Last December, we asked our readers to tell us what they thought of the proposed changes to the peer review system. A number of readers commented that they would like to see a limit on the number of grants given to any one PI, noting that small labs are usually more efficient at training students and produce more publications per trainee.

Indeed, limiting the number of NIH grants to five per principal investigator was one of the recommendations made last month to improve the peer-review process. If it passes, more than 200 researchers who now receive six or more NIH grants could be forced to revise their workload, Nature reported today.

"If you are going to be a principal investigator on a grant, you have to give the time," NIH director Elias Zerhouni told Nature. The recommendation attempts to address current funding patterns at the NIH, in which researchers over 70 years of age are funded more often than those under 30. The change is an attempt to open the door to talented young scientists who are currently turned away. "We're eating our seedcorn," Zerhouni told Nature.

The NIH is scheduled to decide on the proposed changes by mid April, according to Nature.