PHS Assignment Information

For many NIH funding opportunities, applicants have the option of including a PHS Assignment Request Form in their application to request assignment to a specific NIH Institute or Center (IC) and/or study section. This page provides information to help with the completion of those requests.

NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs)

Grant applicants can request assignment of their application to a specific NIH IC by including the IC acronym (e.g., NCI) in the Suggested Awarding Components field of the PHS Assignment Request Form. Before suggesting an IC, verify it is included in the Participating Components section of the funding opportunitiy. All requests are considered, but are not always honored.

See Find a Fit for Your Research: NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices for information on identifying relevant ICs and their mission areas and funding priorities. When an application is received by NIH and an IC assignment is made, the two-character Institute/Center Code is included in the application/grant number (e.g., CA in 1R01CA123456-01). Assignment details are available in eRA Commons.

Acronym Institute/Center Code NIH Institute/Center
CC CL Clinical Center
DCEG CP Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics - NCI
FIC TW Fogarty International Center
NCATS TR National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
NCCIH AT National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (formerly NCCAM)
NCI CA National Cancer Institute
NCI BC BC Division of Basic Sciences - NCI
NCI SC SC Division of Clinical Sciences - NCI
NEI EY National Eye Institute
NHGRI HG National Human Genome Research Institute
NHLBI HL National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NIA AG National Institute on Aging
NIAAA AA National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
NIAID AI National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIAMS AR National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
NIBIB EB National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
NICHD HD Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
NIDA DA National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIDCD DC National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
NIDCR DE National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
NIDDK DK National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
NIEHS ES National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIGMS GM National Institute of General Medical Sciences
NIMH MH National Institute of Mental Health
NIMHD MD National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
NINDS NS National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke
NINR NR National Institute of Nursing Research
NLM LM National Library of Medicine
OD OD Office of the Director, NIH
ODNCI CO Office of the Director, NCI
ODSS DB Office of Data Science Strategy

CDC Centers, Institutes and Offices (CIOs)

Acronym Institute/Center Code CDC Centers, Institutes and Offices
ATSDR TS Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
GHC JG (formerly GH) Global Health Center (formerly Center for Global Health)
NCBDDD DD National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities
NCCDPHP DP National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
NCEH EH National Center for Environmental Health
NCEZID CK National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
NCHHSTP PS National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
NCIPC CE National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
NCIRD IP National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
NIOSH OH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Other Department of Health and Human Services Funding Components

With the exception of SBIR/STTR programs, applications assigned to the other Health and Human Services operating divisions will be reviewed by those operating divisions. See Section VII (Agency Contacts) section of the Funding Opportunity for additional information about these reviews.

Acronym Institute/Center Code NIH Agency Partner
AHRQ HS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
BLRD BX Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development
CBER-APP BI Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Allergenic Products and Parasitology
CBER-CB BL Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Cytokine Biology
CBER-CGT BM Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Cellular and Gene Therapies
CBER-CPT BU Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology
CBER-H BQ Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Hematology
CBER-HP BN Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Hematologic Products
CBER-IID BT Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Immunology and Infectious Diseases
CBER-MA BO Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Monoclonal Antibodies
CBER-PQC BR Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Product Quality Control
CBER-TTD BP Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Transfusion Transmitted Diseases
CBER-VP BJ Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Bacterial Products
CBER-VP BK Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - Viral Products
CMHS SM Center for Mental Health Services
CSAP SP Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
CSAT TI Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
CSP CU Cooperative Studies Program
CSRD CX Clinical Science Research & Development
DBS BS Division of Biologics Standards
FDA FD Food and Drug Administration
HSRD HX Health Services Research & Development
ORD RD Office of Research & Development
RRD RX Rehabilitation Research & Development
SAMHSA OA Office of the Administration
SAMHSA SU Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

IC vs CSR Review

Although the majority of NIH reviews are conducted by the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), some applications are reviewed in-house at one of the NIH Institutes or Centers (ICs). In those cases, Section V.2 of the funding opportunity will indicate the IC convening the review. If no IC is named under “Review and Selection Process,” CSR will be reviewing your application. If your application is getting reviewed at an IC, the study section is pre-determined and you do not need to request a study section.

Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Study Sections and Special Emphasis Panels

For applications reviewed by CSR, grant applicants can request assignment of their application to a specific study section using the Suggested Study Sections field of the PHS Assignment Request Form. When making a request, include the study section code without hyphens, parentheses, or spaces (e.g., AIRT for the Anti-Infective Resistance and Targets study section or B10 for the Small Business: Biobehavioral Processes – BP (10) study section). All requests are considered, but are not always honored.

There are several ways to identify a potential study section.

This page last updated on: February 27, 2025
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