NIH Removes Advanced Permission for Conference Grant Applications

NIH No Longer Requires Advanced Permission for Conference Grant Applications Notice Number: NOT-OD-26-040

Key Dates

Release Date: February 10, 2026

Related Announcements

• October 02, 2024 - NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). See NOFO PA-25-080.
• October 03, 2005 -NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13/U13): Transition to the SF424 (R&R Form and Electronic Submission through Grants.gov. See NOT-OD-05-081

Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

Purpose

This Notice alerts the NIH extramural research community of an important update to the application process for Conference Grants (R13) and Conference Cooperative Agreements (U13).

Background

NIH supports scientific meetings, conferences, and workshops (hereinafter “conferences”) that are relevant to its scientific mission and to public health under the R13 and U13 activity codes. NIH’s support of conferences is contingent on the interest and priorities of the individual Institute,Center, or Office (ICO). Applicants are strongly encouraged to refer to the NIH Director’s Statement of Priorities, entitled “Advancing NIH’s Mission Through a Unified Strategy.”

As part of ongoing efforts to reduce administrative burden on the applicant community, NIH will remove the prior approval requirement for submission of conference grant applications under the R13 and U13 activity.

Policy

Effective immediately, NIH will no longer require applicants to request written permission from the ICO and/or document receipt of permission as part of the Cover Letter attachment on the SF424 (R&R) Form. Modifications to the NIH Grants Policy Statement 14.1 and the NIH Parent R13 NOFO to align with the policy change are forthcoming. The application due dates remain unchanged. As a reminder, applications can communicate specific assignment preferences to the Division of Receipt and Referral using the PHS Assignment Request Form.

As a reminder, in general, NIH will not issue a conference grant award unless the federal award date can precede the conference start date. Awarding a conference grant after a conference has been held should only be done under exigent circumstances (e.g., government shutdown, natural disaster, or other emergency situation) and when an ICO can determine or document that funding of post-conference activities is consistent with the approved application.

Resources

NIH is in the process of updating ICO Profiles to highlight ICO interests in support for conference awards.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)
Division of Grants Policy
[email protected]

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