Sir
The US situation may be worse than it once was, as your News Feature 'Closing arguments' (Nature 457, 650–655; 2009) points out. But it's still a big step ahead of Australia. Total health-related R&D spending as a percentage of gross domestic product is roughly half that of the United States or the United Kingdom, according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (Statistics and Indicators for 30 Countries OECD, 2007). Our biomedical fellowship scheme is backlogged to the point that the awards designed to support new principal investigators go mostly to well-established group leaders.
A recent survey of the medical research workforce in Australia highlights the level of anxiety and discontent over poor career-development opportunities and lack of funding (M. Kavallaris et al. Med. J. Australia 188, 520–524; 2008). In the preceding five years, for example, 6% of respondents had already left active research; 73% were considering leaving. This presents a clear challenge for recruitment and retention of a highly skilled workforce.
To keep Australian science at the leading edge, we need to maintain the flow of fresh ideas by ensuring opportunities for both new and established investigators.The new US administration has recognized the loss of career-development opportunities caused by underfunding. Australia runs the risk of failing to capitalize on significant government investments made so far. The recent announcement of a federal fellowship scheme for mid-career researchers hints at a potential improvement. But the near-term prospects for aspiring new investigators and those returning from overseas are not promising.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
In February 2009, the director of the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke moved the institute's funding cut-off for grant applications from the 10th to the 11th percentile after a re-evaluation of financial obligations. The change meant that Darcy Kelley (quoted in this News Feature) and another seven investigators whose applications had fallen below the cut-off in recent funding rounds were funded — Editor, Nature. Further discussion is welcome at http://tinyurl.com/cf59fq.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Saunders, D. Backlogged system in Australia shuts out new investigators. Nature 458, 281 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458281d
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/458281d