Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 - Lapse in Appropriations

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NOT-OD-26-012 NIH has issued updated instructions on how extramural operations are resuming following the federal government shutdown.

Application Deadlines:

  • All late submissions for due dates Oct 1 – Dec 5, 2025 will be accepted through Dec 8 at 5:00 PM (local time). No late-window extensions and no cover letters or permissions are required.
  • OSR will support proposal resubmission requests  for applications due to an error or troubleshooting challenge that prevented submission during the government shutdown.  Notify staff no later than December 1 if you are considering resubmission.  

Post-Submission Materials:

  • January 2026 Council: Post-submission materials as described in NOT-OD-19-083 allowed up to 1 week before the scheduled peer review meeting.
  • May 2026 Council: NIH will accept one page of preliminary data (per component, if multi-component), only if the NOFO allowed preliminary data. All post-submission materials must be submitted 30 days before the study section meeting.

RPPRs Submitted During Shutdown:

  • RPPRs due Oct 1–Nov 13 do not need to be resubmitted unless requested by the Institute/Center.

Peer Review Modifications:
NIH cancelled over 370 review meetings, affecting 24,000+ applications. To catch up:

  • Only 30–35% of applications will be discussed (down from ~50%).
  • Middle-third applications will be labeled “competitive but not discussed.”
  • Summary statements will be streamlined, using brief consensus statements and bullet points, plus critiques from assigned reviewers.
  • These changes apply to January and May 2026 Councils due to workload overlap.

ESI & K99 Updates:

  • ESI status will be automatically adjusted for applicants impacted by shutdown delays.
  • K99/R00 timeline guidance will be issued separately.

Loan Repayment Program:

Payments & Financial Operations:

  • PMS payments are operating normally; contact PMS if a drawdown was placed on hold during the shutdown.
  • NIH issued separate guidance on operations under a continuing resolution (NOT-OD-26-011).

 

See Notice for inquiries 

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