TY - JOUR
T1 - Academic outcomes among principal investigators, co-principal investigators, and non-PI researchers
AU - Feeney, Mary K.
AU - Welch, Eric W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments Data analyzed in this paper were collected under the auspices of the 2005–2009 project, ‘‘Women in Science and Engineering: Network Access, Participation, and Career Outcomes,’’ (NETWISE 2006) a project funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant # REC-0529642).
Funding Information:
While the principal investigator is commonly recognized to be the lead of the research project (Fields and Price 1993; Morahan and Feetwood 2008) or team leader (Hackett 1990), the role of the PI may differ depending upon the project. In some cases the PI may be the actual intellectual leader, in other cases the PI might be the person that the team determines is the most likely to receive the award, based on subjective assessments of prestige, reputation, and qualifications. To enhance the probability of obtaining an award, junior researchers that generate proposal ideas may take a formal role as co-PI or research personnel, while a more experienced or better-known faculty member may serve as the PI. Alternatively, junior, less experienced researchers might take on a PI role to take advantage of set aside funds for new or beginning researchers. For example, the NSF now asks researchers to indicate if the PI is a ‘‘beginning investigator’’, defined by the NSF as someone who has not held a federally funded award with the exception of doctoral dissertation, postdoctoral fellowship, or research planning grants. Other agencies, including the Office of Naval Research, National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, offer new and young investigator awards. In these cases, the research team might be responding to the funder’s desire to support new investigators, selecting the less experienced researchers to serve as the PI. In sum, the assignment of the title PI or co-PI might indicate differing roles on a project or be assigned in response to funder priorities or strategies in grant competitions. Despite these possible arrangements, the PI role is widely recognized to be more prominent, more responsible, and more in charge of a funded project than the co-PI role. In general, we assume that a PI is the sole or lead investigator on a scientific project, while co-PIs share responsibility for the intellectual or managerial functions on the scientific project. The PI has primary responsibility for the conduct, completion and reporting on the research outlined in the proposal, while the co-PI has secondary responsibility. The PI is has primary accountability to the granting agency, while the co-PI is primarily accountable to the PI.
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - Faculty at research universities are evaluated on a number of productivity measures including their ability to conduct research, teach, and engage in service. Research outcomes include publishing research results and acquiring grants and contracts to conduct additional research. While it is assumed that researchers who are awarded grants are more likely to publish research results, there is little research investigating the ways in which grants affect outcomes or how principal investigators differ from researchers who do not hold research grants or those who are co-principal investigators. This research seeks to understand if principal investigators are more or less productive than co-principal investigators and those who do not have grants, and if so, what explains that variation in productivity. It also examines whether women PIs are more or less productive than men PIs. This research uses longitudinal data drawn from an NSF funded survey of academic scientists in Carnegie-designated Research I universities in six fields: biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, electrical engineering, and physics. From this national random sample of men and women scientists and engineers we investigate whether there is variation in the production of outcomes (e.g. publications, teaching, and training graduate students) among PIs, co-PIs, and other researchers. Findings show that productivity and outcomes vary significantly for PIs, co-PIs and by sex.
AB - Faculty at research universities are evaluated on a number of productivity measures including their ability to conduct research, teach, and engage in service. Research outcomes include publishing research results and acquiring grants and contracts to conduct additional research. While it is assumed that researchers who are awarded grants are more likely to publish research results, there is little research investigating the ways in which grants affect outcomes or how principal investigators differ from researchers who do not hold research grants or those who are co-principal investigators. This research seeks to understand if principal investigators are more or less productive than co-principal investigators and those who do not have grants, and if so, what explains that variation in productivity. It also examines whether women PIs are more or less productive than men PIs. This research uses longitudinal data drawn from an NSF funded survey of academic scientists in Carnegie-designated Research I universities in six fields: biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, electrical engineering, and physics. From this national random sample of men and women scientists and engineers we investigate whether there is variation in the production of outcomes (e.g. publications, teaching, and training graduate students) among PIs, co-PIs, and other researchers. Findings show that productivity and outcomes vary significantly for PIs, co-PIs and by sex.
KW - Academic outcomes
KW - Academic productivity
KW - Co-Principal Investigators
KW - Principal Investigators
KW - Publications
KW - Universities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84895057710&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1007/s10961-012-9272-9
DO - 10.1007/s10961-012-9272-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84895057710
SN - 0892-9912
VL - 39
SP - 111
EP - 133
JO - Journal of Technology Transfer
JF - Journal of Technology Transfer
IS - 1
ER -