Category: NIH Guidance

Effective June 1, 2026, per NOT-OD-26-062, all prime recipients are required to obtain NIH prior approval when adding a new domestic subaward to a project post-award, when the arrangement was not originally a part of the peer-reviewed and approved application. The new prior approval requirement is intended to ensure that NIH is aware of all subaward activities for each NIH project. Requests must be submitted in the eRA Commons Prior Approval Module using the “Other Request” type.

See below for a 1-page CAIRIBU Interactions Core document that spells out the requirements and provides links to resources. These include a site for creating your own DMS plan and various dkNET resources (e.g.,  archived webinars and recordings about creating and sustaining a FAIR biomedical data ecosystem and FAIR data principles  short tutorial video for preparing …

The NIH Data Book (NDB) provides basic summary statistics on extramural grants and contract awards, grant applications, the organizations that NIH supports, the trainees and fellows supported through NIH programs, and the national biomedical workforce.

NIH has implemented a simplified framework for the peer review of the majority of competing research project grant applications, beginning with submissions with due dates of January 25, 2025. Under the simplified review framework, the five regulatory criteria (Significance, Investigators, Innovation, Approach, Environment) are reorganized into 3 factors: (1) Importance of the Research (Significance, Innovation), (2) Rigor and Feasibility (Approach), and (3) Expertise and Resources.

The NIH issued a new policy (NOT-OD-25-132) that will impact proposal submissions beginning September 25, 2025. Key points: (1) Application Cap: Each PI (or MPI team) will be limited to six applications per calendar year across all NIH deadlines, (2) AI Use: NIH emphasizes that applications must reflect original scientific thought. Use of generative AI tools is permitted for drafting support, but final content must be authored by the PI/team.