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Your application must be submitted in response to a specific notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). In addition, your proposed project must fit the mission and priorities of at least one NIH institute, center, or office (ICO) that participates in the opportunity you choose.
Before you commit to a particular funding opportunity, discuss your choice with your organization’s Office of Sponsored Programs. We also recommend that you get advice from the NIH program contacts listed in Section VII of the notice of funding opportunity.
Search for Funding Opportunities
As a critical step in your application planning process, you must identify a suitable NIH notice of funding opportunity. There are multiple ways to find opportunities:
- Explore summaries on the Learn About Funding Categories website. It includes links to search for opportunities in each category.
- Search the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts for published opportunity notices in your area of interest. You can also find all NIH grant opportunities at Grants.gov. (Grants.gov is the portal all federal grant-making agencies use to advertise funding opportunities.)
- To propose investigator-initiated research in a scientific area of your choosing, apply through one of our generic Parent Announcements for Unsolicited Applications.
- Check Find a Fit for Your Research: NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs). The NIH ICO Profiles page includes links to ICO funding websites with details on scientific programs, associated opportunities, and contacts.
Make sure the opportunity you choose allows the Type of Application (e.g., new or renewal) that you plan to submit. Note that there are special submission requirements for Resubmission Applications and Competing Revision Applications.
Consider Your Eligibility and Foreign Involvement
Eligibility Overview
When you find an interesting funding opportunity, check the notice's Section III Eligibility. Make sure you, your organization, and any organizational components involved in your project fit all the stated requirements. For example, an opportunity may require a certain type of applicant organization or specific characteristics of eligible investigators.
You can find additional eligibility requirements for different programs in the NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS).
If you are early in your research career:
- You may be eligible for Research Training and Career Development Awards or NIH's Early Stage Investigator (ESI) Policies.
- Consider how ready you are for an independent research grant. Discuss with your organization before you choose an opportunity.
Foreign Eligibility and Involvement
If you plan research with foreign involvement of the organization or investigator, be sure to check Section III. Eligibility Information when you assess any funding opportunity notice. Section III provides detailed requirements for the organization, individual project director/principal investigator (PD/PI), and eligibility of foreign organizations and components.
U.S. citizenship or permanent resident (Form I-551) status is:
- Not required for the PD/PI on research project grants.
- Required for the PD/PI on small business and some fellowship and training grants.
If there is comparable research being conducted in the U.S., NIH is not likely to fund the foreign award. Your likelihood of an NIH award increases if you are a highly qualified foreign investigator with unique expertise or resources not available in the U.S.
Get Advice from NIH Program Contacts
Once you identify an interesting scientific program or funding opportunity, we strongly encourage you to reach out to NIH staff for guidance. This is especially important if you plan to propose team science or a multiple-PI application.
NIH program officials working in your area of science can share grantsmanship advice, discuss whether your plans sound like a good fit for their program, or suggest related programs and opportunities. For details on NIH staff responsibilities and when you should reach out, go to Understand Staff Roles.
Use these methods to find program staff in your area of science:
- Section VII of every funding opportunity notice lists the NIH scientific/research program contacts.
- Check NIH Institute, Center, and Office (ICO) Profiles for links to ICO funding websites with contact information.
Find Your Application Due Date and Other Key Dates
Once you have a specific funding opportunity in mind, learn how to determine your application’s due date, peer review timing, and other key dates.
Go to Part 1 of your opportunity notice and check the Key Dates section. In most opportunities, the Key Dates section includes a table of application due dates. Here’s how to interpret the table:
- Choose the column of due dates that corresponds to your planned application type. For research that includes HIV or AIDS, use the AIDS column.
- Pick an application due date to target.
- In your target due date’s row, read across to find review dates and when your award could start.
A small number of funding opportunities, including some Parent Announcements, have not yet transitioned to include a due dates table. Instead, the Key Dates section lists individual dates or states that “Standard dates apply.” To interpret the Standard Due Dates page:
- Search for the Activity Code of your opportunity, such as R01 or R21.
- Choose the row that corresponds to your planned application type. For research that includes HIV or AIDS, use the AIDS and AIDS-Related Applications row.
- In that row, pick an application due date to target. Your intended due date must be on or after the funding opportunity’s open date and before its expiration date.
- Note whether your target due date is in the Cycle I, II, or III column. Use the same column of Review and Award Cycles to find review dates and when your award could start.
Familiarize yourself with our Submission Policies on events that can affect due dates, such as dates that fall on weekends or holidays, severe weather, or other disasters.
If you do not believe that you have enough lead time to create a strong application before the next due date, you should strongly consider delaying to the subsequent deadline. Peer reviewers are likely to notice when an application is premature because of inadequate development, presentation, or a poorly conceived budget.