NIH has announced temporary changes to its peer review process to address recent disruptions. These modifications aim to maintain fairness and continuity in proposal evaluations.<\/p>\n
Rescheduling October Application Due Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n All grant applications submitted late for due dates between October 1, 2025, and December 5, 2025, will be accepted through 5:00 PM local time December 8, 2025. There is no additional 2-week late window. This notice applies to all relevant Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including those that indicate no late applications will be accepted. Institutions need not request advance permission to submit late due to the government shutdown and a cover letter providing a justification is not required.<\/p>\n Post-submission Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n For applications for January 2026 Council, NIH will accept post-submission materials, as described in\u00a0NOT-OD-19-083<\/a>, up to one week before the scheduled peer review meeting.<\/p>\n For all applications for May 2026 Council, NIH will accept a one-page update with preliminary data as post-submission materials for applications submitted under all activity codes, ONLY if the NOFO used for submission allowed preliminary data in the application. One page of preliminary data will be accepted for single component applications or for each component of a multi-component application. The deadline for submitting all post-submission materials, including preliminary data, will be 30 days before the study section meeting.\u00a0All other materials listed in\u00a0NOT-OD-19-083<\/a>\u00a0as acceptable post-submission materials will continue to be accepted if submitted 30 days before the study section meeting. Instructions for submission are included in\u00a0NOT-OD-19-083<\/a>.<\/p>\n Research Performance Progress Report Submitted to NIH During the Shutdown<\/strong><\/p>\n Recipients that submitted their Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) that were due between October 1 and November 13 should not have to resubmit their reports, unless the institution receives a request from the funding Institute, Center, or Office. \u00a0If you had submission challenges during the shutdown, contact staff at the appropriate ICO.<\/p>\n Rescheduling Peer Review Meetings<\/strong> The delay in reviewing applications submitted for the January council creates a situation where peer review-related work for the January council will overlap with that of the May 2026 council. For that reason, the modifications in review practices outlined above will be in place through the May 2026 Advisory Council.<\/p>\n Early Stage Investigator Eligibility<\/strong> K99\/R00 Eligibility<\/strong> Loan Repayment Program<\/strong><\/p>\n The Extramural LRP Application Submission Deadline is now December 4, 2025. Refer to:\u00a0NOT-OD-26-010<\/a>\u00a0for more details.<\/p>\n Payment Management System<\/strong> Financial Operations under a Continuing Resolution<\/strong>
\nThe shutdown required that NIH cancel over 370 peer review meetings, impacting the review of over 24,000 applications. The volume of missed meetings complicates NIH efforts to catch up. In order for these applications to be considered in the January council as originally planned, the following modifications in peer review practices will be made:<\/p>\n\n
\nNIH will automatically adjust the Early Stage Investigator (ESI) status for applicants whose status has changed during the period of delay caused by the shutdown.<\/p>\n
\nInformation updating timelines for the K99\/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award program will be issued separately.<\/p>\n
\nPayments through the Payment Management System (PMS) should be processing as usual. If recipients received a communication during the shutdown that a drawdown request was on hold, please contact PMS directly to determine the status of that pending request.<\/p>\n
\nNIH has published a Notice on our financial operations under a continuing resolution within the next few business days. Refer to:\u00a0NOT-OD-26-011<\/a>.<\/p>\n