Abstract
Many have suggested that young scientists are having a more difficult time getting research grants, citing the fact that the average age of recipients of prestigious grants is getting higher. We present a population model that suggests that the reason the average age of grant recipients is now higher is because the growth rate of science has slowed down in the last four decades.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berg
JM
(2007 ) Response: To Wray’s ‘The age-old question of researcher innovation’ . Science 318 : 1549 –1550 .
2.
Cole
S
(1992 ) Making Science: Between Nature and Society . Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press .
3.
Cole
S
Rubin
L
Cole
J
(1978 ) Peer Review in the National Science Foundation: Phase One of a Study . Washington, DC : National Academy of Sciences .
4.
De Solla Price
DJ
(1963 ) Little Science, Big Science . New York : Columbia University Press .
5.
Kaise
J
(2008 ) The graying of NIH research . Science 322 : 848 –849 .
6.
Matthews
KRW
Calhoun
KM
Lo
N
Ho
V
(2011 ) The aging of biomedical research in the United States . PLoS One 6 (12 ): E29738 .
7.National Science Foundation (NSF) (2000 ) Science & engineering indicators – 2000, appendix table 4–21 . Available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind00/access/c4/c4s4.htm (accessed 4 November 2012 ).
8.Science (2012 ) Older scientists still get the grants . Science 335 : 897 .
9.
Toppo
G
Vergano
D
(2009 ) Scientist shortage? Maybe not . USA Today , updated 7 September 2009 . Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-07-08-science-engineer-jobs_N.htm (accessed 4 November 2012 ).
10.
Zuckerman
H
Merton
RK
(1973 ) Age, aging, and age structure in science . In:
Merton
RK
(ed.) The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations . Chicago, IL : University of Chicago Press , pp. 497 –559 .
