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Use this page to understand current and historical NINDS funding strategies based on the current or most recent fiscal year (FY), which runs from October 1 to September 30. It is important to understand which FY your application is in to understand which funding strategies and policies apply.
- FY 2026: Applications going to September/October 2025, January 2026, and May 2026 Councils are in FY26. You can find what council your application is assigned to in your eRA Commons Account.
- FY 2025: Applications that went to September/October 2024, January 2025, and May 2025 Councils are in FY25. See previous Paylines and Policies for more historical information.
Fiscal Year 2026 Funding Strategy - Updated November 13, 2025
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) is operating through January 30, 2026 under a continuing resolution signed by President Trump on November 12, 2025.
Consistent with recommendations from the NIH Office of the Director, NINDS no longer intends to use a strict payline funding strategy based on the percentile score of applications reviewed. Funding decisions will continue to be based on scientific merit but may also include portfolio balance, investigators’ effort and other support, and rigor. Accordingly, NINDS will not publish a percentile to define payline. NINDS will continue to rely heavily on the assessment by peer review study sections and recommendations of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council in making our funding decisions. NINDS’ research priorities will remain transparent and be featured in NIH Highlighted Topics, NANDS Council presentations, NOFOs, our strategic plan(pdf, 728 KB), and on our webpages.
Administrative Cuts
In order to manage the NINDS budget, NINDS applies administrative budget reductions or cuts following the table below in most cases.
Competing Funding Policies and Award Administrative Reductions
- Salaries, stipends, and Training Funds are limited to the levels published by the NIH. We will reduce budgets when these caps are exceeded.
- No inflationary increases are provided in calculating future year commitments. For more details about this and related funding policies, see our Funding Policies page.
- Specific administrative reductions will be made by mechanism based on the table below (NOTE - the administrative cuts below do not apply to awards funded with specific appropriations for ALS, AIDS, BRAIN, Common Fund, and HEAL):
Mechanism Administrative Cut R01 (Modular Budget) 0% R01 (Non-Modular Budget) 20.5% R03 0% R13 or U13 0% R15 0% R16 0% R21 0% R25/UE5 0% R34 0% F, T, and K mechanisms 0% SBIR/STTR mechanisms 0% All other mechanisms not listed here* 3% *this includes mechanisms that have not historically received administrative reductions
Noncompeting Award Funding Policies
- Non-competing awards will be made at 90% of the committed level during the continuing resolution. NINDS intends to restore these administrative cuts when possible.
- Non-competing awards made under the BRAIN Initiative will be made at 90% with the exception of R34s and SBIR/STTR, which will be funded at 100%.
Previous Paylines and Policies
Fiscal Year 2025
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) is operating through September 30, 2025 under Continuing Resolution PL 119-4, which was signed by President Trump on March 15, 2025.
Competing Funding Policies and Award Administrative Reductions
- Salaries, stipends, and Training Funds are limited to the levels published by the NIH. We will reduce budgets when these caps are exceeded. For additional information, see our salary cap, stipends, and training funds page.
- No inflationary increases are provided in calculating future year commitments. For more details about this and related funding policies, see our Funding Policies page.
- Specific administrative reductions will be made by mechanism based on the table below (NOTE - the administrative cuts below do not apply to awards funded with specific appropriations for ALS, AD/ADRD, AIDS, BRAIN, Common Fund, and HEAL):
Mechanism Administrative Cut R01 (Modular Budget) 0% R01 (Non-Modular Budget) 20.5% R03 0% R13 or U13 0% R15 0% R16 0% R21 0% R25/UE5 0% R34 0% F, T, and K mechanisms 0% SBIR/STTR mechanisms 0% All other mechanisms not listed here* 3% - *this includes mechanisms that have not historically received administrative reductions
Noncompeting Award Funding Policies
- When an application is funded, NIH agrees to provide funds over several years (for example, the typical NINDS R01 award is funded for five years). Therefore, investigators request payment for the next budget period (usually, every year), but these requests do not compete with other applications.
- Non-competing awards made under the BRAIN Initiative will be made at 90% with the exception of R34s and SBIR/STTR, which will be funded at 100%.
- All other non-competing awards initially made at 90% of the committed level during a Continuing Resolution will be revised to 100%.
Payline Information
Percentiled Applications
This table applies to applications receiving a percentiled score. The standard payline will be applicable for most applications, but note important exceptions for Early Stage Investigators (ESI), applications subject to Special Council Review (SCR*). While a score within the paylines shown in the table suggests a high likelihood of funding, it is not a guarantee; there are rare circumstances where an application within the payline is not funded.
| Funding Type | <$500,000 in direct costs^ | ≥$500,000 in direct costs^ and submitted to Parent NOFO* |
|---|---|---|
| R01 | 8% | 4% |
| R03, R15, R21 | 8% | N/A |
| Early Stage Investigator (ESI) R01 | 16% | 4% |
| Applications subject to SCR** | 4% | 4% |
^ Direct cost in any year excluding consortium F&A
* See NOT-NS-24-079 and note these applications require pre-submission approval
** Applicants with greater than $1.5 million in total costs of active NIH research project grant awards per year at the time of the Council meeting are subject to Special Council Review (SCR). Note that because AD/ADRD is responsive to a Congressional mandate, AD/ADRD applications are exempt from the NINDS SCR policy.
For FY25, the AD/ADRD payline and funding strategy follows the standard NINDS paylines and funding strategy.
Non-Percentiled Applications
The tables below apply to applications receiving only a priority score or applications without a standard payline. There are no paylines for these applications; rather, applications are individually considered and assessed for portfolio balance based on funds available. The table below is intended to give investigators an indication of their likelihood of funding based on historic averages. It is not intended to suggest that funding at a particular score is guaranteed.
Fellowships, Training, Career Development, Research Education - Historical
| Funding Type | Most applications funded (>80%) | Some applications funded (50-70%) | Few applications funded (< 10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| F30 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 35 | > 35 |
| F31 | ≤ 20 | 21 - 35 | > 35 |
| F32 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 37 | > 37 |
| F99 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 40 | > 40 |
| K01 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 45 | > 45 |
| K08 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 40 | > 40 |
| K23 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 40 | > 40 |
| K99 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 37 | > 37 |
| R25 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 40 | > 40 |
| T32 | ≤ 30 | 31 - 35 | > 35 |
Other Research Grants
| Funding Type | Most applications funded (>80%) | Some applications funded (50-70%) | Few applications funded (< 10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| P01 | ≤ 30 | > 30 | |
| P50 | ≤ 25 | 26 - 38 | > 38 |
| R34 | ≤ 32 | 33 - 40 | > 40 |
| R35 | ≤ 25 | 26 - 30 | > 30 |
| R61/R33 | ≤ 25 | 26 - 32 | > 32 |
| U01 | ≤ 28 | 29 - 35 | > 35 |
| U19 | ≤ 35 | 36 - 40 | > 40 |
| U54 | ≤ 30 | 30 - 38 | > 38 |
| UG3/UH3 | ≤ 32 | 33 - 37 | > 37 |
SBIR/STTR
See the NINDS Small Business Program Funding Plan for more information.
Fiscal Year 2024
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including National Institutes of Health (NIH), operates under the FY2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 118-47) signed by President Biden on March 23, 2024.
Competing Funding Policies and Award Administrative Reductions
- Salaries, stipends, and Training Funds are limited to the levels published by the NIH. We will reduce budgets when these caps are exceeded. For additional information, see our salary cap, stipends, and training funds page.
- No inflationary increases are provided in calculating future year commitments. For more details about this and related funding policies, see our Funding Policies page.
- Specific administrative reductions will be made by mechanism based on the table below (NOTE - the administrative cuts below do not apply to awards funded with specific appropriations for ALS, AD/ADRD, AIDS, BRAIN, Common Fund, and HEAL):
| Mechanism | Administrative Cut |
|---|---|
| R01 (Modular Budget) | 0% |
| R01 (Non-Modular Budget) | 20.5% |
| R03, R15, R21 | 0% |
| R25/UE5 | 0% |
| R13 or U13 | 0% |
| F, T, and K mechanisms | 0% |
| All other mechanisms not listed here* | 3% |
Noncompeting Award Funding Policies
- When an application is funded, NIH agrees to provide funds over several years (for example, the typical NINDS R01 award is funded for five years). Therefore, investigators request payment for the next budget period (usually, every year), but these requests do not compete with other applications.
- Non-competing awards made under the BRAIN Initiative will be made at 90% of the committed level.
- All other non-competing awards will be made at 97% of the committed level with the following exceptions which will be funded at 100%
- F, T, and K mechanisms
- R03, R21
- R13 and U13
- R16
- R25
- SBIR/STTR mechanisms
Percentiled Applications
This table applies to applications receiving a percentiled score. The standard payline will be applicable for most applications, but note important exceptions for Early Stage Investigators (ESI), applications subject to Special Council Review (SCR*), and applications on Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) (see further below). While a score within the paylines shown in the table suggests a high likelihood of funding, it is not a guarantee; there are rare circumstances where an application within the payline is not funded.
| Funding Type | <$500,000 in direct costs^ | ≥$500,000 in direct costs^ and submitted to Parent NOFO* |
|---|---|---|
| R01 | 11% | 5% |
| R03, R15, R21 | 11% | N/A |
| Early Stage Investigator (ESI) R01 | 22% | 5% |
| Applications subject to SCR** | 5% | 5% |
^ Direct cost in any year excluding consortium F&A
* See NOT-NS-24-079 and note these applications require pre-submission approval
** Applicants with greater than $1.5 million in total costs of active NIH research project grant awards per year at the time of the Council meeting are subject to Special Council Review (SCR). Note that because AD/ADRD is responsive to a Congressional mandate, AD/ADRD applications are exempt from the NINDS SCR policy.
Fiscal Year 2024 AD/ADRD Paylines and Funding Principles
Applications with a Percentile Score
For percentiled AD/ADRD applications submitted to the Parent R01, R03, and R15 funding opportunities, NINDS follows the same AD/ADRD paylines as NIA.
| Parent Announcement Applications | AD/ADRD Payline <$5M | AD/ADRD Payline ≥$5M |
|---|---|---|
| All (except below) | 17% | 14% |
| New Investigator R01 | 20% | 17% |
| Early Stage Investigator R01 | 25% | 23% |
For percentiled AD/ADRD applications not submitted to a parent announcement, contact Kiara Bates for further guidance.
Non-percentiled AD/ADRD applications
For AD/ADRD applications responding to other announcements, including specific NINDS ADRD funding opportunities, NINDS sets a payline for each based on impact score as well as reviewer comments and funds available. NINDS and NIA work together to ensure similar paylines at the two institutes for AD/ADRD. For questions about NINDS AD/ADRD pay lines and programs contact Kiara Bates.
Fiscal Year 2023
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including NIH, is operating under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328), signed by President Biden on December 29, 2022. This law continues government operations through September 30, 2023.
Competing Award Administrative Reductions and Funding Policies
- Non-Modular R01s will receive a 17.5% administrative cut; modular R01s and most other funding mechanisms are generally awarded with no administrative reduction to the IRG-approved funding level.
- Salaries, stipends, and Training Funds are limited to the levels published by the NIH. We will reduce budgets when these caps are exceeded. For additional information, see our salary cap, stipends, and training funds page.
- No inflationary increases are provided in calculating future year commitments. For more details about this and related funding policies, see our Funding Policies page.
Noncompeting Award Funding Policies
- When an application is funded, NIH agrees to provide funds over several years (for example, the typical NINDS R01 award is funded for five years). Therefore, investigators request payment for the next budget period (usually, every year), but these requests do not compete with other applications. NINDS will pay FY23 non-competing continuation awards at their full committed level as shown in the Notice of Award and will restore any cuts made in non-competing awards paid earlier in this fiscal year.
Percentiled Applications
This table applies to applications receiving a percentiled score. The standard payline will be applicable for most applications, but note important exceptions for Early Stage Investigators (ESI), and applications subject to Special Council Review (SCR*), and applications on Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) (see further below). While a score within the paylines shown in the table suggests a high likelihood of funding, it is not a guarantee; there are rare circumstances where an application within the payline is not funded.
| Parent Announcement Applications | Standard | Early Stage Investigator (ESI) | Applications subject to SCR* |
|---|---|---|---|
| R03 | 14% | N/A | 7% |
| R15 | 14% | N/A | 7% |
| R21 | 14% | N/A | 7% |
| R01 | 14% | 25% | 7% |
*Applicants with greater than $2 million in total costs of NIH funding (including the pending application) per year at the time of the Council meeting are subject to Special Council Review (SCR). Note that because AD/ADRD is responsive to a Congressional mandate, AD/ADRD applications are exempt from the NINDS SCR policy.
Fiscal Year 2023 AD/ADRD Paylines and Funding Principles
Applications with a Percentile Score
For percentiled AD/ADRD applications submitted to the Parent R01, R03, and R15 funding opportunities, NINDS follows the same AD/ADRD paylines as NIA.
| Parent Announcement Applications | Standard | New Investigator | Early Stage Investigator (ESI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| R03 | 25% | N/A | N/A |
| R15 | 25% | N/A | N/A |
| R21 | 25% | N/A | N/A |
| R01 | 25% | 28% | 30% |
For percentiled AD/ADRD applications not submitted to a parent announcement, contact Kiara Bates for further guidance.
Non-percentiled AD/ADRD applications
For AD/ADRD applications responding to other announcements, including specific NINDS ADRD funding opportunities, NINDS sets a payline for each based on impact score as well as reviewer comments and funds available. NINDS and NIA work together to ensure similar paylines at the two institutes for AD/ADRD. For questions about NINDS AD/ADRD pay lines and programs contact Kiara Bates.
Note that, because AD/ADRD research is responsive to a Congressional mandate, AD/ADRD applications are exempt from the NINDS SCR policy.