All Things Being Equal

At his blog, Mike the Mad Biologist writes that he has long been in favor of NIH issuing more targeted RFAs and allowing program officers more discretion in awarding grants. A fellow blogger, DrugMonkey found that under the new NIH scoring system, impact scores tend to cluster. "I like that the POs are going to have to look at the tied applications and really think about them," DrugMonkey writes. "It doesn't guarantee a given PO will come to the decision that you or I would, but at least they have to make a decision based on something related to the content of the application." Mike the Mad Biologist agrees, adding that "removing some decision making from study sections, and returning it to the NIH, that's a very good step."