diversity officer for NIH.
