NIH Extramural Nexus (News)

NIH continues to expand its use of challenges and prize competitions as part of its strategy to foster innovation and solve complex biomedical and public health problems. Through this approach, NIH engages a wider range of innovators, encourages creative approaches, rewards novel ideas and proven solutions, and accelerates progress toward improving human health.

Many research questions in biomedical science can be pursued by single investigators and their close collaborators. However, some scientific problems require investigators with complementary expertise to work as an integrated, interdependent team. The newly issued Collaborative Program Grant for Interdisciplinary Teams broad funding announcement brings several NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) together to support integrated team science. 

As part of NIH's broader effort to simplify the funding landscape, we’re pleased to highlight three new parent funding opportunities under the NIH Research Education Program (R25). Similar to updates to career development, loan repayment, and predoctoral/postdoctoral transition programs, these new research education programs provide a simpler framework for supporting research education activities while helping NIH develop the scientific workforce of the future.

In 2025, we announced an updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards (NOT-OD-25-104) and introduced the Collaborative International Research application and award structure using the PF5 activity code (NOT-OD-25-155) which was implemented earlier this year.  

Nearly two decades ago, we began allowing more than one researcher to be designated as program director/principal investigator on a single grant award. The multiple PD/PI (MPI) model can provide important benefits, including giving each investigator credit as an NIH-designated PD/PI, but it is not required to conduct collaborative or team science. Here, we revisit when multiple PD/PIs may make sense, as well as some of the responsibilities and potential drawbacks investigators should consider.

In June, we sought your feedback on a proposed approach to cap the number of Research Project Grants (RPG) a researcher can be principal investigator on simultaneously (NOT-OD-26-086). The proposal explored whether limits on simultaneous RPG support could contribute to a more balanced research portfolio. Here, we share some high-level outcomes from your thoughtful and helpful comments, which will inform our next steps.

We recognize it is stressful for researchers when waiting on NIH’s funding decision for submitted applications. After going through initial peer review, NIH Institute, Center, or Office (ICO) Advisory Councils review applications and make recommendations for the Institute or Center director’s consideration.

As part of NIH's ongoing efforts to provide transparency into funding trends, updated NIH data show the median age at which investigators receive their first R01-equivalent award remains around 42 years of age through fiscal year (FY) 2025. 

On July 28, 2026, the Administration released the U.S. Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research, pursuant to Executive Order 14292 on "Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research.” This new government-wide policy defines areas of life sciences research that pose the greatest risk to our nation's security, implements federal funding prohibitions, and establishes a framework for addressing risk and ensuring compliance. 

NIH supports an array of data and biospecimen repositories to help ensure valuable scientific resources are available to researchers. Many repositories link biospecimens to rich clinical, phenotypic, imaging, genomic, or longitudinal datasets, allowing researchers to validate findings across data types and apply modern analytical approaches. Here, we discuss the policies and principles governing data management and repositories. Then, we spotlight selected examples of NIH-supported repositories.