NIH grants

The National Institutes of Health awards grants to more than 300,000 researchers for research into a variety of conditions, through its 24 grant-awarding institutes and centers. The NIH supports $31 billion in research annually at more than 2,500 institutions. Each institute of the NIH has separate appropriations from Congress annually.

Percentages of grant applications funded vary by institute, from 8% (National Institute of Nursing Research) to 29.6% (National Institute of General Medical Sciences), with an overall average of 18%. Funding percentages have dropped from over 30% in the early 2000s, mainly due to an increase in applications, rather than a decrease in funds available. In 1998, 24,100 applications were received, and 7,500 were funded with a total of $1.9 billion. By 2005, the number of applications had grown to 43,000, of which 9,600 were funded with a total of $3.4 billion. In 2015, 52,000 applications were submitted and 9,500 were funded with $4.3 billion. Grants are assessed based on their significance, innovation, and approach.

The major grant awards of the NIH are divided into Research Grants (R series), Career Development Awards (K series), Research Training and Fellowships (T & F series), Program Project/Center Grants (P series), and miscellaneous programs.

There are various requirements for grants. Some grants are specified for "new investigators". A new investigator is someone who has not received a prior NIH grant other than a career award or specific small grants (R15, R21, R56, etc). An "early stage investigator" is someone who has received their PhD or MD or has finished residency within the past 10 years.

The most common research grant mechanism is the R01. It is the oldest funding mechanism of the NIH. R01s are generally awarded for 3-5 years, and are used to support a "discrete, specified, circumscribed research project". R01s can be renewed by competitive application. The application cycle has 3 sets of application dates each year. Standard due dates for new grant applications are February, June, and October 5th, and for renewal, resubmission, and revision grant applications are March, July, and November 5th. AIDs-related grants have separate due dates. All grant-awarding institutes and centers award R01s. Applications for R01s are complex and are typically over 100 pages by submission.

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