An official website of the United States government
This page serves as a central location where you can learn more about the status of changes impacting NIH grants process and plans for implementing new initiatives and policies.
In Progress & Upcoming Changes
Updates to Finding NIH Funding Opportunities and Information
We have several efforts underway that impact how potential applicants will learn about scientific topics of specific interest to NIH and find grant and cooperative agreement funding opportunities in FY2026. These efforts are part of a wider strategy across NIH to simplify and streamline the application and funding process.
Recent Changes
For a complete list of policy updates see Notices of NIH Policy Changes.
New Application Structure for NIH-Funded International Collaborations
In 2025, we updated our policy on foreign subawards and announced that NIH would no longer issue awards that included a foreign subaward nested under a parent grant (NOT-OD-25-104). In place of foreign subawards, we introduced the Collaborative International Research application and award structure using the PF5 activity code (NOT-OD-25-155). The multi-project PF5 structure accommodates separate components for international projects which, if selected for funding, become individual, linked direct foreign awards under the RF2 activity code. This establishes direct legal relationships between NIH and each PF5 and RF2 recipient, enables appropriate tracking of funds to international organizations, and allows for collaborative reporting of scientific progress and programmatic oversight.