NIH Awards Plunge 74% as Director Pledges to Spend Full Budget
March 22, 2026 · 2 min read
Claire Cummings
Halfway through fiscal year 2026, the National Institutes of Health has awarded 74 percent fewer new competitive grants compared to the same period over the past four fiscal years — yet NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told Congress on March 17 that the agency will spend its full $48.7 billion budget before the fiscal year ends in September.
The numbers, compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University using NIH's own RePORTER database, paint a stark picture: not only are new awards down 74 percent, the total monetary value of awards issued so far sits 62 percent below the historical average for this point in the fiscal year.
Forward Funding Squeezes New Investigators
The primary driver is a policy requiring NIH to "forward fund" grants — committing the full multi-year cost of an award upfront rather than funding year by year. Because each grant now consumes a larger share of the annual budget at the moment of award, fewer grants can be issued overall. NIH's own projections estimate this mandate will eliminate approximately 970 competing grants in FY2026 alone.
The squeeze is especially visible at the National Cancer Institute, which estimates it will fund just 4 percent of R01 and R21 applications this year, down from 9 percent previously. For early-career researchers, securing NIH funding is becoming what Chemical & Engineering News described as a "pipe dream."
A Compressed Spending Sprint Ahead
Bhattacharya's pledge to spend the full budget creates an unusual dynamic: if NIH has obligated only about 38 percent of its typical grant spending through March, the remaining six months will require an unprecedented acceleration in award-making. Congressional appropriators had expressed concern that unspent funds could be returned to the Treasury.
The director also indicated NIH would begin appointing permanent institute directors during March 2026, a move that could help stabilize decision-making at agencies that have operated with acting leadership.
What Biomedical Researchers Should Do
The math suggests a surge of awards is coming in the second half of FY2026. Researchers with pending applications should ensure their proposals are current and responsive to any supplemental guidance NIH issues. Those considering new submissions should monitor NIH Reporter and their institute's funding plan updates closely. For analysis of how the NIH funding landscape affects grant strategy, visit the Granted blog.