Careers in Science and Grant Administration: View from the National Institutes of Health.

Scientist administrators at the National Institutes of Health fall into two categories: program officers and scientific review officers. Program officers provide advice to applicants and grantees, make funding recommendations, oversee grantees' research progress, and facilitate research opportunities in emerging areas of science. Scientific review officers oversee all aspects of the initial (peer) review of grant applications.

A view from the NIH bridge: perspectives of a program officer.

This essay is written from my perspective as a program officer for research and training activities at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for almost 27 yr. It gives a bird's-eye view of the job of a program officer, which includes providing advice to applicants and grantees, making funding recommendations, overseeing grantees' progress, facilitating scientific opportunities in specific areas of program responsibility, and shaping NIGMS and National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy. I have highlighted the numerous rewards of serving as a program officer, as well as some of the difficulties. For those who may be considering a position as an NIH program officer now or in the future, I've also described the qualities and qualifications that are important for such a career choice. Finally, this essay addresses some of the challenges for the NIH and the research community in the years ahead as we simultaneously face exciting scientific opportunities and tighter budgets.

Bioinformatics training in the USA.

This paper provides an overview of the history and funding of bioinformatics training in the USA, and summarises some of the challenges and key features associated with bioinformatics training programmes at PhD level. The paper includes compilations of current PhD bioinformatics training programmes and sources of funding.