Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research 1978 Report (1978) / Chapter Skim
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2 Basic Biomedical Sciences
2 Basic Biomedical Sciences
Pages 30-58
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From page 30... ...
evaluating the impact that recent reductions in training grant support have had on graduate programs; and 3) identifying priority training fields in the biomedical sciences.
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On the basis of these projections and the survey findings, the Committee recommended 1 ) a reduction in predoctoral support for research training in the basic biomedical sciences and 2)
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The Commi ttee bet ieves, however, that postdoctoral appointments are temporary - positions intended primarily for training and cannot be considered equivalent to faculty appointments or other more permanent posit ions, as they were in the Westat survey. Indeed, the Committee believes that a large portion of the individuals on postdoctoral appointments are candidates for permanent positions and thus should be counted on the supply side.
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From page 33... ...
's in the basic biomedical sciences is a dynamic system subject to decisions concerning R and D funding leve -- Is on the one hand] and career deci signs by undergraduate and graduate students on the other .
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of c)
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In 1977 there were more than 6,300 postdoctorals in the biomedical sciences, up from 5,844 in 1976, thus continuing the growth of the postdoctoral pool noted in last year's report at an annual rate of more than 12 percent. O Estimated undergraduate enrollment in the basic biomedical sciences continues to grow at more than 7 percent per year.
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From page 37... ...
Iment i s based on two considerat ions: ~ ~ these f ields do not contr ibute very heavily to the demand for faculty in the basic biomedical fie] ds and 2 ~ the rapid enrollment growth in these fief ds in recent years would distort the F/S ratio for the basic biomedical sciences.
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Ph.D. faculty excludes postdoctoral appointees.
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1.6 u' 1.2 At o J 0.8 m fig 0.4 0.07 0.06 0.05 High Estimate Middle Estimate _' - Low Estimate 0 0.04 0.03 ol I I I 1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 0.01 FISCAL YEAR 1 0.02 {a} Life Science R and D in Colleges and Universities {1967 $} 800 700 ~ 600 u, us o - 500 I_ at 400 o Cr 300 at Lo 200 100 O _ it___——C 1 o 1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 FISCAL YEAR {c} Total Biomedical Graduate and Undergraduate Enrollment O . ~ ~ ~ ~ 1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 f ISCAL YEAR {b} Biomedical Ph.D.
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From page 40... ...
(See the section below on priority fields for research training for a discussion of the impact of recent federal legislation.) In the pharmaceutical industry, where over one-third of the new biomedical Ph.D.'s in industry are employed, a modest increase of perhaps 2 or 3 percent annual growth of doctoral researchers could be anticipated in the near future, according to some senior research executives.
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From page 41... ...
at 2~/yr. 1~/yr to about the Biomedical Sciences 1983 value - 1983 value - Sl.1 billion asked Medical and Dental Schools S1.61 billion S1.40 billion in 1983 A. Hi ll grow at 596/yr Expel ted size of biomedical to 83.6,000 by 1983 faculty (F)
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From page 42... ...
IMPACT OF LOST TRAINING GRANT SUPPORT It is reasonable to expect that a reduction in training support would leave an impact upon both full-time enrollments and training program activities in biomedical departments, especially in those that depend heavily upon federal funds to sustain their graduate programs. The Committee's survey of biomedical departments2 does indeed show some impact, but the pattern of effects is far from simple among the 180 departments reporting losses in traineeships between Fall 1972 and 1975.
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In departments with training grants in 1976, 45 percent of the f ull-t ime graduate students were dependent mainly on federal funds compared to 17 percent in departments without training grants (Appendix El9.
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In addition, when department chairpersons were asked to assess the probable impact of a total phaseout of training grants, they indicated that special seminars and interdisciplinary training would be the last to go. It appears that departments consider special seminars and interdisciplinary training to be the most essential activities supported by the ir training grants or perhaps the ones least re pi aceabl e by other re so ur ce s .
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This possibility exists because the merit basis of funding federal training, fellowship, and research grant support has 1 ed to a concentration of federal graduate student support in top quad ity departments. Thus, basic biomedical science departments with high peer ratings of qua' ity are almost four times as likely to have training grants as ~ esser and nonrated departments ( Append ix El 7 ~ .
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These findings from last year' s Survey of Recent Doctorate Recipients were generally confirmed by department perceptions of the labor market as reflected in the Department Survey Appendix El2 ~ . Nevertheless, the Committee believes it would be unwise to single out the first set of fields for reductions, given the considerable mobility in the basic biomedical sciences, and continues to believe that graduate training should be suf f iciently broad to enable young scientists to continue to switch into fields of need.
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Biomathemat i cs/Biostat i st i cs and Epidemiology Citing results from the Survey of Recent Doctorate Recipients, the Committee noted in last year ' s report that the f ields of b iomathema t i cs/b lost at i st i cs and epic em i ology tend to at tr act many persons from outside the biomedical sciences ~ e.g ., statistics)
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From page 48... ...
In add i t ion, there i s a concomi tent demand for mid level professional personnel who have had some advanced training and for an ev en ~ erg e r number of - ski ~ ~ ed te chn i c i an s to cond uc t the actual tests and collect the necessary data on the characteristics of specific substances. Neither of these categories of personnel lies within the purview of the Committee's respons ib i ~ i ty .
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The Committee believes that no critical shortages exist for research personnel in these fields and that, given field mobil ity in the basic biomedical sciences, the immed late needs for research so ienti sts in taxi cology can best be met with an organized toxicology postdoctoral training grant program. Thi s program should be designed to expedite the acquisition of the knowledge and experience necessary for young doctorate recipients from the various fields of the basic biomedical sciences to do research in toxicology.
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RECOMMENDATIONS Predoctoral Tra i n i ng Leve ~ s In its previous report the Committee di scussed the h igh mobility among f ields of the basic biomedical sciences as revealed in the Survey of Recent Doctorate Recipients. Based in part on these results, the Committee concl udec3 that specific numerical \recommendat ions should not be mace by ind iv idual f i eld for predoctoral research training.
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The number of predoctorals supported in the basic biomedical sciences should be maintained at a level of 4, 250 for FY 1980 and until such t ime as new information ind i cates to the Commi thee that a change should be made O Postdoctoral Training Levels The Committee previously has recommended that 3,200 postdoctoral awards in the basic biomedical sciences be considered at the present time as the steady-state level. As shown in Table 2.4, the number of basic biomedical postdoctoral awards listed by the agencies for 1977 is significantly below the 1975 and 1976 levels .
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The Committee recommends that institutional training grants be the primary mechanism for NRSA support of predoctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences. Support of postdoctoral training, on the other hand, should utilize primarily the mechanism of individual fellowships.
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1 TABLE 2 . 5 NIH and ADAMHA Postdoctoral Trainee ship and Fellowship Awards, 1975-77, in the Basic Biomedical Sciences Fiscal Year 1975 1976 1977 TOTAL 3,196 3,767 2,717 Postdoctoral Traineeships 1,781 2,076 1,260 Postdoctoral Fellowships 1, 415 1,691 1,457 54
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in the field of biomathematics/biostatistics, encouragement be given to establishing programs to provide mathematical training for doctorates from other biomedical sciences; 2) in the field of epidemio~ogy, encouragement and emphasis be given to attracting and providing postdoctoral training for M.D.'s; and 3)
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The Committee wishes to emphasize that the coordinating unit, whether within the Office of the Director, or a single institute, must assure that the separate institutes both participate fully in the decision-making process and contribute appropriately to the support required for the total program. Regards ess of the means sel ected, the objective of this coordination is to make sure that neither unclue emphasis nor gaps occur in the support of predoctoral training across the spectrum of the basic biomedical sciences.
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From page 57... ...
Recommendation. The Committee recommends that NIH not discourage applications for predoctoral training grants from single departments, and that NIH leave to the peer review system, as part of the application review process, decisions about what departmental arrangements-in each case are best.
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leges and universities; est imated graduate and undergraduate enrollment in bioscience and medical and dental schools; M = weighted average of the 1 ast three years of life science R and D expenditures in Cal 1 eges and universities, i.e., b; t = l/4(Rt~ Rt_~ + 2Rt_2) , 1967 $, millions or, 8, C, K = Constants to be determined empirical]
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