FOR MANY YEARS, THE NATIONAL CAUCUS OF BASIC BIOMEDICAL

leaders, has followed U.S. NIH data on the likelihood of investigator-initiated unsolicited R01 research grant applications being funded (1–5). Research supported by these grants, which are the mainstay of research by medical school faculties and other research institutions, has permitted exploration of new approaches to understanding health and disease and development of therapies to treat illness. We have collected data (6, 7) on the fate of “unamended ” (un-solicited) R01 applications. The unamended R01 represents the orig-inal application and does not consider resubmissions. NIH classifies R01 applications into type-1 (new) and type-2 (renewals). Revision and resubmission of initially rejected type-1 applications improve the likelihood of eventual funding by a factor of approximately two (4, 8), with smaller increases for rejected type-2 grants. However, each revision of a rejected application delays by close to a year the time required before support can be approved and research initiated. For type-1 applicants, this is a slow, uncertain process that often leads to career reevaluation and change by otherwise successful profes-sional contributors. For an ongoing and previously approved type-2 research activity, rejection casts major doubt on eventual continua-tion and frequently results in breaking up teams of highly trained personnel. Therefore, success rates for funding initial applications are of primary im-portance. It is encouraging that the review process itself may soon be accelerated. The likelihood of funding type-1 and type-2 unamended, unsolicited applications reached a low-point in fiscal year (FY) 1993 and 1994: approximately 12 % in each year for type-1 applications (9). For type-2 applications, suc-cess rates were 39 and 37%, respectively (2). Thereafter, suc-cess rates of unamended type-1 and type-2 R01 applications improved somewhat, peakin