The success rate for research project grants funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences increased by five percentage points between 2013 and 2014, according to a blog post by Jon Lorsch, the director of the agency.
At the NIGMS Feedback Loop, Lorsch says that changes the agency implemented last year enabled it to boost its success rate from 20 percent in 2013 to 25 percent in 2014. In a post from last year, Lorsch outlined those changes, which included reducing the agency commitment to targeted funding announcement and embracing a wider range of scientific questions.
For 2015, Lorsch writes that the agency will continue those policies to try to maintain this success rate.
"It's too early to say what the success rate will be for Fiscal Year 2015 because it can be influenced by a number of factors…," he says. "However, we're hopeful that by continuing to adjust our priorities and policies to focus on supporting a broad and diverse portfolio of investigators, we can reverse the trend of falling success rates seen in recent years."