"66% fewer NIH grant awards so far this fiscal year.
54% drop in award value.
14 Notices of Funding Opportunity published in all of 2026, down from 756 in 2024.
Association of American Universities (AAU) recently released these data, putting hard numbers behind what every research university in the country is already feeling.
On March 17, NIH Director Bhattacharya testified before the House Appropriations Committee and committed to spending every dollar of the agency's $47.2 billion FY26 budget before September 30. That same day, OMB finally released the apportionment hold that had been blocking NIH from spending its congressionally approved funds.
NIH has the budget, the congressional support, and now the OMB clearance to do something genuinely consequential. Broad distribution, not just total dollars spent, is what rebuilds the pipeline. In FY25, only 17% of applicants received an award, and early-stage investigators saw their success rate fall from 29.8% to 18.5%. The next generation of biomedical scientists is ready to thrive. Distributing this funding widely and quickly is how we signal that American science is open for business.
Congress appropriated these funds to support broad-based, merit-reviewed science. We need NIH to deliver on both the quantity and the quality of that distribution, and to do it with enough of the fiscal year remaining to matter.
Each grant represents a breakthrough, cure, or medical advance with potential to save and improve lives.
I am sure that my colleagues who lead research enterprises across the country are watching just as closely."
#NIH #FederalResearchFunding #ResearchPolicy #HigherEd #AcademicResearch
Posted on LInkedin by
Vice Chancellor for Research & W. R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor, Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill Championing the federal-university research compact
