NOT-OD-26-019: Updated Application Policies: NIH Administrative Burden Reduction Effort Removal of Requirements for Letters of Intent and Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs

Updated Application Policies: NIH Administrative Burden Reduction Effort – Removal of Requirements for Letters of Intent and Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs

Notice Number:

NOT-OD-26-019

Key Dates

Release Date:

December 03, 2025

Related Announcements

July 24, 2025 – Notice to Applicants of Adjustments to Achieve Consistency in Peer Review Contacts and Processes. See Notice NOT-OD-25-135.

Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

Purpose

This Notice alerts the extramural research community of two important updates related to application submission policies.

Letters of Intent

Effective immediately NIH will no longer request or accept Letters of Intent (LOIs) as part of the application process. NIH has occasionally requested LOIs within Section IV of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to help Institute, Center, and Office (ICO) staff estimate the potential peer review workload and recruit reviewers. An LOI was never required, binding, nor considered during the peer review process.

Given NIH’s centralization of peer review processes to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity through the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), the LOI is no longer serving the same purpose to estimate ICO workload. To further increase efficiency and minimize applicant burden, NIH is removing the LOI from the application process.

LOIs that have been submitted will not be acknowledged nor reviewed by the respective ICO or CSR. Potential applicants are encouraged to review NOFO instructions carefully as they are subject to change.

Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs

Effective immediately, NIH will no longer require applicants requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs (excluding consortium F&A costs) in any one budget period to contact the funding Institute or Center (IC) before application submission. In line with this change, applicants are no longer required to include a cover letter identifying the Program Official contact which notes that the IC has agreed to accept assignment of the application.

All active NOFOs containing this requirement are superseded by this Notice and will be updated going forward. In addition, the NIH Application Guide and Grants Policy Statement will be updated in their next iteration to remove this requirement.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)
Division of Grants Policy
[email protected].