NIH Extramural Nexus (News)

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. 

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 has released its first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) under the new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) SimplerNOFO initiative, which aims to make funding opportunities more accessible, understandable, and actionable for applicants.

NIH has advanced initiatives to strengthen transparency and ensure disclosure of other support. These actions build on prior work to address risks associated with foreign interference while reinforcing that honesty, transparency, and funding‑overlap prevention remain non‑negotiable requirements.

The reliability of biomedical research is foundational to public trust in science and to ensuring that findings can benefit patients and communities. NIH’s Gold Standard Science plan advances this commitment by encouraging a culture that values replication and reproducibility. In support of this plan, NIH has launched a new Replication and Reproducibility Initiative to drive, incentivize and institutionalize replication and reproducibility efforts across the biomedical research enterprise.

In short, Highlighted Topics are a way to understand NIH priorities and start a conversation. it is important to note though that NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) continue to fund a wide range of high-quality research beyond areas identified as a Highlighted Topic.

The CPOS Common Form must be used for all NIH grant applications, Just in Time (JIT), Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), and Prior Approval submissions to NIH with due dates on or after January 25, 2026.

The Biographical Sketch Common Form must be used for all NIH grant application, Just-in-Time, Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), and Prior Approval submissions  to NIH with due dates on or after January 25, 2026.

NIH has extended the leniency period for using the new Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support (CPOS) Common Forms through May 2026.

Our Matchmaker tool in RePORTER can help you determine which institute or center may be interested in your idea, which NIH program official you may want to contact, and which study section you might suggest for application review.