Key Dates

Related Announcements

• January 26, 2026.  Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00).  See Notice NOT-OD-26-021

Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

The purpose of this notice is to correct NOT-OD-26-021, Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00).  The ‘Purpose’ section has been modified to clarify which applicants are eligible for the short-term K99 eligibility extension.  These changes are effective immediately. 

Currently reads:

Purpose

By way of this Notice, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a short-term automatic eligibility extension for prospective applicants to the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) program. This extension is being granted in response to disruptions caused by the recent lapse in federal appropriations and is intended to lessen the impact of these disruptions on application submission, peer review, and award processing.

This extension is limited to individuals whose eligibility period under the Parent K99/R00 would have ended between September 2025 – November 2025.

Who Is Impacted

This Notice provides K99/R00 eligibility extensions for the following prospective applicants:

• Individuals whose final due date for new/resubmission applications (based on a 48-month eligibility window) was September-November 2025. The last submission with K99/R00 eligibility will be February/March 2026.
• Individuals whose final due date for new/resubmission applications (based on a 48-month eligibility window) was January-March 2026. The last submission with K99/R00 eligibility will be June/July 2026.

Modified to read:

Purpose

By way of this Notice, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a short-term automatic eligibility extension for prospective applicants to the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) program. This extension is being granted in response to disruptions caused by the recent lapse in federal appropriations and is intended to lessen the impact of these disruptions on application submission, peer review, and award processing.

Who Is Impacted

This Notice provides K99/R00 eligibility extensions for the following prospective applicants:

• Individuals whose final due date for new/resubmission applications (based on a 48-month eligibility window) was September-November 2025. The last submission with K99/R00 eligibility will be February/March 2026.
• Individuals whose final due date for new/resubmission applications (based on a 48-month eligibility window) was January-March 2026. The last submission with K99/R00 eligibility will be June/July 2026. 

  All other aspects of the notice remain unchanged.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Prospective applicants should direct inquiries related to their specific circumstances to the NIH Institute or Center to which their application will be submitted.

General inquiries about this policy should be directed to:

Division of Biomedical Research Workforce
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Email: [email protected]