Just give them grants

A major problem is that in many countries, research funding is quite constrained, so it’s getting increasingly difficult for new investigators to secure their first grants. As a result, investigators are older and older when they finally begin independent work. On average, a recipient of a Starting Independent Researcher Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) is 35.6 years old and about 6 years past earning the Ph.D. New investigators supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation are also typically 6 to 7 years post-Ph.D. In the biomedical sciences, the average age at which an investigator first obtains a regular research grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is 42 for a Ph.D. and 44 for MDs. No wonder there is concern about filling the pipeline of scientists. One has to wait until near middle age before getting one’s own research program in full gear.