National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Funding Policies and Considerations

Visit NIH Fiscal Policies for NIH-wide information on appropriations and other budgetary information (salary limits, stipends, tuition/fees) and Funding Decisions to learn about NIH's consistent and unified approach for making funding decisions. The NINDS-specific information on this page builds on that general information.

 
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Find additional grants and funding information (mission, interest areas, opportunities, and more) on the NIH Grants & Funding NINDS Profile page.

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Fiscal Year 2026

Overall Funding Strategy

  • NINDS is following the NIH Unified Funding Strategy. Funding decisions consider scientific merit assessed from peer review, scientific rigor, alignment with NIH and NINDS mission, program balance, career stage, investigator’s effort, geographic balance, and stewardship of available funds
  • In addition, NINDS will continue to rely on recommendations from the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council and follow priorities that will remain transparent in NIH Highlighted Topics, NANDS Council presentations, NOFOs, and the NINDS Strategic Plan. 

Specific Funding Policies

NINDS is committed to preserving the overall sustainability of the neuroscience research enterprise and the readiness of the neuroscience workforce. The following policies will allow us to support a broad research grant portfolio of high scientific rigor and technical merit, and to continue to provide special funding consideration to trainees and scientists launching their careers (e.g., Early Stage Investigators). 

  • NINDS is unlikely to prioritize investigator-initiated research project grant applications over $500,000 in direct costs per year unless the application meets at least two of these criteria:
    • The project directly aligns with current legislative or executive priorities
    • The project exhibits exceptional scientific merit
    • The project demonstrates exceptional programmatic merit based on program staff assessment of research gaps, impact, or portfolio needs 
  • Early Stage Investigators NINDS will continue to fund additional R01 applications from Early Stage Investigators with the aim of supporting early career scientists at a success rate equivalent to that of established investigators submitting new R01 applications.
  • Bridge Awards For meritorious R01 applications from investigators that fall just outside of funding limits, NINDS will continue to convert some R01 awards to Short-Term Project (R56) awards based on availability of funds.

Administrative Cuts

In order to manage the overall NINDS budget, NINDS applies administrative budget reductions or 'cuts' following the guidelines below:

  • Competing Funding Policies and Award Restrictions
    • Administrative reductions will be made by mechanism and program.
      • R01s (non-modular budget) receive 20.5% administrative reduction.
      • No reductions are currently applied to:       
        • R01 (modular budget), R03, R13/U13, R15, R16, R21, R25/UE5, R34, F30, F31, F32, T32, K22, K43, K02, K08, K23, and SBIR/STTR awards
        • Act for ALS, AIDS, BRAIN Initiative, Common Fund, and HEAL Initiative program awards.
      • All other mechanisms not listed above receive 3% administrative reduction.
  • Non-competing Award Funding Policies
    • NINDS non-competing awards receive no administrative reduction. 
    • Non-competing awards made under the BRAIN Initiative will be made at 90% 
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