COSWD’s impact extends well beyond its signature events and programming. We are proud to work with many NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices, to impact scientific workforce diversity. We are pleased to share information about our contributions to major programs that demonstrate our impact.
Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST)
The Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program, funded by the NIH Common Fund, helps institutions build a self-reinforcing community of scientists in biomedical and behavioral research through recruitment of early-career faculty.
NIH expects FIRST efforts to lead to the recruitment of talented researchers with a diversity of perspectives to improve the quality of the training environment, balance and broaden perspectives in setting research priorities, and positively impact scientific discovery.
The concept of FIRST originated in the COSWD office and the COSWD continues to serve on the steering committee for its implementation.
COVID-19 Impact Surveys
The COVID-19 pandemic heightened challenges associated with diversifying the scientific workforce and expanding recruitment and retention. It also created new barriers to achieving those goals.
To assess the impact of the pandemic on the research workforce and research institutions and identify the potential implications on groups underrepresented in the scientific workforce, COSWD led an NIH-wide group that developed and fielded the NIH COVID-19 Impact on Extramural Researchers Survey and the NIH COVID-19 Impact on Extramural Institutions Survey in October 2020.
NIH used the survey findings to develop evidence-based actions that support researchers and institutions through targeted policies and the distribution of critical resources.