Funding & Research Policy
Coverage of how research gets paid for and governed: agency budgets and appropriations, new and closing funding programmes, success rates and paylines, national research strategies, and the international funding landscape. This is the beat that most directly changes what researchers and administrators can actually do in a given year, and it moves on a legislative and fiscal-year rhythm rather than a scientific one.
Beats in this category
- Agency Budgets & Appropriations
Annual and supplemental funding levels for research agencies, the appropriations process that sets them, and the downstream effect on award volume. Recurs on a fiscal-year cycle wi…
- Funder Policy & Application Rules
The operational rules funders set for applicants and awardees: resubmission policy, caps on simultaneous awards, CV and biosketch format mandates, allowable-cost and lump-sum fundi…
- Funding Programme Launches & Closures
New funding opportunities, programme redesigns, and discontinuations across national and international funders. Covers what changed, who is eligible, and what the deadline structur…
- International Funding Programmes
Multinational and non-US funding programmes — Horizon Europe, the ERC, bilateral and regional schemes — including association agreements and eligibility changes that determine who …
- National Research Strategy
Government research strategies, missions, and roadmaps, and the structural reorganisations that follow them. Slower-moving than the budget cycle but with longer-lasting consequence…
- Paylines & Success Rates
Published paylines, funding success rates, and review-outcome statistics by agency and institute. A recurring, highly-searched beat because applicants use these figures directly to…
All coverage (56)
- NIH All of Us: Pediatric Expansion in 2026
NIH plans to widen All of Us pediatric enrollment to ages 0-12 in 2026, even as the program absorbs a steep funding drop from FY2023 levels.…
- NSF OIG Can No Longer Investigate Misconduct
NSF’s own FY2027 budget request confirms its Office of Inspector General has cut roughly 22 positions (24%) since January 2025, lost its investigative-scientist staff, and now refers research-miscondu…
- RDA’s P27: London Plenary Pilots New Cadence
RDA’s 27th Plenary meets in London Oct 6-8, 2026, hosted by UKRI — piloting a new cadence pairing yearly virtual and in-person meetings.…
- OpenAlex’s 2026 Roadmap: Walden, Awards, Pricing
OpenAlex’s January 2026 roadmap: the Walden rewrite to Databricks is done, Awards is now a first-class entity, and credit-based API pricing is rolling out.…
- DMPTool’s Rebuild: What’s Changing, and When
DMPTool is rebuilding on a modern API architecture for machine-actionable DMPs. Its summer 2026 target has slipped to late 2026 after NIH/NSF changes.…
- ARPA-H’s ACTR: A Trial Site Within 30 Minutes
ARPA-H’s Advancing Clinical Trial Readiness (ACTR) initiative aims to put a clinical trial site within 30 minutes of 90% of eligible Americans. Here’s what the program covers, its three funding focus …
- DORA Launches a Practical Guide for Funders
DORA published a Practical Guide to Responsible Research Assessment for funders, with GRC and Science Europe, launched via regional events 13-14 May 2026.…
- Northwestern’s $2.3M NIH Falsification Settlement
Northwestern paid $2.3M under HHS-OIG’s Civil Monetary Penalties Law after self-disclosing a Feinberg researcher’s falsified NIH grant data.…
- NIH’s 2026 Push on Replication and Reproducibility
NIH has folded replication and reproducibility into its 2026 Gold Standard Science agenda: a new agency-wide Highlighted Topic, continued Common Fund replication funding, and an RFI on rewarding rigor…
- Quebec’s FRQ Makes Narrative CV Mandatory in 2026
As of January 2026, Quebec’s FRQ requires the narrative CV-FRQ for all its competitions, replacing the Canadian Common CV across all FRQ-funded programs.…
- NIH Weighs Cap on Simultaneous PI Grants
NIH’s RFI NOT-OD-26-086 proposes capping how many Research Project Grants one PI can hold at once. Comments closed August 3, 2026; no final policy yet.…
- NEH Asks: Do You Still Want Your Grant Back?
In April 2025, NEH terminated more than 1,400 grants worth over $100 million; a federal judge has since ruled the mass termination unconstitutional. Starting June 30, 2026, NEH began asking each affec…
- AfriGen-D Launches: African Genomics Data Hub
AfriGen-D, a pan-African human genomics data hub, launched May 7, 2026, led by UCT, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, and University of Mauritius.…
- EU Centre of Expertise on Research Security
The EU’s February 2026 Research Security Monitor and forthcoming Centre of Expertise add EU-wide policy coordination beyond Horizon Europe grant screening.…
- NIH’s Lump-Sum Funding Rule Is Cutting Award Rates
A 2026 accounting change requires NIH to obligate a multi-year grant’s full cost up front instead of year-by-year, shrinking how many new awards its budget can fund. Reported figures show R01-equivale…
- UKRI’s April 2026 No-Resubmission Rule
From 1 April 2026, UKRI no longer accepts uninvited resubmissions of rejected proposals. Here is what changed and how it reshapes grant-writing strategy.…
- ERC 2026 Proposal Restructuring: Part I vs. Part II Explained
ERC restructured its 2026 Scientific Proposal: Part I (5pp, concept) and Part II (7pp, implementation) replace B1/B2; feasibility now assessed in Step 2.…
- NVA Replaces Cristin: What Changed for Norway’s National Research-Information System
Norway retired Cristin during 2025 in favor of NVA (Nasjonalt vitenarkiv, the Norwegian Research Information Repository), a single national system operated by Sikt that also absorbed 60-plus instituti…
- FP10 2028-2034: Inside the EUR175 Billion Next EU Framework Programme
The EU Council reached a partial position on FP10 (2028-2034) on 26 June 2026: EUR175bn proposed, four pillars. Here is what is agreed vs still open.…
- Bengaluru Roadmap: What the 3rd Diamond OA Summit Committed To
The 3rd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access (Bengaluru, Feb 2026) produced a six-pillar global roadmap for OA policy, funding, and evaluation reform.…
- NSF Relaunches SBIR/STTR for FY26 With $250M and a New Strategic Breakthrough Tier
NSF restarted SBIR/STTR for FY26 with $250M, a new $30M Strategic Breakthrough tier, a $40M instrumentation pilot, and a July 27, 2026 deadline.…
- Korea Research Foundation Clears Changwon National University President of Research Misconduct After Three-Year Probe
South Korea’s National Research Foundation found no research misconduct in Changwon National University president Park Min-won’s papers, closing a three-year plagiarism and duplicate-publication revie…
- EOSC Federation Expands: 28 Nodes Meet in Brussels
The European Commission convened 28 EOSC Nodes and 34 Horizon Europe EOSC projects in Brussels, July 7-9, 2026, marking 14 new Nodes and ~€500M in investment.…
- NIH Overhauls Peer Review for Fellowship (F), Career Development (K), and Training (T) Grants
NIH is centralizing peer review of fellowship (F), career development (K), and training (T) applications, giving more weight to candidate potential and training goals — part of its broader Unified NIH…
- AHRQ’s Wave of Grant “Non-Awards”: What Research Administrators Need to Know
AHRQ has issued near-identical “non-award” letters ending continuation funding for dozens of active grants, citing portfolio prioritization. HHS says these are not terminations; grantees and advocacy …
- ERC Work Programme 2027: Wider Eligibility Windows, One-Proposal Limit, Synergy Grant Pushed to February
ERC Work Programme 2027 (adopted 20 July 2026): wider Starting/Consolidator eligibility windows, one-proposal limit, Synergy call moved to February.…
- Wellcome Trust’s 2026 Eligibility Changes: What Research Offices Need to Know
Wellcome revises grant eligibility from 1 July 2026 and restricts lead-applicant hosts to the UK and LMICs in Africa, South and SE Asia from 29 October 2026.…
- Springer Nature Launches “Nature Books,” Extending the Nature Portfolio Brand into Book Publishing
On 16 July 2026, Springer Nature launched Nature Books, a new imprint that lets authors publish long-form work under the Nature brand for the first time. It sits alongside Springer and Palgrave Macmil…
- NSF 26-022: What the Restricted-Entity Collaboration Ban Covers
NSF 26-022 bars NSF-funded collaboration with entities on seven federal restricted-party lists, starting FY2027. Here’s what it does and doesn’t cover.…
- OMB’s 2026 Proposed Rule and “Covered Foreign Countries”: What It Actually Restricts
OMB’s May 2026 proposed rule would bar federal grant funds from collaboration with “covered foreign countries.” Here’s what the rule’s text actually says, why the widely-cited “17 countries” figure is…
- Executive Order 14292: New Biological Research Security Requirements
Executive Order 14292 (May 2025) paused federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function research and set OSTP deadlines for oversight rules, now overdue.…
- NIH Ends Continuous Submission: Late-Application Deadline Tightens August 10, 2026
NIH Notice NOT-OD-26-064 ends Continuous Submission after August 10, 2026, and narrows late-application eligibility for all applicants NIH-wide.…
- NIH’s Indirect Cost Cap Litigation: How It Ended
NIH’s 15% indirect-cost cap is dead: the First Circuit upheld the injunction against it in January 2026, and DOJ let its Supreme Court appeal deadline lapse in April 2026 without filing. Congress has …
- NSF Names 12 New Regional Innovation Engines Across 20 States
NSF named 12 new Regional Innovation Engines across 20 states on July 14, 2026, each eligible for up to $160M over 10 years.…
- ARC’s 2026 Generative AI Policy: What Changed for Grant Applicants and Assessors
The ARC’s updated Generative AI policy took effect 28 April 2026, setting rules for applicants, assessors, and research offices.…
- University Budget Cuts and Research Layoffs Continue Into Summer 2026
US university budget cuts and layoffs have continued into summer 2026, with new rounds at Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota, The New School, and others. Some are explicitly tied to NIH, NSF, …
- TAGFA Revised: What Changes April 1, 2026 for Use of Grant Funds
CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC’s revised Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration takes effect April 1, 2026. The key change: a new Buy-Canadian purchasing expectation for grant-funded spend, plus a tight…
- NOT-OD-26-062: NIH Domestic Subaward Rule
Effective June 1, 2026, NIH requires prior approval before adding a new domestic subaward not in the original approved application.…
- NSF PAPPG 26-200: What Changed Dec. 8, 2025
NSF’s PAPPG 26-200 supplement (eff. Dec. 8, 2025) revised SBIR pitch rules, funding caps, equipment thresholds, and research-security requirements.…
- NIH Begins Enforcing Common Forms: SciENcv Biosketch and ORCID Linkage Required Starting May 8, 2026
NIH’s Common Forms leniency period ended May 8, 2026: eRA now blocks SciENcv biosketch/support submissions with unlinked ORCID or eRA Commons.…
- Horizon Europe 2026-2027 Work Programme Adopted: EUR 14 Billion, Valorisation and Climate in Focus
The European Commission adopted Horizon Europe’s 2026-2027 Work Programme on 11 December 2025: EUR 14bn, at least 35% for climate, and a new valorisation push.…
- DHS Ends ‘Duration of Status’: A 4-Year Cap on F-1/J-1 Admission Starting September 15, 2026
DHS’s new rule ends open-ended F-1/J-1 admission, capping it at up to 4 years and requiring a separate USCIS extension filing, effective Sept. 15, 2026.…
- UCLA Federal Grant Funding: What “Restored” Actually Means Right Now
Federal judge Rita Lin has repeatedly ordered NSF and NIH to restore suspended UCLA grants via preliminary injunction in an ongoing UC faculty lawsuit — roughly $81M (NSF, Aug 2025) and $500M/500 gran…
- Fogarty International Center’s Proposed Elimination: The FY2026 Status
Congress rejected the White House’s FY2026 proposal to eliminate the Fogarty International Center, funding NIH’s global health research arm at $95 million — flat with FY2025. Here’s the current status…
- NIH’s FY2026 5-Business-Day Grant Payment Rule Explained
The FY2026 Labor-HHS appropriations report directs HHS to process grant disbursements within 5 business days, with exceptions. What NIH awardees should know.…
- UKRI Open Access 2026: FAQ Update, OA Monitor Plan
UKRI’s 22 June 2026 FAQ update clarifies Horizon Europe Guarantee compliance and block grants, part of a 2026-2030 Open Access Monitor plan.…
- NIH’s 27-to-8 Institute Consolidation: 2026 Status
Congress rejected NIH’s 27-to-8 institute consolidation in FY2026 funding, but administrative restructuring continues. Here’s the current status.…
- NSF Funding Cuts, Grant Terminations, and the 2026 Litigation Landscape
NSF’s indirect cost cap attempt was blocked and Congress has barred new rate changes. Grant terminations tied to DEI/environmental-justice criteria are being litigated on two separate tracks with diff…
- Cancer Research Funding Cuts in 2026: Proposed vs. Enacted
NCI’s FY2026 budget was proposed for a 37-43% cut; Congress instead raised NIH overall slightly, but cancer grants are still funded below recommended levels.…
- NIH funding cuts in 2026: what actually happened
Congress rejected Trump’s proposed 40% NIH cut in FY2026, funding NIH at $48.7B — but grant terminations and indirect-cost fights still reshaped awards.…
- Looking ahead: CASRAI 2027 priorities
Where CASRAI is headed in 2027: priorities for the Dictionary, the federation work, CRediT v3 discussions, and the integration roadmap.…
- What’s in the v2026.3 Dictionary roadmap
A preview of the v2026.3 CASRAI Dictionary release: scope, new terms, deprecations, and the schema-evolution work threading through the update.…
- NIH’s April 2026 Notice Quietly Reverses Indirect-Cost Flexibilities
NIH’s April 2026 notice NOT-OD-26-072 reinstates the $25,000 subaward cap and 10% de minimis rate, rescinding 2025 flexibilities — a separate action from the litigated 15% cost cap.…
- What ‘broader impacts’ means under the new NSF policy
NSF’s revised broader-impacts criterion sharpens evidence requirements. A practical guide for applicants and research administrators handling proposals in 2026.…
- The case for narrative CVs beyond UKRI
UKRI’s Resume for Research and Innovation has matured. Why other funders should adopt narrative-CV formats, and the practical lessons from five years of UKRI experience.…
- ORCID 4.0: the IDR roadmap and what it means for CASRAI integrations
ORCID’s 4.0 IDR refresh tightens the contributor-affiliation-funding crosswalk. A walkthrough of what changes for CASRAI integrations and what publishers should do now.…
