Postdoctoral researchers in biomedical fields who win a particular grant from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are more likely to receive subsequent grants from the NIH than are other applicants, a study finds. Published online by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, The Impact of Postdoctoral Fellowships on a Future Independent Career in Federally Funded Biomedical Research reviewed NIH grant records for individuals who applied for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award ‘F32’ Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship between 1996 and 2008. Lead author Misty Heggeness and her co-authors then examined those researchers’ NIH application and funding patterns up to 2015. Overall, 18.3% of F32 applicants went on to receive NIH research awards, with 13.3% winning an NIH ‘R01’ project grant, which supports independent research. Those who received an F32 award were one-half to two-thirds more likely to receive subsequent NIH research awards. They were also less likely to be black or Asian, or to be older than 37. The success rate for F32 applicants was 24.9% in 2017, according to NIH data.