Updates from the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
- The Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA) has received confirmation from NIH that the agency’s existing leniency regarding the adoption of the updated Commons Forms also applies to the requirement for senior/key personnel and other significant contributors to link their ORCID iD with their eRA Commons accounts. While NIH continues to strongly encourage the use of the Common Forms and the completion of ORCID–eRA Commons account linkage, the agency has affirmed that current forms will continue to be accepted through May 2026.
- At the February 24, 2026 Council on Government Relations (COGR) meeting NIH mentioned several soon to be finalized initiatives designed to reduce administrative burden and complexity.
- In the coming months, NIH intends to end the modular budget ‘pilot’, originally started in 1994, however they plan on leveraging elements of the pilot that worked well including no longer requiring detailed budget information in applications for non-complex grants (including most Research Grant applications). Budget Justifications must be submitted as part of the application, and full budgets may be requested at Just-in-Time (JIT). More information on the details of the changes and the effective dates should be forthcoming from NIH in the next month.
- NIH is releasing 50% less Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) compared to last year and will increase the number and use of Parent NOFOs to receive investigator-initiated projects. Applications to Parent NOFOs should focus on Highlighted Topics.
- On February 25, 2026, NIH issued NOT-OD-26-046 to announce that effective for applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2026, applicants and recipients must use the updated Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan Format. View a draft on the Data Management and Sharing Plan Format Page. DMS Plans should address include only the information indicated in the notice.
- NIH Institute and Center Directors recently shared how they are putting the agency’s new Unified Funding Strategy into practice, emphasizing clearer, more consistent, and mission aligned funding decisions across NIH. The strategy moves away from paylines, relying instead on a holistic review of peer review feedback, public health priorities, and available resources to ensure funding supports the most meritorious and impactful research. Read more in the NIH Extramural Nexus.
Request for Participation: S2S Grants Training Survey
OCGA is in the process of planning upcoming training videos for the S2S Grants platform and would greatly appreciate input to ensure the content reflects campus needs and priorities.
Please take a few moments to complete the brief survey linked below by March 20th:
Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/r/3pRyDQ5dSk
Feedback will directly inform our training development efforts, and your participation is highly valued.