If you’ve been a principal investigator (PI) on an NIAID award, you are likely familiar with terminology like early-stage investigator (ESI), new investigator (NI), and established investigator. But you may be less familiar with a more recent designation: at-risk investigator.
By definition, an at-risk investigator has had substantial, independent NIH funding as a PI and, unless successful in securing a substantial research grant award in the current fiscal year, will have no substantial research grant funding in the following fiscal year. A "substantial" research grant is defined by its inverse, i.e., an NIH research grant that is not on the List of Smaller Grants and Awards that Maintain ESI Status. Whether the PI is currently funded by a substantial research award does not matter.
NIH initially identified and prioritized this cohort of investigators beginning in 2018. We encourage you to read the February 7, 2020 Open Mike blog post “What’s Happening With ‘At-Risk Investigators?’” for a synopsis of how at-risk investigators represent a key inflection point at which NIH can intervene to strengthen the biomedical research workforce.
An Initiative to Highlight
Last month, we reissued the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) NIAID and NIDDK Research Opportunities for New and "At-Risk" Investigators to Promote Workforce Diversity (R01, Clinical Trial Optional). Through the NOFO, NIAID will support new and at-risk investigators from diverse backgrounds who propose to conduct basic or applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
Refer to Questions and Answers for PAR-23-275 for additional guidance on the NOFO’s eligibility criteria.