r/NIH

After over 3 years of not seeing a pay increase, the NIH has announced that IRTAs will be seeing an increase come July. CPI Inflation in that time has totaled 8.6% according to the USBLS. After reviewing the numbers, the increase is about 1%. Afterwards we get an email from the union gloating about how the increase was better than they expected. Is this supposed to be some sort of joke? A 1% increase after over 3 years of no change feels more like an insult.

I read in the New York Times article yesterday that staffing levels at some ICs are so bad that career scientists are having to step in to help process grants. I also had a meeting with a PO at NIMH earlier this week where I was told they are recommending that every A0 grant go in for a resubmission because even some < 5th percentile grants might not get out the door this fiscal year. Can any POs or GMSs give those of us in the extramural community a sense of just how bad things really are staffing wise and which ICs are hardest hit right now? My research group has 4 grants that in normal times would be funded this year that have just been lingering and I'm starting to panic that we really might not see any of them get funded.

I’m a research-track junior faculty at a top medical school. Two years ago, I took over an R01 from a retiring professor as MPI with my Department Chair. Although he is the Contact PI, I have led the project and the science entirely.

I developed a new research direction, published in a top-tier journal, and generated strong preliminary data in the past two years. We submitted a renewal last November with me as the Contact PI. My department promised me a promotion and an independent lab if the score was promising.

Unfortunately, the proposal was scored "Competitive-Not Discussed" last week. Despite the work's progress, my department said that a resubmission is a “waste of time” and is refusing to provide bridge funding or renew my appointment that will end in May. They are requiring "100% guaranteed funding" to keep my position.

Because my visa is tied to this institution, if I cannot secure this role or the funding, I will be forced to leave the U.S. and end my academic career. This is my first R01 application and my ESI status will end next April. I don’t want to give up at this stage.

I haven't received the summary statement yet, but I’m looking for urgent advice on the possibility of getting funded in resubmission after getting CND in A0. Because ESI can’t benefit from renewal, shall I re-package the proposal and submit as a new R01 in June to get better chance in review? If I moved to another institution between A0 and A1, how do reviewers typically evaluate the change in "Environment"? Will there be concerns about the continuity of the preliminary data generated at my current school? How should I navigate a department demanding "100% guaranteed funding" to bridge a gap year, especially when my visa status is at risk?

My A1 scored worse than the A0 (sigh) and I will need to revise and resubmit. However, in between the past A1 submission and the upcoming deadline, study sections were reorganized. The study section my last submission went to no longer exists (and I never thought it was a good fit anyway). I tried using the Assisted Referral Tool this morning then I realized it has not been updated to reflect the new study sections - it is recommending study sections that no longer exist. Does anyone know if, or when, ART will be updated?

"I don't want to cut NIH programs, Russ Vought doesn't want to cut NIH programs, but we have a $35 trillion debt," Kennedy said.

[NOTE: the US War with Iran has already cost American taxpayers more than NIH's entire annual budget]

NHLBI has not awarded any NEW R01 funding opportunities this year, furthermore the majority of the 40 some odd application in 2026 awarded, the majority are R35, or K awards (most might i add are in cells or humans, thought for another sub). Furthermore, they have not updated anything on the website, the last two council meetings were done and live, but the videos of the public session are not available for viewing, nothing has been release regarding budget guidelines, available budget to the institute, etc. Not even an updated version of the institutes funding priorities. The best i have gotten from them beyond a SBIR email today is repeated spamming of the NHLBI Catalyse program email. Does anyone have any idea what the heck is going on at NHLBI? why are other institutes like NIA, NIDDK shelling out new R01, but a larger IC like NHLBI is not.

I understand that we are in a new unknown era, and that things have been delayed, but those delays do not appear to be affecting other IC's so why is NHLBI feel so behind?

Hi everyone,

If there are any NIH GMS or others with recent experience, I’d really appreciate your guidance.

We’ll be submitting our first no-cost extension, and the project end date is 9/30/2026. I had a few questions:

For the first NCE, is it still grantee-approved and submitted directly in eRA Commons using the NCE button? Do we need to wait until the 90-day window (around July 1) for that option to appear, and then have the AOR submit it with no additional documents?

Or are people seeing cases where it needs to go through the prior approval process instead, with supporting documents (e.g., budget, progress update)? If so, can that be submitted earlier than the 90-day window (like May or June), or do you still need to wait?

Also, is it okay to reach out to the GMS ahead of time (May–June) to discuss the NCE? If you’ve done that, what kind of information or documents did they typically ask for?

Just trying to understand current practice, not older guidance. Really appreciate any recent insights—thanks!

Hi all, Has anyone received a bottom third review on the latest iteration of scoring? The NIH instructions say that it will be designated "Not competitive - not discussed", however I had one grant this cycle designated "competitive - not discussed" but the other still just says "not discussed" about a week later. I can't find anything here or elsewhere on the inter web relaying someone's actual experience here. Will it still get updated or does the bottom third just stay "not discussed". Anyone know?

I submitted a K99 this February cycle and noticed that a PO at my institute viewed my LinkedIn.

That caught my attention because early last year I made a public post criticizing the Trump administration’s “Gold Standard Science” messaging...

What I’m trying to figure out is: has anyone here heard of NIH POs or other NIH staff checking applicants’ social media or LinkedIn to screen for political speech, especially criticism of the administration? Not asking whether people look applicants up in general, but whether anyone has actual experience or knowledge of this being used in a punitive way.

I know LinkedIn views can mean nothing, and I do not want to jump to conclusions. But given the current climate, it does not feel entirely far-fetched either.

I’m curious whether others have seen this, worried about it, or been advised to keep quiet online during a grant cycle. My impression is that career POs are generally on our side and would not necessarily flag this kind of thing, but I’m wondering what others have experienced.

Is the NIH F99/K00 canceled this year? Does the dates on the forecast mean anything at all? https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/359702

Landed a postbacc interview! Any advice for how to prepare? I’ve done a few RA interviews before but never an NIH one.

Do I go into this with a PowerPoint of my own research experience, interest, potential questions, and read all of their papers before hand? Or is this more of a come with general knowledge and interest situation? I want to be prepared and not waste their time, but don’t want to be overwhelming them if the postbacc vibe isn’t to have it all planned out.

I’d also love any general advice on this as well, especially on how to stand out since I’ve yet to land a full time research position despite getting a few interviews. Thank you in advanced!