National Postdoctoral Association

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Background and Current Status

2 May 2012

The Senate and House Appropriation Committees have approved their allocations for Fiscal Year 2013 that fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), and other agencies that support research and development.  The Senate provided a .37% increase for Labor, Health & Human Services (LLHS), which includes the NIH, while the House allocations reflected a 4.5% decrease for these services and ignored the Budget Control Act (BCA) passed last year.   Both the Senate and the House increased funding for Energy and Water Development, which supports the DOE-SC, although funding for the DOE-SC is expected to remain at the 2012 level.  Both the Senate and House appear to be in favor of increased funding for the NSF.  Funding for the LLHS, including the NIH, is expected to be discussed in June or July.

For more detailed information, follow this link for the AAAS report or follow this link for FASEB's summary.

14 February 2012

The President's budget has just been released and includes a 2 % increase in NRSA stipends for FY2013. Read more here.

23 January 2012

The NIH announced that it will increase training stipends by 2% for FY 2012. Read more here.

19 December 2011

On December 16, the House passed the omnibus bill HR 2055 that included small funding increases for both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE OS) for FY 2012. The Senate passed this bill on December 17.  The bill includes a 0.8% increase, or $240 million, in funding for the NIH over FY 2011. The bill will become law when it is signed by President Obama.

The NPA anticipates that the NIH training stipends will increase by a minimum of 2% for FY 2012.

Background

The NIH training stipends support more than 17,000 training positions and are used as a benchmark by research institutions across the country for compensation of postdoctoral scholars. In 2001, the NIH pledged to raise the entry-level postdoctoral stipend for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) to $45,000. Due to a lack of funding, the NIH has been delayed in keeping its pledge. In 2008, the NIH announced that it would hold the NRSA fellowship stipend levels for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 at the FY2007 levels, continuing a stipend freeze from 2006. In 2009 and 2010, the NRSA stipends were increased by 1% each year, and in 2011, by 2 percent (the NPA applauded this increase). The President's Budget for FY 2012 requested a 4-percent increase in the stipends. On December 16 2011, the House passed the omnibus bill HR 2055 that included small funding increases for both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE OS) for FY 2012. The Senate passed this bill on December 17. The bill includes a 0.8% increase, or $240 million, in funding for the NIH over FY 2011. In January 2012, the NIH announced that it will increase training stipends by 2% for FY 2012. Read more here.

Graph constructed from data obtained from NIH website: http://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm

There is a lot of concern in Congress right now about America’s growing federal debt and a movement is underway to significantly constrain federal spending. The NPA believes that it is important for its members and friends to voice their opinion on how further budget cuts in research and development funding would negatively impact discovery and innovation in the United States. Furthermore, the NPA suggests that advocacy against such cuts is crucial in order to realize any further increases in the training stipends.

• 2012 NRSA Stipend Levels
• 2011 NRSA Stipend Levels
• 2010 NRSA Stipend Levels
• 2009 NRSA Stipend Levels
• NIH-NRSA Stipend Freeze Background

NPA Actions

Past actions included:

• NPA Written Testimony to Senate April 2012
• At various times in 2011, the NPA encouraged its members and friends to write to Congress in support of increase funding for federal agencies supporting research in the FY 2012 federal budget.
• NPA Signs-on to letter with other Professional Societies to the Members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (JCDR), October 28, 2011
• NPA Letter to Dr. Collins NIH commending increase by 2% of NRSA stipends for FY2011, May 18, 2011
• At various times from February of 2010 through March of 2011, the NPA asked its members and friends to send letters to Congress in support of increased funding for federal funding agencies, including increasing the NRSA stipends.
• NPA Letter to President Obama, January 25, 2011
• NPA Response to NIGMS Request for Input Regarding Training, April 21, 2010
• NPA Written Testimony to Senate, April 10, 2010
• NPA Written Testimony to House, April 15, 2010
• NPA Statement (Sept. 09) (statement to NIH Director Francis Collins)
• NPA Letter to NIH Regarding the Stipend Freeze
• NPA Congressional Campaign on NIH Stipends

Join Us

If you want to get involved with this issue, we strongly encourage you to join the NPA Advocacy Committee. (NPA membership is required to participate on this committee. Not a member, click here to join.)