An Update on Modernizing the NIH Grants and Funding Site: Helping the Research Community Quickly and Easily Understand NIH Funding Policies, Processes, and Activities

The NIH Grants and Funding site is modernizing its digital web presence, serving as the central location for navigating information on NIH’s grants policies, programs, and funding activities. As NIH funding practices and programs evolve, it has become increasingly important to present this information in a clear and easy to navigate way so the research community can make informed decisions when applying and managing awards.  

Here are some examples of what this modernization effort means in practice: 

• An early career scientist exploring workforce-related programs can quickly and easily review general eligibility requirements, relevant NIH-wide policies, and Institute, Center, and Office (ICO)-specific considerations without navigating multiple independent websites.
• An administrator can compare distinctions among ICO financial management plans in a consistent format, reducing the risk of missing important nuances.
• A researcher can move seamlessly through ICO profiles and scientific areas of interest to help inform their research strategies when seeking support.  

Our goals center around: 

• Reducing the time, effort, and complexity the research community may face when seeking funding and managing awards, especially those new to the NIH system.
• Allowing researchers and administrators to see both general information and any relevant ICO specific considerations in one place.
• Enhancing transparency so researchers can more clearly understand NIH funding priorities and decisions.
• Increasing visibility into ICO grants and funding related information
• Allowing staff to more fully focus on programmatic priorities and engagement with the research community, rather than managing similar content across different sites. 

What We Have Done So Far 

Our Updates to Finding NIH Funding Opportunities and Information page highlights some of the changes already in place on the NIH Grants and Funding site. some examples include: 

• Incorporated information on research training, loan repayment, scientific data sharing, public access, and the NIH Extramural Nexus from their own stand-alone sites.
• Began reducing overlapping grants and funding information across many different NIH and ICO-specific websites.
• Launched the NIH Highlighted Topics resource to quickly learn about specific scientific areas that ICOs are interested in supporting. (Subscribe for weekly alerts delivered to your inbox.)
• Launched new NIH ICO Profile pages with structured and consistent fields for mission statements, general interest areas, listing of highlighted topics, funding opportunities, funding policies and financial management plans, and NIH Guide notices (see more here).
• Deployed the Explore NIH Grant Opportunities tool to quickly identify NIH funding opportunities posted on Grants.gov. (Find Search Tips for NIH Opportunities and see these Nexus articles from September 2025 and January 2026.) 

What to Expect Next 

We recognize there have been many changes already taken, and many that are to come. Here is what is in store going forward: 

• Continue working with ICO experts to identify and migrate appropriate funding-related information distributed across various websites into the NIH Grants and Funding site.
• Expand ICO Profile pages to include additional information by funding category and policy topic.
• Leverage the NIH Extramural Nexus newsletter and new NIH Innovates X and LinkedIn channels to communicate about certain grants and funding policies, programs, initiatives, and related information. (Subscribe here for Nexus email updates.)

As this effort continues, we aim to make it easier for the research community to efficiently access the information they need to apply for, manage, and steward NIH funding.  

We value your input along the way (via the survey available on each page or the Nexus inbox). Together, we are building a more transparent, accessible, and responsive digital experience reflecting the importance and scale of NIH-supported biomedical research in advancing public health.