NIH Funding Overview

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the principal health research agency of the Federal Government; it is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Extramural Research (OER) is the focal point for NIH medical and behavioral research grant policies, guidelines and funding opportunities. In collaboration with the ICs, the OER is responsible for the development and maintenance of the information systems for grants administration, including CRISP and the award data page.

The NIH awarding institutes use three major instruments to provide funds to organizations outside the NIH to accomplish program goals--grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. With grants and cooperative agreements, the applicant investigators are responsible for developing concepts, methods and approaches for their research projects. With contracts, the awarding institute is responsible for establishing plans, protocols, and detailed requirements.

The NIH awards research grants for terms ranging from one to five years and make up the largest category of funding provided by the NIH. The applicant investigators are responsible for developing concepts, methods and approaches for their research projects.

Cooperative Agreements are similar to grants in that they are awarded to assist and support research and related activities. However, they differ from grants in that the awarding institute or center has substantial involvement in carrying out the project's activities.

Research and development (R&D) contracts are awarded to academic institutions and other non-profit and commercial organizations to procure specific activities for scientific inquiries in particular areas of research and development needed by the NIH. Contract performance is monitored closely by the NIH staff to ensure accomplishment of the research goals.

You can search for NIH funding opportunities that are currently open at www.grants.gov. For more information on the grant types offered by the NIH, click here. Periodically, we will highlight some of these grants.