Key Dates

Related Announcements

None

Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

By way of this Notice, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) hereby grants the automatic extension of Early-Stage Investigator (ESI) eligibility.This extension addresses delays impacting grant application submissions, peer review, or award processing timelines between January 1, 2025, and May 31, 2025, and seeks to mitigate their effects on the biomedical research community. 

Who Is Impacted

This Notice provides information about an extension of ESI eligibility for the following investigators:

• Investigators whose last submission date for a new/resubmission application, based on ESI eligibility, was October/November 2024 will be granted a three-receipt cycle extension (roughly twelve additional months). The last submission as an ESI will be October 2025
• Individuals whose last submission date for a new/resubmission application, based on ESI eligibility, was February/March 2025 will be granted a two-receipt cycle extension (roughly eight additional months). The last submission as an ESI will be October 2025
• Individuals whose last submission date for a new/resubmission application, based on ESI eligibility, will be June/July 2025 will be granted a one-receipt cycle extension (roughly four additional months). The last submission as an ESI will be October 2025

No action is required from investigators to receive this extension; thus, no ESI extension request submission is necessary. To aid potential applicants in determining whether they are eligible for the extension, the following examples are provided: 

Example 1: For individuals whose eligibility ended with the October/November 2024 due dates, the extension would allow them to apply for the R01 in June/July 2025 or October/November 2025.

Example 2: For individuals whose eligibility ended with February/March 2025 due dates, the extension would allow them to apply in June/July 2025 or October/November 2025.

Example 3: For individuals whose eligibility would normally end with the June/July 2025 due dates, the extension would allow them to apply in October/November 2025.

This extension does not preclude investigators from requesting additional time for qualifying life events (e.g., medical leave, caregiving) under existing policies.

Background/Rationale

Per the NIH definition, Early-Stage Investigators are new investigators who are within 10 years of completing their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training and who have not previously competed successfully for a substantial NIH independent research award.

NIH periodically evaluates and responds to events that may impact the ability of investigators to remain competitive for NIH support.Recognizing the disproportionate affect of system-wide disruptions on early career researchers with strict eligibility timelines, this proactive policy response seeks to minimize unintended consequences while reinforcing NIH's commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists. 

Implementation

• Automatic Adjustment: Updated ESI end dates will appear in eRA Commons profiles by June 8, 2025.
• Verification: Investigators may confirm their status via the Education section in the eRA Commons Personal Profile.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Division of Biomedical Research Workforce
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health

Email: [email protected]