NIH funding for institutions — where you have standing, and where you don’t.
See where your institution holds standing across the NIH portfolio before you commit effort — decided against the statute, not a keyword guess.
The National Institutes of Health funds biomedical research and training under the Public Health Service Act — from the open R01 research project grant, to the R15 award reserved for institutions with limited NIH funding, to the RCMI and MARC programs for minority-serving institutions. Strategic Pursuit scores each against the right test, including the R15 research-expenditure ceiling.
Statutory proof
NIH authority — Public Health Service Act §301 (42 U.S.C. §241) and §487 (42 U.S.C. §288)
The eligibility line isn’t our interpretation — it’s the statute. NIH research and training awards rest on the Public Health Service Act — §301 (42 U.S.C. §241) for research project grants and §487 (42 U.S.C. §288) for research training — with the RCMI specialized centers authorized at §464z-4 (42 U.S.C. §285t-2). Strategic Pursuit encodes each mechanism’s eligibility as a hard rule: the R15 AREA award reads a research-expenditure ceiling so a heavily-funded institution comes back ineligible, and the RCMI and MARC programs read the minority-serving-institution test — instead of leaving it to an AI to guess. Every program carries its statutory authority, source, and last-verified date.
NIH · PHS Act §301 (42 U.S.C. §241) · §487 (42 U.S.C. §288) · Verified · last-updated 2026-05-28
Designation status can change.
Who qualifies for nih funding — and who doesn't
You have standing if:
- You’re a degree-granting institution — eligible for the open R01 research project grant.
- For the R15 AREA award: your NIH research funding is below the statutory ceiling (the tool reads the research-expenditure test).
- For RCMI or MARC: you hold a minority-serving-institution designation under Title III/V of the Higher Education Act.
You do NOT have standing if:
- Your research expenditure exceeds the R15 ceiling — a hard rule that returns the R15 ineligible no matter the project.
- You don’t hold an MSI designation for the RCMI or MARC programs — a hard eligibility rule no fit narrative overrides.
- You’re a non-degree-granting entity or a non-institution applicant.
Knowing which NIH mechanisms you hold standing for — and which the research-expenditure ceiling or MSI test rules out — keeps effort on the awards you can credibly carry.
The programs Strategic Pursuit scores for nih funding
These are the programs Strategic Pursuit scores against the test above. Each shows its statutory authority, Assistance Listing, current NOFO window, and last-verified date inside the dossier. Discontinued programs are never surfaced.
NIH Research Project Grant (R01) (NIH)
$250K – $500KNIH's flagship investigator-initiated research grant. Funds discrete, specified, circumscribed health-related research projects in the principal investigator's areas of interest. Submitted by the institution on behalf of the PI; the most common funding mechanism across NIH institutes.
NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15 AREA / REAP) (NIH)
$100K – $300KFunds small-scale research projects at institutions that have not received substantial NIH research funding. Two subprograms: Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for institutions awarding only baccalaureate or master's degrees and the AREA mechanism for health-professional schools.
NIH Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Specialized Centers (U54) (NIH)
$2M – $6.5MFunds infrastructure and capacity building for biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research at minority-serving institutions that grant doctoral degrees in health-related sciences. Supports research cores, investigator development, and community engagement.
NIH Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) (NIH)
$500K – $1.5MFunds undergraduate research training programs at minority-serving institutions to prepare students for biomedical PhD programs. Provides stipends, research experiences, and academic enrichment for honors-level juniors and seniors.
See all institution-eligible programs →
This product uses the Grants.gov API but is not endorsed or certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
How the eligibility verdict is built
This is not raw AI output. Each NIH mechanism’s eligibility is a hard rule taken straight from the law — the R15 research-expenditure ceiling and the RCMI/MARC MSI test come back ineligible when they fail, and the AI can’t override the result. Your HERD research-expenditure trend, designations, and NIH agency-concentration history are pulled straight from official federal sources after the AI runs. The promise is a method you can verify, not equal data on both sides.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about nih funding
See where your institution has standing
NIH Funding is one line of the read. The full dossier ranks every program you can pursue on eligibility, strategic fit, and competitive position — with your HERD research-expenditure trend and federal-share percentiles against your true Carnegie peer group attached.
Federal research funding for universities →
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