Related Notices:
NIH has announced a new agency-wide funding decision framework, effective January 2026 Council round, to bring more clarity, consistency, and transparency to how Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) make funding decisions. This follows the August NIH Director’s statement and aims to ensure NIH continues to support the most meritorious science, address pressing health priorities, and sustain a strong biomedical workforce.
Core Tenets of the New Framework
All ICO funding policies will be guided by these principles:
- Align with the NIH’s mission
- Prioritize scientific merit; ICOs should consider peer review information in its entirety
- Integrate a breadth of topics and approaches relevant to the ICO’s priorities
- Consider investigator career stage and promote sustainability of the biomedical research workforce
- Promote broad distribution and geographic balance of funding, considering the total amount and type of NIH funding already available to each investigator
- Align with the availability of ICO funds
A centralized NIH Funding Decisions webpage will now serve as the single source for ICO funding policies and financial management plans, replacing individual ICO webpages.
Peer Review Still Central, but Paylines Will No Longer Be Used
Peer review scores and critiques remain essential to NIH decision making. However:
- ICOs will no longer use funding paylines as cutoffs in their pay plans.
- Decisions will be made based on full peer review information, NIH priorities, strategic plans, and budgets.
ICO Directors retain authority over funding decisions.
By moving away from paylines and enhancing transparency, NIH aims to:
- Reduce community confusion about how awards are made
- Better balance scientific opportunity, public health needs, and workforce sustainability
- Strengthen accountability for taxpayer-funded research
- Support a broader and more diverse research portfolio, spanning basic to translational science
- More information is available on the updated NIH Funding Decisions webpage.