Gunderlab

The biotech era debuted in the 1980s, and this is the type of lab the NIH thought a single R01 could support. Using the NIH entry-level postdoctoral stipend as a consistent benchmark, a single R01 with $250,000 in annual direct costs could theoretically pay for about 15.6 postdoc-years in 1987, when the stipend was $15,996 per year. How about today? At the FY2026 stipend of $63,480 per year, that same $250,000 would pay for only about 3.9 postdoc-years. This means that while a single R01 could theoretically support the equivalent of about 3 entry-level postdocs over 5 years in 1987, it could support fewer than one (one for four years) today—a roughly 75% loss in personnel purchasing power. And, of course, this assumes that every dollar goes directly to postdoc stipends. It does not include fringe benefits, PI salary, graduate students, technicians, supplies, equipment, animals, core-facility fees, travel, publication charges, or any of the other costs required to run a modern laboratory. Same nominal R01. Roughly one-quarter of the scientific labor.