Updated PSD R&A Stats- General

Mark V. SykesPlanetary Science Institute

Over the past decade, PSD R&A proposal selection rates have declined by about half from ~40% success to ~20% on average. The plot below is for all programs for which statistics are available.

The decline in rates cannot be attributed to “proposal pressure” – that the volume proposals submitted have increased so much in the context of limited resources, that the fraction selected for funding has necessarily declined. Numbers of proposals have increased by ~15%, compared to the 50% drop in selection rates.

The decline in selection rates cannot be attributed to increases in award sizes. Awards have risen slowly in size compared to the rapid drop in number of proposals selected for funding in sample core programs.

In sample core programs, the net funds allocated for new awards has steadily declined (the divot in 2005-2006 was a reallocation from PSD research programs to human exploration).

CONCLUSION: Low selection rates have been a consequence of policy decisions by PSD management and Administration to reduce resources for basic research and data analysis in order to free up (a small amount of) resources for activities they consider higher priority.