Results of Interviews with Principal Research Investigators Concerning the National Institutes of Health's Award Process

This final report provides the results of interviews conducted during Calendar Year 1991 with 94 Principal Research Investigators (PI) at 39 colleges and universities throughout the Unites States concerning the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) award process. We found that the PIs generally supported NIH's award process, however, 80 percent of the PIs interviewed suggested that: (1) NIH's funding priorities are often targeted toward predetermined areas of research rather than being based on scientific merits of proposals; (2) NIH's application and review process take an inordinate amount of time and effort to complete; (3) there is an absence of feedback from NIH; and (4) indirect costs of research have questionable value.