The Impact of COVID-19 on the Research Community

In October of 2020, 45,348 researchers at domestic, NIH-funded institutions and 224 research leaders from the top 1,000 NIH-funded domestic institutions responded to an NIH COVID-19 Impact on Extramural Research Survey, which aimed to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on the research community. At a high-level, survey findings emphasized the impact of COVID-19 on the career trajectory, mental health, and research productivity of extramural researchers:

55% of respondents said the pandemic will have a negative impact on their career trajectory
68% of respondents said societal/political events negatively affected their mental health, more than other factor
78% of respondents reported lower levels of productivity since the pandemic began

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CAREER Trajectory

61% of lab-based researchers agreed that the pandemic will harm their career trajectory
Asian respondents were more likely than other groups to anticipate a negative career trajectory (65%), with a decline in research activities and lab-based research driving opinions
Black or African American respondents were least likely to anticipate a negative career trajectory (39%), with relatively fewer lab researchers and more public health researchers driving a more optimistic outlook

A Closer Look

The strongest predictor of a negative career trajectory perception is researchers’ ability to apply for grants

Top career stages that anticipate negatively impacted career trajectories due to COVID-19:

Postdoctoral Fellow/ Resident
Faculty (0-6 Years)
Faculty (7-14 Years)

MENTAL Health

42%of respondents said their mental/physical health had a substantially negative impact on productivity.
Women and respondents identifying as “other” genders were consistently more negatively impacted than men across top factors affecting mental health
Early career investigators were consistently more negatively impacted across top factors affecting mental health
Asian researchers cited visa considerations as negatively affecting their mental health at twice the rate than the average

Top factors that negatively impacted researchers’ mental health include:

Societal and/or political events
Physical and/or social isolation
Disruption of promotion/ tenure timeline

Did You Know?

Survey findings indicated mental and physical health is the #1 factor negatively impacting the productivity of early career investigators, Hispanics, and African American respondents

RESEARCH Productivity

Early-(80%) and mid-career investigators (81%) reported lower levels of productivity due to COVID-19, with faculty members reporting a more negative impact than non-faculty researchers
53%of Hispanics indicated their mental/physical health has negatively impacted research productivity since the pandemic began

The Bottom Line:

The less institutional support provided to researchers leads to a greater impact on productivity

Top factors that negatively impacted researchers’ overall productivity include:

53% Virtual instead of in-person interactions with trainees, mentors, or supervisors
50% Cancellation of in-person regional, national, and/or international conferences
49% Changes in laboratory and/or animal facility access

AT A GLANCE: COVID-19 IMPACTS ON EXTRAMURAL institutions

83% of respondents indicated that COVID-19 had a moderate or major impact on overall research productivity at their institution
41% of respondents said it is likely the financial repercussions of COVID-19 will jeopardize their institution’s ability to maintain research functions
2 in 3 respondents were very or extremely concerned about the pandemic’s impact on the financial status of their institution
77% of Doctorate-granting universities reported as very or extremely concerned
33% of Independent research institutions reported as very or extremely concerned