This notice is to inform the extramural community of a significant change in how the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will disseminate its funding opportunities. According to NOT-OD-25-143, starting in federal fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025), the NIH will no longer post Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. Instead, Grants.gov will become the sole official source for all NIH grant and cooperative agreement funding opportunities.
What This Means for You
Historically, both the NIH Guide and Grants.gov have served as official sources for NIH NOFOs. However, this change is part of a broader NIH strategy to simplify and streamline its application and funding processes and to eliminate duplication across federal systems. While the NIH Guide will continue to be used for policy and informational notices, all funding opportunities will be exclusively found on Grants.gov.
Action Required: Subscribe to Grants.gov Notifications
To ensure you and the researchers you support do not miss out on critical funding information, it is important to use the Grants.gov subscription services. By signing up for email notifications, you can be proactively alerted to new NIH funding opportunities as they are posted. Furthermore, subscribing to a specific opportunity is highly recommended. This will provide you with automatic updates on any changes to the notice, such as revised budget thresholds, updated deadlines, or changes to application forms. Relying solely on manual searches may lead to missed opportunities or the use of outdated information.
While both the NIH and Grants.gov send email notifications, it’s best practice to use the Grants.gov subscription service as your primary source for funding opportunity announcements.
This video highlights the search functions on the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts website: NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Search Functions
Look for Funding Opportunities
Look for funding opportunities on agency websites, Grants.gov, and in the Emory University supported subscription-based database, GrantForward.
Sources
GrantForward: https://www.grantforward.com/index