The Digester

Under new rules since January 2025 the NIH has cut the number of agency-directed funding calls and shifted toward investigator-initiated grants, provoking delays and concern that large coordinated programs and neglected research areas will be underfunded.

Since President Trump returned in January 2025 the NIH has sharply reduced solicited requests for applications and prioritized unsolicited investigator-initiated proposals.
The agency issued 73 funding calls in 2025, roughly 10% of the 2016–2024 annual average of about 780 calls, and has posted only 11 calls so far in 2026.
Requests for applications accounted for about 18% of new research and training funding in 2025, down from a roughly 25% average over the previous decade.
New approval layers involving NIH leadership, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House budget office have slowed and in some cases stalled posting of specialized funding calls.
Researchers warn the shift could make it harder to launch large coordinated projects and could widen knowledge gaps in understudied fields such as rare and neglected diseases.

NIH pivots from solicited calls to investigator-led grants, cutting funding notices

Articles