I've generally gone by the "rule" that key people have advanced degrees.
This would obviously include postdocs.  But I think you must allow each PI
to make this decision.  Certainly, there are technicians in labs (as there
are NCOs in the military) who are 1000 times more important to a mission
than others who happen to have a higher rank.  And since many of these
people are known outside labs and institutions because of their
accomplishments (or you want them to be known for career development
purposes), it makes great sense to designate them as Key.

But I agree with your general premise that too many people are often
included as Key.  I think skill and effort should trump donations of
reagents and advice.  But I doubt that any definitions or guidelines will
not make anyone happy other than the research administrator who cannot
possibly be a good judge of who warrants conspicuous treatment.

CH

> The recent Notice issued by the NIH (
> <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-139.html>
> http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-139.html ) about
> changes in continuation progress reporting that all postdocs on NIH grants
> need to have Commons IDs prompts this question:
> Do you typically include postdocs as key personnel on NIH applications?
> The guidelines define key personnel as "individuals who contribute in a
> substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of
> the project", but 'substantive' and 'meaningful' can be interpreted very
> subjectively, although in this case 'execution' may be the operative term.
>  We have tried to limit the key personnel on our applications, because
> investigators often believe all of their people are 'key' and this can
> lead to problems with JIT reporting of Other Support. Your opinion and
> experience with this issue will be appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Steve Hunter
> Legacy Research
> Portland, OR
>
>
>
>
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