Month: June 2026

NIH recently updated its annual categorical information with actual spending data for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Available on the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) page, you will find the annual support level for various research, condition, and disease categories. 

The definition of early stage investigator (ESI) states that the individual must not have "previously competed successfully" as program director/principal investigator (PD/PI) for a substantial NIH independent research award. Therefore, the individual may still qualify if all other aspects of the ESI definition are met.

What does scientific impact look like today? For decades, measures such as publication counts, citation rates, and grant funding have been primarily used to assess the success of researchers. Yet biomedical research has become increasingly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and data-intensive. Progress often depends on teams of investigators, shared datasets and software, rigorous validation of findings, and sustained mentorship and training efforts.

A “person month” is the metric for expressing the effort (amount of time) program directors/principal investigators (PD/PIs), faculty, and other senior personnel devote to a specific project. 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., announced the selection of Raymond H. Jacobson, Ph.D., as the director of NIH’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR), which ensures expert and fair review of the tens of thousands of grant applications received by the agency each year. 

Looking for additional ways to keep up with updates on NIH wide programs/initiatives? The NIH Grants and Funding Calendar of Events could be one of the most useful tools you can keep on your radar. 

We are seeking your feedback on whether distributing Research Project Grants (RPGs) funding across more investigators could increase overall scientific productivity and innovation (see NOT-OD-26-086). Through this Request for Information (RFI), NIH is presenting a proposal as one possible approach to advance stewardship, workforce sustainability, and the goals of the NIH Unified Funding Strategy. Comments may be sent electronically here by August 3, 2026.

NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) communicate their research priorities through a variety of channels. For example, general interest areas may be discussed on an ICOs’ profile page or they may be expressed through a specific Highlighted Topic. In any case, the ICO may fund research in a wide range of scientific areas within their mission, whether or not they are explicitly identified as a particular Highlighted Topic.

NIH (including help desks) will be closed on Friday, June 19, 2026 for the federal holiday.

For most career development (K) award programs, the K award recipient must commit at the minimum 9 person months, equivalent to 75% full-time professional effort, directly to their research project and career development activities. The recipient can devote the remaining effort (up to 25%) to additional research, teaching, clinical work, or other efforts complementary to their career development.

NIH’s Seed Fund is back, with new Small Business program funding available and several upcoming opportunities to help applicants develop strong applications. We also encourage you join us for a live event on June 9 to hear from NIH experts and become familiar with the new opportunities and more.

NIH supports international scientific collaboration when conducted transparently and in accordance with NIH requirements. The key expectation is timely and accurate disclosure of foreign components and related activities. Here we share reminders about how to properly acknowledge foreign components in NIH grant applications, progress reports, and manuscripts resulting from NIH awards.