Budget

Research for the People    

The NIH invests about $41.7* billion annually in medical research for the American people.

More than 80 percent of NIH’s funding is awarded for extramural research, largely through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state.

About 10% of the NIH's budget supports projects conducted by nearly 6,000 scientists in its own laboratories, most of which are on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

Justifications, Testimonies, and Appropriations

Funding for Diseases, Conditions, Research Areas

  • Funding levels for diseases, conditions, and research areas, based on actual grants, contracts, research conducted at NIH, and other mechanisms of support.

Grants Awarded

  • Funded Organization — universities and research organizations around the nation receiving research grants and contracts
  • Budget and Spending — funding for grants and contracts
  • Success Rates — annual percentage of research grant applications that are funded
  • RePORTER — a searchable database of NIH-funded research projects

This amount reflects the sum of discretionary budget authority of $40.3 billion received by NIH in FY 2020 under the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020”, Public Law (P.L.) 116-94, which includes $80 million for Superfund Research activities.  The total also includes $1.23 billion derived from PHS Evaluation financing and mandatory budget authority of $150 million for special type 1 diabetes research.  The allocation of $225 million to NIH per P.L. 116-94 from Nonrecurring Expenses Fund is excluded. Details regarding appropriations or budget requests are available from the Office of Budget.

This page last reviewed on June 29, 2020