NIH Moves Swiftly to Restore Extramural Activities Following Shutdown

By: Yvette Seger
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
A key priority for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) following the 43-day government shutdown was the rapid restoration of extramural grant making processes. Interim Guidance issued on November 14 communicated the high-level plan for restoring operations that was followed by an update issued on November 24. This included rescheduling over 370 peer review meetings to review the over 24,000 anticipated grant applications for the October and November deadlines and adjusting timelines for Advisory Council meetings. At the time of this article, the only update remaining is that for revised timelines for K99/R00 eligibility.

In addition to key guidance regarding grant submission and review, NIH has issued several Notices to reflect policy updates that went into effect in the new fiscal year. These include updated terms and conditions of award for grant termination, which will be applicable to all new, renewal, supplement, or continuation awards issued on or after October 1, 2025 and the guidelines for the agency’s implementation of Common Forms for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support for all applications submitted on or after January 25, 2026. A December 2 Notice clarified expectations and timeline for implementing research security training requirements in compliance with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, with full compliance required for applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2026.

Finally, as part of a broader effort to reduce administrative burden, a Notice issued on December 3 introduced two new changes: removal of the requirement for Letters of Intent as part of the application process and the requirement for Institute or Center pre-approval for applications requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs in any one budget period. Both of these updates reflect the centralization of peer review activities within the Center for Scientific Review.