Monday, October 10, 2011

NIH Grant Success Rate Likely Hit Historic Low in 2011 - ScienceInsider

I am only slightly surprised by this:

NIH Grant Success Rate Likely Hit Historic Low in 2011

I am an absolute cynic when it comes to our government involvement in education and research, particularly with respect to funding STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) fields. (Okay, I'll be honest -- I am cynical over all things related to government and politics.) There was some hyped-up hope coming from the liberal voices of our country preaching about how the Obama administration would change things around with respect to increased funding in these areas. My question was always, "With what resources?" As the saying goes, "You can't get blood from a stone." Yet, my observations have opened my eyes a bit more, and shown me that we have much bigger problems. Do not let anyone in government fool you into thinking we do not have resources. We do. They are highly misdirected. My concern is not over the availability of resources, but over the governing bodies in charge of directing those resources.

Historically, we have proven time and again that substantial investment into STEM education and research has yielded substantial economic gains, not to mention establishing ourselves as a formidable player in STEM work. We are rapidly losing ground in the worldwide race in STEM education and research. Not only is the educational system suffering from its substantial loss of funding, but, as evidenced by the current historically low fraction of NIH grants awarded, groups conducting research also are suffering.

I have rising fears over the future of this great country. I find myself often pondering where we will be in 10 years without a major overall of our entire governing body. We spend enormous amounts of taxpayer money guiding the country toward the aims of lobbyists looking out for their big blue chip companies. And, let us not neglect the enormous voice we increasingly give large religious organizations, with the Tea Party currently being their #1 voice. I personally do not have a problem with big companies making money, nor do I have a problem with religion and spirituality. My problem is their persuasive involvement in government leading to unnecessary funding of special interest groups and other unnecessary pork. Their involvement ties up extraordinary amounts of resources and do not reflect objective decision making on behalf of the general public of this country. Specifically in my field, they lead us even further away from fixing our current education and research crisis. We need people in government that can honestly represent current and future general public interests and concerns, and can objectively consider what is best for the long term placement of our country in the world economy.

I believe that our current spending is one of the most important predictors of the direction of our country. How much is going toward education and research?

For those that are interested in this growing concern, visit http://www.researchamerica.org. (Yes, I know... I accept the irony with me sending you to another lobbying group. But, do your own investigation, and let the facts speak for themselves. Simply put, the current spending patterns are wrong for our future.)