As the National Institutes of Health (NIH) pivots to paying for five-year projects upfront, the “mortgage-free” agency comes at the cost of a 40% drop in new awards.
Traditionally, grants have been awarded incrementally, in annual chunks. This created “out-year mortgages” that tied up future budgets. Now, the NIH is shifting towards granting the full amount for the project in its first year. This could remove future obligations, allowing the NIH to pivot quickly to new crises without being obligated to past commitments.
Trading grant volume for stability
This strategy aims to divorce scientific progress from annual continuing resolution (CR) difficulties. For example, if the government shuts down halfway through a project at a university, studies can continue because the funding has already been granted for the full project and does not depend on annual renewal.
According to former NIGMS Director Jeremy Berg, shifting towards 50% forward funding could decrease the total number of active grants from about 10,000 to 6,200. With more money tied up in fewer awards, paylines at institutes like the NCI have dropped to the fourth percentile.
An analysis of the new plan on DrugMonkey concluded that the strategy could result in a 60% reduction in awards every year. This also means that paylines and success rates will decrease dramatically.
Unfortunately, this could disproportionately affect Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) who don’t have the bridge funding to survive a four-year wait for the next cycle.
Additional alterations to the grant process
The agency is also changing the proportion of applications discussed at study-section meetings. Committees will vote on which applications should be discussed. The top third will be discussed, the second third will be designated “competitive but not discussed,” and the lower third will be labeled “not competitive and not discussed.” Applications in the middle third will still be eligible for funding.
Additionally, the NIH will no longer permit the use of paylines, the percentile or score thresholds that many institutions use as guidance when developing funding plans. Instead, each institution must now justify individual funding decisions based on “priorities, strategic plans and budgets.”
Understanding the multi-year funded (MYF) awards
The original incrementally funded grants and the new MYF grants are separate awards. Even if the MYF is a continuation of the incrementally funded award, the NIH treats them as distinct grants with separate funding streams.
The NIH does allow unobligated funds to be carried forward from one budget period to another within the same grant. This may be subject to terms and prior approval.
When a project receives a MYF grant, it begins with its own budget and project period. Any remaining funds from the original incremental grant must be closed out and cannot be transferred.
