FINDING: Individual investigator grants and mid-scale programs play a crucial role as a source of important new ideas (some of which become the next great discoveries, big initiatives or facilities) and as a means for training young scientists.

FINDING: Proposal success rates for individual investigator grants at NSF AST and NASA have dropped below 20% and even below 15% in recent years. It is widely believed, among both researchers and program administrators, that such low rates make the grant application and review process unreasonably inefficient.

FINDING: There are many concerns and questions in the community and among agency staff about the implications of declining proposal success rates for the overall health of our field (factoring in both the crucial role of these grants and our wish to use our efforts efficiently). However, so far too many questions are unanswered to reach clear conclusions and recommend concrete improvements.

RECOMMENDATION: The AAAC and the agencies should work together to clarify and quantify the questions related to individual investigator grants and mid-scale programs raised in this report. Other groups such as the American Astronomical Society and the National Research Council’s Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics should be involved as appropriate. The goal should be a clearer factual base on which to assess the health of the current individual investigator grants programs and make recommendations for future improvements.