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Interim Fiscal Year 2024 Payline Information

Please check back at this site for updates as additional FY24 budget information becomes available.

As discussed at the September 2023 NANDS Council meeting (starting at ~1:13:32), due to appropriations uncertainty NINDS will be implementing a conservative funding strategy for the start of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). Applications submitted for due dates after January 1, 2023 will be subject to the following interim FY2024 policy.

  • Percentiled applications will be considered according to the Applications with a Percentile Score section below.
  • Non-percentiled applications are also being selected conservatively. The table below shows historic average funding ranges but may not reflect FY24 funding decisions.
  • Administrative award reductions have changed:

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%
      *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 will be made at 90% 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
    • Diversity Supplement
    • SBIR/STTR mechanisms

 

Congressional Funding Status

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including National Institutes of Health (NIH), operates under the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-40) signed by President Biden on March 1, 2024. This Act (CR) continues government operations through March 22, 2024, at the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 enacted level, with no reduction.

Consistent with NIH practices during FYs 2006 - 2023, NIH Institutes and/or Centers may, at their discretion, issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award. Upward adjustments to awarded levels will be considered after FY 2024 appropriations are enacted, but NIH expects institutions to monitor their expenditures carefully during this period. All legislative mandates that were in effect in FY 2023 (see NOT-OD-23-072) remain in effect under this CR, as well as the salary limitation set at Executive Level II of the Federal Pay Scale (see NOT-OD-24-057) and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award predoctoral and postdoctoral stipend levels and tuition/fees as described in NOT-OD-23-076

See the NINDS Salary Cap page for more information on FY 2024 salary limitations. 

 

Understanding Your Funding Likelihood

The tables below provide guidelines to applicants trying to assess their likelihood of funding.  There are a few important points of note that applicants must keep in mind when reviewing this information: 

exclamation
Key Points

 

Applications with a Percentile Score 

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. 

 

Standard 

Early Stage

Investigator (ESI) 

Applications

subject to SCR* 

R03 

11% 

N/A

5%

R15 

11% 

N/A

5%

R21 

11% 

N/A

5%

R01 

11% 

22% 

5%

*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. 

 

AD/ADRD Paylines and Funding Principles

AD/ADRD FY 2024 Update: Currently the NIH is under a Continuing Resolution and the AD/ADRD pay line for FY 2024 has not yet been determined. Until we know more information regarding the actual final budget AD/ADRD awards will continue to be issued at a conservative rate. Please watch this page for further updates as they become available.

 

Non-percentiled applications 

This table applies to applications receiving only a priority score. There are no paylines for non-percentiled 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. 

 

SBIR/STTR

  Most applications funded (>80%) Some applications funded (50-70%) Few applications funded (< 10%)
R41 ≤ 25  26 - 35  > 35 
R42 ≤ 25  26 - 32 > 32 
R43 ≤ 25  26 - 32  > 32 
R44 ≤ 22  23 - 30  > 30 
U44 ≤ 25  26 - 30  > 30 
 

Fellowships, Training, Career Development, Research Education

  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

  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 26 - 35  > 35
U19 ≤ 35 36 - 40  > 40 
U54 ≤ 30  30 - 38 > 38
UG3/UH3 ≤ 32  33 - 37  > 37 

 

Previous Paylines and Policies

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. 

 

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.